GATINEAU, Que. Caris LeVert Nets Jersey . - Canadian coach John Herdman left the Womens World Cup draw with a smile after being grouped with China, New Zealand and the Netherlands.The Canadians are ranked eighth in the world while China is No. 14, the Netherlands No. 15 and New Zealand No. 19.Positive, was Herdmans assessment of Canadas newly minted Pool A. Its not the easiest but certainly doable.Canada will play China on June 6 and New Zealand on June 11, both in Edmonton, before taking on the Netherlands on June 15 in Montreal. Herdman pointed to the Dutch as his teams toughest opponent in the group.Canada is the highest-ranked of those teams, Herdman said. Over the last three years, weve played all of those teams and beaten them. So I think its a good group for us. Its one that we think yeah, we could finish top of.Were going to have to be at our best every game. Thats a reality. Theres no way we can drop into second gear against one of those teams. Were happy. I think the soccer gods listened to us last night. We avoided that group of death.That would be Pool D with the top-ranked U.S., Asian runner-up Australia (No. 10), African champion Nigeria (widely seen as far better than No. 35 would suggest), and perennial European power Sweden (No. 5).Consider that the U.S., Nigeria and Sweden won all their qualifying games. The Americans won all six matches without conceding a goal, Sweden did the same in winning 10 matches while Nigeria outscored its opposition 28-4 in seven matches.Wow, thats a tough group, said Herdman.Norways Even Pellerud, a former Canada coach, called Group D both terrible and great. Presumably terrible if youre in it and great if youre not.Winnipeg, which hosts four of the six games in Group D, will benefit from the big guns clashing.We look at it in a positive way. If you want to win, you need to beat players and the best teams, said Swedens Pia Sundhage, who used to coach the U.S. team. Its a tough group. We try to embrace that, for sure.American coach Jill Ellis shared that attitude.Weve got a lot of depth on our roster and Ill think well be able to manage the group, she said.Nigerian coach Edwin Okon was unfazed.Nigerians are not afraid of any group, he said.The tournament, which has been increased in size to 24 teams from 16, runs June 6 to July 5 in Moncton, Montreal, Ottawa, Winnipeg, Edmonton and Vancouver.The top two teams in each of the six groups plus the four best third-place finishers advance to the knockout round of 16.With eight newcomers to the tournament — Cameroon, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Ivory Coast, the Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland and Thailand — there was always the possibility of some lopsided groups especially with a deep, talented European contingent.But most of the contenders will be happy with the draw.New Zealand coach Tony Readings pegged Canadas Pool A as the second toughest behind the U.S.-Australia-Nigeria-Sweden foursome.Also a strong group, Pellerud said. Netherlands are very strong, New Zealand is getting so strong now. Very even. Canada has a good chance to go through but they have to play at their best.I think its good group for Canada, I really do, said Ellis. There are some good challenges in there for them but I think theyre definitely teams that they can manage.While Canadian captain Christine Sinclair attended the draw, her teammates watched it on TV in Vancouver,There were some big teams in the pool we were hoping to avoid, said defender Rhian Wilkinson. Its a tough group we have, but its an exciting one as well. . . . For me, Im just really glad we know who were playing, where were playing and when were playing. It just makes it so much more real now.The 2011 draw was not so kind to Canada, then ranked sixth in the world. The Canadians, under coach Carolina Morace, went 0-3-0 while being outscored 7-1 in a pool with European champion Germany, African champion Nigeria and France.The Canadian women placed last, in 16th place, at the 2011 competition.Canada has got out of the first round just once, finishing fourth in 2003 after losing to Sweden in the semifinal and the U.S. in the third-place playoff.Canadas career record at the tournament is 4-11-3 including an 0-9-0 mark against European opposition. It has been outscored 46-26.Canada looks to win its group this time, to avoid big guns from other pools and to avoid additional travel.It will be a tough group, said Dutch coach Roger Reijners.But New Zealand coach Tony Readings, no stranger to Herdman who led the Football Ferns at the 2007 and 2011 World Cups, called it quite an evenly balanced group.If Canada wins its group, it will play a third-place team, possibly one from Pool D, in the round of 16. If it finished runner-up it will meet the second-placed team from Pool C. A third-place finish in its pool, if good enough to advance, would mean a date with either the Group B or C winner.Saturdays draw comes after 398 qualifying matches featuring 128 countries and 1,643 goals. New Zealand needed just three matches to book its ticket while the Netherlands had to play 14.Colombia, England, France, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, Spain and Switzerland also went unbeaten in qualifying.As host, Canada escaped the grind of qualification.Saturdays draw was hosted by former star wheelchair racer Chantal Petitclerc and Olympic champion speedskater Catriona Le May Doan. Draw assistants were hockey star Hayley Wickenheiser and former Canadian soccer internationals Kara Lang and Jason deVos.The hour-long show started with First Nations hoop dancer Alex Wells, a three-time world champion at his speciality, featuring a local high school choir and a group of young dancers kicking up their heels with the tournament mascot, a Great White Owl named Shueme.Four Mounties escorted the Womens World Cup trophy to the stage.Canadas next action may be in January with Herdman looking to take his team to China for the Four Nations tournament.World Cup DrawGroup A: Canada (8), China (14), New Zealand (19), the Netherlands (15)Group B: Germany (2), Ivory Coast (64), Norway (9), Thailand (30)Group C: Japan (3), Switzerland (17), Cameroon (51), Ecuador (49)Group D: U.S. (1), Australia (10), Sweden (5), Nigeria (35)Group E: Brazil (6), South Korea (16), Spain (16), Costa Rica (40)Group F: France (4), England (7), Colombia (31), Mexico (25)Follow @NeilMDavidson on TwitterThe draw took place Saturday at the Canadian Museum of History. DeAndre Jordan Nets Jersey . -- The Chicago Bears have agreed to terms with safety Brock Vereen and QB David Fales on four-year contracts. Theo Pinson Jersey . Edwin Encarnacion carried the torch for two days at Fenway Park this week; Melky Cabrera and Jose Bautista have had their moments; lately Anthony Gose has contributed. https://www.netsrookiesshop.com/Kyrie-Irving-City-Edition-Jersey/ . The Irish golfer, whose father Patrick died from cancer, says he underwent surgery for sun spots. The 42-year-old Harrington told Irish radio station Today FM: "Ive had a number of skin cancers removed off my face. MILWAUKEE -- The Miami Marlins lost much more than a game. Theyve likely lost All-Star slugger Giancarlo Stanton for the rest of the season after a frightening scene at Miller Park. Stanton sustained multiple facial fractures, dental damage and cuts that needed stitches after being hit in the face by a fastball from Milwaukees Mike Fiers. The Marlins said Stanton, the major league RBI leader and a top candidate for the NL MVP award, would return to Miami on Friday. "We do not believe he will require surgery," the team said Friday. Asked if Stanton could play again this season, Marlins manager Mike Redmond said, "It does not look good." "Its devastating for us. Devastating. For his season to end like that, I mean, thats not good," Redmond said. Stantons father was at Thursday nights game and came onto the field while his son was treated. Stanton was bleeding heavily from his mouth, and was driven away from the plate in an ambulance. His father rode with him to the hospital. Redmond said Stanton did not lose consciousness. Stanton did not say anything while down on the ground, Redmond said. "It was very, scary," Redmond said. "Were hoping he is going to be all right." The outfielder tops the NL with 37 home runs and has 105 RBIs, and is batting .288. Miami has 17 games left this year. It was ruled that Stanton swung trying to get out of the way of the 88 mph pitch from Fiers. Reed Johnson batted for Stanton and was hit in the hand by Fiers next pitch, bringing angry players off the Marlins bench. Miamis Casey McGehee and Redmond were ejected. It was also ruled that Johnson swung at the pitch that hit him, ending the inning with two runners on base. "Ive never seen anything like that and Ive definitely never seen two swings called on those two plays," Redmond said. "Ive never seen a guy get hit in the mouth and called for a swing. Hes out there bleeding at home plate and for the first base ump to say he swung at that pitch, what a joke." Plate umpire Jeff Kellogg said he consulted with first base umpire D.J. Reyburn and determined that both Stanton and Johnson had swung. "Weve both looked at it and, yes, he did swing. They both did, at those pitches," Kellogg said. Redmond and Johnnson said the benches cleared because of the reaction by Fiers after Johnson get hit. Kevin Durant Jersey. Fiers threw up his hands and looked into the Marlins dugout. "He just knocked out our best player, hit him in the mouth and then you just hit another guy in the hand," Redmond said. "What are we supposed to do? No doubt, were trying to win games, theyre trying to win games, but you just hit a guy in the mouth." Fiers insisted the pitch got away from him. He apologized to Stanton on Twitter after the game and was distraught on the field and in the locker room. "It was heat of the moment stuff," Fiers said. "I just want to make sure that Stanton is OK. I just want to send my thoughts and prayers and everything to Stanton. You never think of throwing at somebody like that. Never in my life has that happened. I just feel very, very sad that I hit him. Im sorry to their teammates, their fans, his family. It is just tough." Miami reliever Anthony Desclafani hit Carlos Gomez in the sixth with a pitch and was quickly ejected by Kellogg. Marlins bench coach Rob Leary was also tossed. Ryan Braun and rookie Matt Clark hit home runs for Milwaukee. The Brewers are 1 1/2 games behind Pittsburgh for the second NL wild-card spot. Fiers (6-2) pitched five innings. He is 6-1 since being recalled from the minors to join the rotation Aug. 9. Francisco Rodriguez pitched a scoreless ninth to record his 41st save in 46 chances. Nathan Eovaldi (6-11) lasted only four innings, giving up four runs and eight hits. HOME RUN STREAK Marcell Ozuna hit his 23rd homer in the eighth, a two-run shot. Ozuna homered in his fourth straight game, tying a team record. TRAINERS ROOM Marlins: RHP All-Star Henderson Alvarez is set to return to the mound Friday as he missed his last start after straining his oblique Sept. 1. Brewers: Braun was back in the starting lineup after not starting the past two games as he nurses a thumb injury. UP NEXT Marlins: Miami moves on to Philadelphia, where Alvarez (10-6) will face Phillies LHP Cole Hamels (8-7). Brewers: RHP Kyle Lohse (5-2) will start the opener of Milwaukees three-game series with Cincinnati to end an 11-game homestand. The Reds will counter with RHP Mat Latos (5-5). ' ' '