Diana Beverly Matheson (born April 6, 1984) is a Canadian former professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player who played for the Canada national team from 2003 to 2020 and multiple professional women's teams over the course of her career. She is best known for scoring the bronze medal-winning goal for Canada in the 92nd minute against

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

. She also won a bronze medal at the

2016 Rio Olympics ) , nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams) , athletes = 11,238 , events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines) , opening = 5 August 2016 , closing = 21 August 2016 , opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer , cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro de ...

and gold medal at the

2011 Pan American Games The 2011 Pan American Games, officially the XVI Pan American Games, was an international multi-sport event that was held from October 14–30, 2011, in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. Some events were held in the nearby cities of Ciudad Guzmán, ...

with the senior national team.

Early life

Born in

Mississauga Mississauga ( ), historically known as Toronto Township, is a city in the Canadian province of Ontario. It is situated on the shores of Lake Ontario in the Regional Municipality of Peel, adjoining the western border of Toronto. With a popul ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Matheson attended

White Oaks Secondary School White Oaks Secondary School (WOSS) is a secondary school located in Oakville, Ontario, Canada. The school has north and south campuses, across the road from each other. The north campus used to be attended by students who had different levels a ...

Oakville, Ontario Oakville is a town in Regional Municipality of Halton, Halton Region, Ontario, Canada. It is located on Lake Ontario between Toronto and Hamilton, Ontario, Hamilton. At its Canada 2021 Census, 2021 census population of 213,759, it is List of tow ...

, where she received Principal's Award for athletics and academics. As a member of the Ontario provincial team from 1999 to 2002, she won the national championship in 2001 and was runner-up in 2002. She was captain of the team in 2002. Playing for the Oakville Women's team, Matheson was a 2002 Ontario Cup champion and club national women's champion.

Princeton University, 2004–2007

Matheson majored in economics at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial Colleges, fourth-oldest ins ...

Princeton, New Jersey Princeton is a municipality with a borough form of government in Mercer County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It was established on January 1, 2013, through the consolidation of the Borough of Princeton and Princeton Township, both of whi ...

, and was voted Ivy League Player of the Year in 2007 and Princeton Women's Athlete of the Year in 2008. As a freshman in 2004, Matheson was a unanimous first-team All-Ivy selection and was named Ivy League Rookie of the Year. She earned first-team All-America and first-team All-Mid-Atlantic Region honours and was one of 12 finalists for SoccerBuzz Freshman of the Year. She was a three-time Ivy Rookie of the Week. During her sophomore year, she scored five goals, second-most on the team, and had a team-high of seven assists (ranked third in the Ivy League). She was one of only two unanimous first-team All-Ivy selections. Matheson earned SoccerBuzz first-team all-region and NSCAA second-team all-region honours. After missing the season-opening trip to Florida to play with the Canadian national team, she started all 14 games the rest of the season. As a junior in 2006, Matheson co-captained the squad and led the Tigers with eight goals and five assists for 21 points despite missing five games to train with the Canadian national team. She was a unanimous selection for first-team All-Ivy. As a senior, Matheson missed the first seven games to play in the

2007 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup, the fifth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, was an international association football competition for women held in China from 10 to 30 September 2007. Originally, China was to host the 2003 edition, but th ...

in China. After returning from the tournament, she earned a point in seven straight games of the 10 played and broke Princeton's single-game and career assist records with a four-assist performance against Rutgers. Serving as co-captain of the team, she was Princeton's third four-time first-team all-league honoree and seventh Player of the Year.

Club career

Team Strømmen, 2008–2010

Diana Matheson played the second half of the 2008 season in Oslo, Norway, with

Team Strømmen LSK Kvinner Fotballklubb is a Norwegian women's football club from Lillestrøm. They currently play in Toppserien, the top division of Norwegian football. The club was founded as Setskog/Høland Fotballklubb on 10 October 1989. History The cl ...

, becoming a runner-up in the

Toppserien The Toppserien is the top level of women's association football in Norway. It was founded in 1984. History Women's league football was introduced on a county basis in 1977. These leagues acted as qualification for the regional (South) league in 1 ...

league and also in the annual Cup competition. She rejoined the same club for the 2009 season running from April to October, and for the first half of 2010 until national team duties called her away. She can be seen in a video made by her Norwegian team.

Washington Spirit, 2013–2016

In early 2013, it was announced that Matheson would be joining the

Washington Spirit The Washington Spirit is an American professional soccer club based in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area that participates in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). It is a continuation of the D.C. United Women of the W-League and cont ...

as part of the

NWSL Player Allocation The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) federation players were players whose salaries for playing in the NWSL were paid for by their respective national federations from 2013 to 2021. American federation players were contracted to the United Sta ...

, a team in the newly founded

National Women's Soccer League The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) is a professional women's soccer league at the top of the United States league system. It is owned by the teams and, until 2020, was under a management contract with the United States Soccer Federatio ...

. She made her debut during the Spirit's inaugural match on April 15, 2013 against the

Boston Breakers The Boston Breakers were an American professional soccer club based in the Boston neighborhood of Allston. The team competed in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). They replaced the original Breakers, who competed in the defunct Women's ...

. Her first NWSL goal came on a late penalty in the club's home opener against the

Western New York Flash The Western New York Flash (WNY Flash) was an American soccer club based in Elma, New York that competed in the United Women's Soccer league. They have won league championships in four different leagues: the USL W-League in 2010, Women's Profess ...

on April 20, 2013. At the conclusion of the 2013 season, it was announced that Matheson had been selected as a midfielder to the NWSL 2013 Best XI First Team. Matheson helped lead the Spirit to its first ever playoff berth in 2014 with eight goals and six assists during the regular season. After joining the team late in 2015 due to injury and participating in the

2015 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup was the seventh FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international soccer championship contested by the women's national teams of the member associations of FIFA. The tournament was hosted by Canada for the ...

, Matheson scored three goals and had two assists in just nine games. In 2016, she scored four goals, tied for second most on the team. Matheson currently holds the records for most goals scored (23) and most assists (12) for the Spirit all-time. In 2016 the Washington Spirit advanced to the

NWSL Championship The National Women's Soccer League Playoffs (or NWSL Playoffs) are a single elimination tournament among six teams in the National Women's Soccer League of the United States, deciding the winner of the NWSL Championship. Since playoff games cann ...

game against the

. After extra time the game was tied 2–2 and advanced to penalties. Matheson was the fifth penalty taker for the Spirit, Washington was trailing 2–3 and needed to score to keep the match going. Her penalty was saved by

Sabrina D'Angelo Sabrina Victoria D'Angelo (born May 11, 1993) is a Canadian professional soccer player who plays as a goalkeeper for Women's Super League club Arsenal and the Canada national team. D'Angelo was selected 21st overall in the 2015 NWSL Colleg ...

, securing the win for the Flash. During the off-season, the Washington Spirit traded many of their veteran players. In January 2017, Matheson was traded to the

Seattle Reign OL Reign is an American professional Women's association football, women's soccer team based in Seattle, Washington. Founded by Bill and Teresa Predmore in 2012 as Seattle Reign FC, it was one of eight inaugural members of the National Women's S ...

in exchange for

Arielle Ship Arielle Leah Ship (born May 2, 1995) is an American soccer player who plays as a forward for Kansas City in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL). She was the recipient of the California Golden Bears' first ever Pac-12 Player of the Year ...

and Seattle's third round pick in the 2018 NWSL College Draft.

Seattle Reign, 2017

Matheson tore her ACL while training with the Canadian National team in February and she would miss the entire 2017 season. At the 2018 NWSL College Draft she was traded to the Utah Royals in exchange for

Yael Averbuch Yael Averbuch West (born Yael Friedman Averbuch; November 3, 1986) is a former American professional soccer player. She was formerly the executive director of the National Women's Soccer League Players Association and is the current general man ...

and Utah's third round draft pick. Matheson never appeared in a game for Seattle.

Utah Royals, 2018–2020

Matheson appeared in 21 matches for Utah in

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

, she scored 2 goals. She returned to Utah for the 2019 season however she suffered a foot injury with the Canadian National team that would require surgery forcing her to miss the 2019 season.

International career

As a regular player for Canada, Matheson is remarkable for possessing the speed and skill to hold her place in an international team that is known for its physical approach to the game, despite having a height of only . Matheson made her national team debut at the

Algarve Cup The Algarve Cup is an invitational tournament for national teams in women's association football hosted by the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF). Held annually in the Algarve region of Portugal since 1994, it is one of the most prestigious and ...

in March 2003. Matheson participated in the

2007 Women's World Cup The 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup, the fifth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, was an international association football competition for women held in China from 10 to 30 September 2007. Originally, China was to host the 2003 edition, but t ...

, she appeared in all three of Canada's group stage matches, they finished third in their group and did not advance to the knockout round. In 2008, Matheson was named to her first Olympic Team, she appeared in all four matches for Canada as they were eliminated in the quarterfinals by the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. Matheson played in her second consecutive World Cup in

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

, Canada once again did not advance past the group stage. At the

, Matheson helped Canada win the gold medal against the defending champions

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

. The gold medal match was tied 1–1 after extra time and went to penalties. Matheson was the first player to take a penalty for Canada and scored, Canada defeated Brazil 4–3 on penalties to win their first ever Pan American Games gold medal. Matheson was once again named to Canada's Olympic squad in

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

, where she played every minute of Canada's six matches. After Canada defeated the host team

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

in the quarterfinals, they suffered a last minute loss in extra time to the

in the semifinals. In the bronze medal match against

, Matheson scored the game winning goal in the 92nd minute to defeat France 1–0, and secure Canada's first ever medal in women's soccer at the Olympic Games. In October 2014, Matheson suffered a torn ACL in a friendly match against

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. This injury put her participation in the 2015 World Cup, which was being held in Canada, in doubt. Matheson recovered in time to be named to Canada's squad for the World Cup. She was only fit enough to make one substitute appearance for Canada, she played the final 28 minutes in their quarterfinal loss to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Matheson was named to her third Olympic team in

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

, where Canada won the bronze medal for the second consecutive Olympics. Matheson earned her 200th cap for Canada on October 14, 2018, 181 of those caps were starts. In May 2019, Canada Soccer announced that Matheson had been ruled out of the 2019 World Cup due to a foot injury that would require surgery. In July 2021, Matheson announced her retirement from soccer.

International goals

Honours

Canada *

Summer Olympic Games The Summer Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'été), also known as the Games of the Olympiad, and often referred to as the Summer Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inau ...

: Bronze Medal, 2012 at London, 2016 at Rio de Janeiro *

Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal The Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal (french: Médaille du jubilé de diamant de la reine Elizabeth II) or The Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal was a commemorative medal created in 2012 to mark the 60th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's ...

, 2012

References

Match reports

External links

* * * *
Washington Spirit player profile
* * *
Princeton player profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Matheson, Diana 1984 births Living people Canadian people of Scottish descent Canadian women's soccer players Canada women's international soccer players Princeton Tigers women's soccer players Canadian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Canadian expatriate women's soccer players Expatriate women's soccer players in the United States Footballers at the 2007 Pan American Games Footballers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Footballers at the 2011 Pan American Games Footballers at the 2012 Summer Olympics FIFA Century Club 2003 FIFA Women's World Cup players 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup players 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup players 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup players Olympic soccer players of Canada Olympic medalists in football Olympic bronze medalists for Canada National Women's Soccer League players Washington Spirit players Medalists at the 2012 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 2016 Summer Olympics Soccer players from Mississauga Pan American Games gold medalists for Canada Pan American Games bronze medalists for Canada Footballers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Pan American Games medalists in football OL Reign players Princeton University alumni Utah Royals FC players Women's association football midfielders Medalists at the 2011 Pan American Games Medalists at the 2007 Pan American Games Kansas City Current players Ottawa Fury (women) players USL W-League (1995–2015) players