“So articulate. So humble. So talented” – Clarissa Larisey set for Canadian Debut

Celtic star Clarissa Larisey is currently in Brisbane with the Canadian National Team ahead of a doubleheader against the Australian Matildas. Team Canada is the current Olympic Champions and is one of the favourites for next year’s World Cup and which is set to be the biggest ever tournament for the women’s game which is developing at an incredible pace.

Clarissa Larisey (left) is currently away with Team Canada while Olivia Chance is on international duty with New Zealand.

UEFA have just released further details on the recent Euros which illustrate the growth in the women’s game and the increasing levels of interest that it has for television audiences. According to UEFA, the Women’s Euro was the most watched women’s tournament of all time with a projected global cumulative live viewership of 365 million.

The figure is more than double 2017’s viewership of 178 million and a 214 per cent increase from the 2013 tournament, which reached 116 million viewers.

The Women’s Euro 2022 was also the best attended in history with an average of 18,544, and a record aggregate attendance of 574,875 supporters — more than doubling the previous record of 240,055 set in the Netherlands in 2017. UEFA also reported that European women’s football could reach roughly €686 million in annual commercial value — six times its current value so it’s clear that Celtic need to be involved.

Larisey doesn’t always find the back of the net, here she rues a missed chance against Motherwell

This season Celtic FC Women are frustratingly sitting out of the Champions League while theRangers and Glasgow City participated, with the former still involved. That has to be a target for Celtic this year and winning the SWPL1 title is absolutely vital to establishing Celtic as the top side in Scottish football and then on the European stage.

And with players like Clarissa Larisey gaining international recognition at the highest level of the game, it seems that Fran Alonso – who delivered both the League Cup and Scottish Cup last season – is on the right track with his development plans for the team. All we need now is to achieve the break-though with the wider Celtic support to get our crowds growing in comparison to what is happening across the game down south and around the world.

Here’s the interview with an ‘articulate, humble and talented’ Celtic star Clarissa Larisey who is talking to Canadian media ahead of winning her first cap for her country. The first match between Australia and Canada kicks off at 5.45 am tomorrow morning (Celtic Park Time) and the second match in the series is played on 6 September (10.40 am kick-off time).

Best of luck Clarissa!