The Canadian women’s soccer team’s unlikely inspiration? Celine Dion…

VANCOUVER, B.C.—Many of us Canadians are at a point where we go around apologizing for noted singer Celine Dion, but not the women's soccer team. With a crucial semifinal clash against Mexico looming that will decide the fate of their Olympic dream, goalkeeper Karina Leblanc and the Canadian team released an incredible video Friday that has Leblanc, forward Melissa Tancredi and midfielder Carmelina Moscato belting out a Jennifer Rush song that earned the Charlemagne, Quebec-born Dion a Grammy nomination back in 1995: The Power of Love. Dion's version shot to the top of the charts in Canada, Australia and the U.S. and stayed at the top of the Billboard Hot 100 for four weeks. The Canadian players' version may not have quite as much staying power, and it's more rolling like thunder than whispers in the morning, but it's still definitely worth watching:

The whole video is quite funny, featuring Leblanc grilling her teammates about planned goal celebrations, but it's the team's apparent love for Dion that puts this over the top. According to Tancredi, they listen to "The Power Of Love" after every win in the locker room, which will go down in history as one of the world's most unusual postgame celebrations.

The song's lyrics aren't entirely unrelated to sports, though! At the moment, the Canadian team is heading for something (the Olympics) where some of them have never been, and a few players have admitted to being frightened at the essentially sudden-death implications of Friday's match. The fans' love is something they cannot forsake, and when the game reaches for them, you know they'll do all that they can.

(Of course, if the team comes up short Friday and misses out on this summer's Olympics, they can always follow Dion's career path and move to Vegas The singing may need some work, but they definitely have stage presence.)