CANADA BASKS IN ‘A LITTLE REVENGE’
NINE YEARS AFTER AN OLYMPIC LOSS TO THE U.S., WOMEN’S SOCCER TEAM CLINCHES A SPOT IN THE HUNT FOR GOLD
KASHIMA, JAPAN • Christine Sinclair was prone on the grass.
The great bowl of Ibaraki Kashima Stadium was almost entirely empty, so the cheers echoed. Sinclair’s Canadian teammates, most of them too young to carry the worst scars of the Canada-u.s. soccer wars, embraced each other in hugs of joy and sweaty relief.
Sinclair was off to the side a little, alone. What was the most prolific international goal scorer of all time thinking about?
“Just that we had finally won,” she said.
Nine years after a brutal loss in the Olympic semifinals to the United States, and 20 years since Canada had beaten their rivals in any match of consequence, Sinclair and her teammates had, yes, finally, done it.
A 1-0 win in the Olympic semifinals booked a place in the gold medal match against Sweden on Friday in Tokyo.
And in a narrative twist that would seem too much of a stretch but for the fact that this was real life, a questionable officiating decision played a major role, just like it did in Old Trafford at London 2012.
“It was nice to get a little revenge,” said Sinclair, the 38-year-old veteran who has been a part of Canada’s transformation from also-ran into a team that will win its third straight Olympic medal on Friday, colour to be determined. “And then I was just sitting there thinking how proud I am of this team. It’s a very unique group, it’s a special group, one that I’m so honoured and proud to be a part of. We fight for everything and, yeah, it’s crazy.”
After a tight game in which Canada had the better of the play in the first half but was forced very much on the back foot by American pressure in the second half, the outcome turned on a ball that was floating toward the edge of the American penalty area.
Canadian forward Deanne Rose dashed toward it, and as defender Tierna Davidson attempted to clear the ball, she clipped the back of Rose’s leg. No one on the pitch seemed to think much of the play, and the Canadians didn’t shout for a foul. But the video assistant referee signalled concern to the on-field referee, and after a brief check a penalty was awarded for a foul in the box.
Jessie Fleming, 23, of London, Ont., stepped up and coolly side-footed a shot inside the right post. She would later say she had picked out the spot she would place her kick the night before. Best to be prepared. It was one of those penalty calls that is objectively correct, but rarely called in the moment. But given that the Canadians have had to stew for nine years over a call that they hated in the moment — a six-second violation against keeper Erin Mcleod, one of those calls that might be objectively correct but is rarely called in the moment — it was a truly freaky moment of cosmic justice.
“Surreal,” said Canadian defender Ashley Lawrence of Toronto. “But at the same time, we worked so hard for this moment and I feel like we just peaked at the right time.”
Lawrence was 17 years old in 2012, watching on TV when Canada lost to the United States in Manchester. “It was that U.s.-canada game that inspired me to want to play for Canada,” she said. “Fast forward nine years later and it’s crazy that we are in the semifinals against that same opponent and I’m playing with those same Canadian players against the U.S. players and, so, yeah, it’s surreal for me.”
Canada came into the game with emotional baggage that would only fit on the oversized conveyor belt. There was the wild 4-3 loss in 2012 — the game with three Sinclair goals and one intense Sinclair stare that probably frightened some children at home. But Sinclair and Desiree Scott were the only Canadians on the field at Ibaraki Kashima Stadium who also played in that (in)famous Old Trafford match.
The rest of her teammates don’t have memories of personally losing key heartbreaking matches to the Americans, they just have no memories of beating them, either. The United States’ record against the Canadian women was a cool 51-3-7 before Monday, and Canada’s winless streak against them had stretched to more than two decades.
But this semifinal match set up the possibility that Canada might finally break that streak. It’s not that the team wearing red came into it on gangbusters form, having drawn two games and won one by a single goal in the group stage before advancing on spot kicks against Brazil, it’s that the U.S. machine had been sputtering itself. The Americans, winners of the last two World Cups and finalists in every Olympics since 1996 other than Rio 2016, lost to Sweden and drew against Australia in the group stage before advancing on penalty kicks against the Netherlands in the quarter-finals.
They weren’t rolling over everyone in the normal U.S. fashion. Would that provide just the window that Canada needed?
After a skittish start, the Canadians controlled the play for much of the first half. It didn’t generate scoring opportunities, but it was at the least a statement of intent. They didn’t come to Kashima to bunker down and hope for the best. But after halftime, it was the Americans who made the statement: they were done screwing around. Some of their most decorated veterans came in off the bench — Megan Rapinoe and Carli Lloyd — and suddenly Canada was doing a lot of bunkering down.
At one point midway through the second half, shot attempts were 11-1 in favour of the Americans, and Canadian keeper Stephanie Labbé, and her crossbar, were just managing to keep the game scoreless. The penalty call came just a few minutes later. Fleming said she was just thinking about trusting herself, and definitely not trying to think about 20 years of history. She had a simple thought: “It’s just one kick.”
When it was buried in the net, she ran and slid on her knees, where her teammates met her in elation.
For the Americans, this was a weird feeling. They had made their big push, but it was Canada in the lead. The frenzied final attacking minutes that might have been expected didn’t come. The Canadians were in control, and they were careful and solid until the final whistle.
“(It) sucks,” said Rapinoe when it was over. “We never want to lose to Canada. I think this is my first loss ever to Canada. It sucks.”
For the Canadians, it was something else. Sinclair said the bitter memories of 2012 were mostly just that, memories.
“But as soon as the quarters happened, and we knew that we were playing (the U.S.), I talked to Desi Scott and we both said we’ve been waiting nine years for this chance, to have this game again,” Sinclair said. “And that we’re going to do everything possible for a different outcome. And we did.”