Looking back at Saskatoon’s World Cup
When the Saskatoon World Cup wrapped up on Monday night, England captured its third championship in five years.
It was a rather smooth ride for the 2015 edition of the Three Lions. What many felt to be the best-ever English squad assembled, they took back the trophy that had eluded them the last two years.
Shane Hopper’s vision began in 2011, when England entered the tournament for the first time. They lifted the trophy after rattling off six straight wins. In their five years of existence, England has posted a 28-2 win-loss record. Their only losses came in the 2013 and 2014 finals.
Seven who made up the original squad are now part of the elusive triple-gold club. They include Hopper, keeper Max Lingard, defender Mark Thompson, captain Dwayne Gareau, ex-pro John Thomliston, right back Jeff Friesen and veteran striker Spencer Richards.
This time around, it was newly- imported Nathan Reis who scored a lot of their goals. He had 14 of them, including hat tricks against Italy and Canada as well as a four-goal game against Assyria. Reis was clinical on Victoria Day Monday, scoring three times against the Caribbean. He was the tournament’s top scorer.
The ageless Dwayne Gareau frustrated opponents defensively and offensively. Many felt Gareau deserved the MVP award. Instead, Josh Northey of the Caribbean was announced as the recipient. Northey, also a worthy choice, led his team through a difficult group that included Chile and Ukraine. They defeated the feisty Cameroonians and Brazil en route to the final.
The 2015 final was a rematch from a year ago. It was all too evident the gruelling six games had taken their toll on the two teams.
A pro-Caribbean crowd witnessed tired bodies and uncharacteristic mistakes from both sides of the pitch. It all started with an own goal in favour of England.
Both finalists had their moments, but England was better on this day, winning 6-3.
Stories of the tournament
Peru was a dark horse going into the event after going undefeated in 2014, but they missed the knockout stage tiebreaker by a single goal. Drawn into the same group, they got their revenge on Nigeria, winning 1-0.
Michael Bandula proved vital in one-goal victories over Serbia and Norway. He would later be named goalkeeper of the tournament, as the Peruvians reached their first-ever semifinal.
England proved too much for the South Americans Monday morning. Peru eventually lost the thirdplace match to Brazil.
Group B was supposed to be dominated by Ireland, but wasn’t. Rather, South Sudan, Colombia and China all won two each.
Led by goal-getter Robert Gar Lee, China took the group, but lost to Brazil in the quarter-finals.
First Nations won their group over El Salvador and gave England their toughest test of the weekend. Taking the lead twice, they eventually lost 3-2 in the knockout stage.
Norway and Cameroon progressed from Group D, although it ended there as both dropped their quarterfinal contest.
Women’s champion
Poland, coached by Blair Hindmarsh, won its third successive Saskatoon World Cup. They defeated Romania 4-2 in the final.
Rita Fetsch was the tournament’s top goal scorer. Lisa Evans was named the best goalie. Jess Bradford was instrumental, controlling the midfield, while 16-year-old teammate McKenna Olson was second in scoring for the champions.