Jubilation and relief
VICTORY: Canadians couldn’t get shot on goal in first half but came through in end
As Sunday’s first half wound down, Canada’s coach, John Herdman, was standing, imploring the big crowd at B.C. Place to make more noise.
Then the Canadian bench stood up in numbers, faced the fans, and did the same.
It was that kind of 45 minutes: nervy, sloppy, no shots on goal.
It was tough for the 54,000 on hand to cheer for. Tough to see Canada’s chances of getting past Switzerland and into the Women’s World Cup quarter-finals as anything more than a coin flip, a bit of luck.
“He just put it pretty simply,” goalkeeper Erin McLeod said of Herdman’s halftime speech. “He said, ‘We can’t have any regrets. We’re going for it.’ And everybody did.”
They came out of the locker-room alive, on the attack. And seven minutes into the second half, they had the only lead they’d need.
Josée Bélanger, the bundle of energy from Coaticook, Que., played hero with the goal to give Canada a 1-0 win.
Rhian Wilkinson whipped a halfclearance back into the box. Christine Sinclair got a toe to the ball, poking it, intentionally or not, into Bélanger’s path. Bélanger curled it inside the far post. Jubilation. Relief. It was a different Canada after the break.
“In the second half, we played like the Canada I know and (the Canada) we’re going to show a lot more of this tournament,” said McLeod, who came up with a tremendous save off Vanessa Bernauer in the dying minutes.
McLeod’s not had a ton of action in this tournament, but she’s been clutch.
This Canadian team is all about one-goal games.
They don’t have much more offence in them. But it’s been enough to get them either England or Norway next Saturday in Vancouver, and a shot at the semifinals.
“That’s the mark of a great goalkeeper,” said Herdman. “Right at the death, the concentration is there.”
Bélanger’s sixth goal for Canada was her first in 23 games and first since Dec., 2010, before an ankle injury and a bad national team experience turned her off playing for her country.
Herdman coaxed her back in 2014. He flew to Quebec and called her out at a coaching conference. He told her that her country needed her.
“I remember that I couldn’t understand his accent,” Bélanger said of Herdman’s Geordie English.
“It was a big step for me to forgive the past.”
She’d been filling in admirably for an injured Wilkinson at rightback to start this tournament. But Canada craved a spark up front. They had two goals through three group games. So Herdman shifted Bélanger up front against the Swiss and he gave the veteran Wilkinson her first start here.
“Bélanger’s a striker,” said Herdman. “That’s the most confidence I’ve seen from her.
“We wanted to get that pace up front. You can see what happens when you bring that real international pace.”
Herdman said Bélanger helps to complement Sinclair and Melissa Tancredi, and he shot back at critics of Sinclair’s play during this World Cup.
“She doesn’t deserve to take stick,” he said. “She gives everything to this team, every single game.
“You put her in a different team, she’ll score 20 goals. Off the pitch, she’s the pride of our country and she’s going to stay that.
“At some point (in this tournament), Christine will do what we all expect Christine to do.”
She’ll have a chance to prove Herdman right because Canada again did enough to advance.
Centre-back Kadeisha Buchanan, 19, was excellent, as usual.
She needed to be with Lauren Sesselmann seeming to embody Canada’s early nerves.
Buchanan also played through pain. Herdman didn’t say what. He said she almost didn’t play.
Midfielder Sophie Schmidt shook off a bone bruise to play and Herdman praised his team of “warriors.”
Left-back Allysha Chapman did terrific defensive work on Switzerland’s top threat, Ramona Bachmann. Bachmann was still a danger, but not a difference-maker.
But Sunday’s win means this tournament isn’t a flop for Canada. They’re where they should be.
That was the immense pressure riding on the Switzerland game.
A nervous building at halftime, B.C. Place was bouncing by the end.