Canada’s goal: ‘Inspiring a country’
WOMEN’S WORLD CUP: Canadians have delivered convincing results, even if performances have been less so Ed Willes
Over the first two weeks of the Women’s World Cup, Team Canada’s attack has coughed and sputtered like a ’77 Tercel, their backline has appeared vulnerable and their overall team play could best be described as uneven. Or disjointed. Or incohesive (thank you online thesaurus).
But through the first two weeks of the WWC, the Canadians have also been distinguished by an uncanny ability to deliver convincing results, even if their performances have been unconvincing. On Sunday, they delivered again in a fashion that did little to silence their critics but did land them in the quarter-final round.
The only thing impressive about them, in fact, has been their record.
See you next Saturday at The Dome.
“I think they’re doing everything for Canada to get a result,” said head coach John Herdman.
“There’s nothing left in this group of women. Trust us. Everything is going out there on the pitch and I think that’s all you can ask of them.
“I’m proud of what these women are doing. We’re going to grind results out. We’re going to take our fans with us. That’s who we are. We’re going to give you our best every single game.”
And, so far, their best has been good enough.
There may have been prettier sights — Sepp Blatter doing the tango with Gerard Depardieu pops to mind — but Sunday the Maple Leaf produced a typically gritty, determined and sporadic effort against Switzerland which produced a typically gritty, determined 1-0 win.
In a 50-50 game before 53,855 face-painted Canadian fans, Josée Bélanger struck the telling blow early in the second half before her teammates brought home the win with just enough defence, just enough Erin McLeod and just enough resolve.
Starry Night it wasn’t but when is it ever with this team? On Saturday, they meet the winner of Monday’s Norway-England match with a berth in the semifinals at stake and that thought is pretty enough for them.
“It was pretty incredible to have that many Canadian fans,” said McLeod, the goalie who was voted the team’s woman of the match.
“It’s always an honour. I was pretty pumped and kind of embarrassed I self-cheered so much during the game. But overall, I’m really proud of the way the team performed, especially in the second half.
“We played like the Canada I know and we’re going to show a lot more here.”
That would be nice but if you’re waiting for Canada to turn into an offensive juggernaut, you’re going to be waiting a while. Christine Sinclair, like a lot of the big names in the tournament, has struggled to score goals but Canada has compensated for her lack of production with a relatively tight defence and a starring turn from McLeod, who’s surrendered just one goal over the four games to date. Sunday, she also delivered the save of the match when she dived to turn away Vanessa Bernauer in the 78th minute.
“There have been a lot of upsets in this tournament already,” McLeod said. “You know, we want to go all the way.
“We’ve set even bigger goals: inspiring a country, and not just on the soccer field. I really believe in the women on this team.”
As for the other questions that surround Canada, well, they weren’t exactly put to rest on Sunday.
Bélanger’s goal marked just their second of the tournament in open play. Sinclair had some nice moments against the Swiss, highlighted by a hustle play that created the loose ball on Belanger’s goal but, despite Herdman’s impassioned defence of his skipper, she’ll have to make an impact on the scoresheet sooner or later if Canada has championship aspirations.
But while they’re waiting for their star to break out, Canada has developed an identity that is consistent with this country’s self-image. It might not be the most artful group but they work like farmers, they play for each other and they believe in themselves.
Somewhere along the way, they might make believers out of a few others. “I thought our girls showed some really resilience to fight back in the second half,” Herdman said.
“They’ve performed under the sort of pressure that’s on their shoulders today. That was brilliant today, walking out in front of 50,000-some odd people. Who’d have thought it for women’s football? It was just one of those surreal days.”
And maybe the start of a surreal journey.