THANKS, CANADA
Country celebrates as Canadian team advances to Women’s World Cup quarter-finals with 1-0 victory over Switzerland
Canada Day came 10 days early to Vancouver.
A patriotic sea of red-and-white spilled out of B.C. Place into downtown Vancouver after Canada’s 1-0 victory in a do-or-die FIFA World Cup match against Switzerland Sunday.
“I’m a proud Canadian today,” said Mel Philips, clad in all-Canadiana gear from head to toe including a pair of red pyjama pants decorated with moose and beavers. “The women really shone, and it was a fantastic game, very fun to watch.”
On Georgia Street behind her, cars honked in celebration as jubilant fans broke out into chants of “Ca-na-da! Ca-na-da!” — a rather unusual sight for a city where such fervour is usually reserved for hockey victories.
“It’s home-team advantage, girl power and Go Canada rolled into one,” said Vancouver’s Katie Mah, trying to describe the atmosphere in the sold-out stadium when Quebec’s Jósee Bélanger drove the ball into the Swiss team’s net with a powerful left-foot kick.
Mah said “a tiny part” of her was rooting for Switzerland because of its star player Ramona Bachmann, dubbed the Alpen Messi. But in the end, her love for Canada won out. “I am so happy. I can’t wait to watch our team play in the next match.”
On a day when there were plenty of things going on in the city — from yoga at the Plaza of Nations, to the dragon boat festival, the jazz fest, and car-free celebrations, not to mention Father’s Day — a Canadian national team record crowd of 53,855 packed into B.C. Place for the round-of-16 match, with a few hundred more at the FIFA Fan Zone at Larwill Park.
Lindsey Toews and Brenda Kolenbrander had watched the Canadian team play against New Zealand and China in earlier matches at Larwill Park.
“Those games were mid-week, and it was still really good atmosphere,” said Toews, who came downtown from Abbotsford. But the size of Sunday’s crowd beat both games, she said. “It’s huge. There’s a lot of fans here. It’s a good turnout, especially on Father’s Day.”
Ashok Puri’s sons took him to the fan zone for some father-and-sons bonding. A soccer enthusiast who had travelled to Brazil last year for the men’s World Cup, Puri was also impressed by the crowds, which he said was “massive” for North American standards.
“The best thing was all the people here. Vancouver’s becoming (to lean) towards soccer also,” he said.
A smattering of Swiss fans were also in the fan zone, wearing their version of red and white, white cross in place of the red maple leaf. But even with their cowbells, their noise were drowned out by the pro-Canadian crowd.
The Swiss team, World Cup newbies, had been a scoring powerhouse compared to Vancouver, with 11 goals in three games compared to Canada’s two. But one goal was all Canada needed.
The victory cut short Team Canada’s 10-game winless skid against European teams.
It also means Canada will face off in the quarter-finals against the winner of Monday’s England vs. Norway match. That quarter-final game will be held at B.C. Place on Saturday.