JUMPING FOR JOY
England advances to face Canada, and former Canadian star Andrea Neil calls the match ‘incredibly winnable’
Andrea Neil played in four Women’s World Cups for Canada. She was an assistant coach at the 2011 tournament, too.
She’s had yet another perspective for this one.
The Steveston resident is doing analyst work for TSN Radio, and one thing doesn’t change.
“I’m oddly nervous,” Neil, 43, admitted in a phone interview Monday. “I wake up with butterflies. It’s because you care, but it’s not the same pressure by any stretch of the imagination.
“It’s been intriguing and challenging, and a really cool perspective. I’ve learned a lot.”
Neil wasn’t working Monday’s round-of-16 game between England and Norway, which determined Canada’s quarter-final opponent. But of course she was watching.
England came back from 1-0 down in the second half to win 2-1 in Ottawa.
Captain Steph Houghton tied the game on a well-struck header from a corner, then Lucy Bronze scored a cracking winner in the 76th minute.
It was England’s first-ever win in the knockout stage of a Women’s World Cup and it sets up a tasty matchup at B.C. Place on Saturday (4:30 p.m.).
A good matchup for Canada, too, according to Neil, despite sixthranked England being ranked five spots higher than Norway.
“It’s incredibly winnable,” she said. “I think the matchup suits Canada’s momentum a bit more.
“Canada’s very familiar with England, having played them at the London Olympics (a 2-0 win over Great Britain) and the Cyprus Cup (a 1-0 loss in March) and coming off that (1-0) win over England before the World Cup when Canada carried the play.
“I think, psychologically, that’s good for Canada.”
Then there are all the little things that can add up in a long tournament like this. Canada won its round-of-16 game on Sunday, 1-0 over Switzerland. That was in Vancouver, too.
So England’s played a day later, and now has to travel across the country on Tuesday.
“They don’t get to recover the same,” Neil said. “They’re not getting training sessions in, planning sessions in.”
Among England’s threats, Neil noted, is their variety of attacking options. They’ve had five different goal-scorers at this World Cup, led by the well-capped Karen Carney, who has two.
They’ll also give Canada their stiffest test yet on set pieces, so the hosts will have to be up for those physical battles.
But Neil, who retired in 2007 with a then-record 132 caps, likes the resilience she’s seen from this Canadian side.
“They don’t lose themselves maybe as they have in past years,” she said. “They stay in a match. They haven’t dropped a goal down in this competition yet, so that would be interesting to see their perseverance. But let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.”
Neil, a longtime Whitecap, was a key midfielder for Canada when they finished fourth at the 2003 Women’s World Cup in the U.S.
They lost 2-1 to Sweden in the semifinals in Portland, going ahead through Kara Lang’s 64th-minute goal before conceding twice.
Until the Olympic bronze in London, that was the defining moment for this program.
Christine Sinclair, Erin McLeod, Rhian Wilkinson, Carmelina Moscato, Diana Matheson and Karina LeBlanc are all holdovers from that team — Sinclair the only starter back then — which was coached by Even Pellerud.
It was Pellerud’s Norway squad that fell to England on Monday, killing that fun storyline but creating another obvious one.
Canada’s coach John Herdman will face his native England, the country that tried to pry him away in 2013, when he signed along-term-extension. Can this current Canadian group go one better than 2003 and 2012 and make a major tournament final?
“We were never supposed to get as far as we did in 2003,” said Neil, who, like most observers, has been impressed with youngsters Kadeisha Buchanan and Ashley Lawrence, and the clutch McLeod.
“It was one less knockout game (in 2003), but it’s amazing what can happen when you get a little traction and momentum.
“I think Canada’s built for intensity and these players seem to thrive on the pressure of the situation, so you never know.
“They’ve had a great pathway — more recovery, less travel, more time to prepare than anybody else — so the stage is set for them.”
They’ve had a kind draw, too, avoiding the four or five favourites thus far.
And when Canada faces England on Saturday, the first female soccer inductee into Canada’s Sport Hall of Fame will enjoy the view — butterflies and all.