Canada fails to seal deal against plucky Kiwis
Quality for quality, Canada may be superior to New Zealand in women’s soccer by multiple metrics, but their match Thursday night at Common wealth Stadium was a coin toss, soggy start to disappointing, nil-nil finish.
That single point gives Canada four total over two matches. That is still enough to lead Group A with four points, with one match remaining for all four teams. But it was not what they were looking for, which was a victory, three points and a clinched berth to the next round.
A penalty kick for Canada had made the difference in their 1-0 victory over China PR, but a missed one by New Zealand was the difference Thursday night.
China and the Netherlands, both 1-1, have three points each, while the Kiwis now have a single point.
On reflection, Canadian head coach John Herdman may have done his side no favours by confidently declaring his outfit the better team, which they are on ranking, with Canada at No. 8 in the world, New Zealand, No. 17.
The Football Ferns played like a team determined to make their one-time head coach eat his pre-game bravado.
Kiwi goalkeeper Erin Nayler, the player of the match, wouldn’t bite, however, when asked whether she and her teammates used Herdman’s words for fuel.
“We tried to ignore that,” Nayler said. “We didn’t really let that faze us.
Herdman, for his part, stood by his words after the match, leaning heavily on the stats sheet for support.
“Well, 60 per cent possession (59 to 41 per cent), double the shots (10-5 Canada, including 6-1 shots on goal), New Zealand had one shot on target, which was a penalty,” Herdman ticked off. “We had six shots on target, six what I would say were gilt-edged chances, their keeper’s man of the match.
“So, again, I’m not going to protect the team, but the stats don’t lie. That was a decent performance from Canada.”
Neither team seemed unduly affected by a 35-minute delay caused after a thunderstorm moved into the area before the match was four minutes old. If anything, the delay stiffened New Zealand’s resolve.
The Kiwis trademark pressure game came within a whisker of paying off in the 33rd minute, when Betsy Hassett won a one-on-one battle with Kadeisha Buchanan and promptly sent striker Hannah Wilkinson away with the ball in the Canadian zone.
Alyssa Chapman took Wilkinson down in the Canadian scoring box and referee Bibiana Steinhaus of Germany correctly awarded a penalty.
Amber Hearn stepped up to the spot and drilled one dead centre and high. Too high, in the end. It clanked off the crossbar as an announced crowd of 35,544 at Commonwealth Stadium exhaled.
Hearn was the most dangerous New Zealand player, generating four shots, although just the one on net, that failed penalty kick.
That opportunity was wellearned by the Football Ferns, a desperate side after losing a 1-0 heartbreaker to the Netherlands in their opening match, despite controlling play for much of that game.
This was a match in which Canada, having come through the pressure cooker of opening day with a 1-0 victory over China PR on a Christine Sinclair penalty in the 92nd minute, was meant to play more freely, especially against a supposedly inferior opponent. That didn’t happen, or at least, it didn’t free up their ability to convert their chances.
They produced a small cluster of first-half chances. Jonelle Filigno directed a header on goal from a Sophie Schmidt cross, but Nayler smothered that one.
Not long afterward, Ashley Lawrence threaded a pass to Sinclair, but Nayler read that one and sped out to cut off any shooting angle for the Canadian striker, blocking the Canadian’s shot with her hands.
Early in the second half, a ball ricocheted to Sinclair on the right side of the box and her well-timed kick sent the ball netward, but a diving Nayler got a hand on the ball to deflect it away from the goal.
Canada actually put the ball in the New Zealand goal in the 45th minute, but Melissa Tancredi was offside on another play setup by Schmidt. Tancredi had another clear chance in the 75th minute, but Nayler smothered that one, as well.
Not long before that, Schmidt sent a long free kick on a high arc, but that one bounced off the top of the crossbar.
Canada now heads to Montreal for its final Group A match against the Netherlands on Monday night at Olympic Stadium. Perhaps they will also find their scoring touch on the flight to Eastern Canada.
Tight as the matches have been in the group so far — every one decided by a single goal, at most — they almost certainly will need it.