Crossbar saved hosts’ day after ‘soft’ penalty-kick call
When Amber Hearn stepped up to take a penalty kick for New Zealand in Thursday’s match at Commonwealth Stadium, Canadian defender Allysha Chapman said “karma rang the crossbar.”
It was the moment that could have changed the game. Chapman took New Zealand’s Hannah Wilkinson down in the Canadian scoring box, prompting referee Bibiana Steinhaus of Germany to award a penalty kick.
After the game, Chapman called the call “soft.”
“She went down pretty easy, but New Zealand, that’s the only way they were going to beat us, getting calls around the box,” Chapman said. “I should have known she was going to dive. She went down quite soft.”
Luckily for the Canadian squad, the nerves got the best of Hearn, who was selected to take the penalty kick. The most dangerous player for the Football Ferns throughout the match, Hearn said she crumbled under the pressure.
She said she was thinking “top corner,” but instead drilled the ball in the middle of the crossbar. The sound caused the crowd of 35,544 to roar in celebration.
Chapman said the game was a physical battle.
“I’m a little bruised right now in different places, but you kind of expect that against New Zealand because it’s kind of what they have,” she said.
New Zealand’s captain Abby Erceg, meanwhile, didn’t think the match was as physical of a battle as she anticipated.
“Last time we played them, it was very, very physical. That’s all it was and the game turned into a bit of a fight, whereas I think this time both teams tried to play football,” Erceg said.
“It’s not quite what we’re expecting, which suited us because we have quite a small midfield, but in saying that, we need to implement ourselves a little bit more in the game.”
Both teams travelled east Friday, with Canada headed to Montreal, where it will face Netherlands. New Zealand flew to Winnipeg, where it will play China.