As Canada holds its breath, Grosso makes history
Going to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics was never a certainty for Julia Grosso, but fortunately for the Canadian women's national soccer team, the Vancouver product made the cut.
Grosso, 20, converted the winning penalty for Canada in the gold-medal final against Sweden at the International Stadium in Yokohama on Saturday local time, muscling her shot past goalkeeper Hedvig Lindahl.
The goal gave Canada the Olympic gold medal and set off wild celebrations across the country, including at Grosso's household in B.C. It also cemented Grosso's place in Canadian sports history.
“I know she's one of their penalty shot takers,” Grosso's older sister, Carli, told Postmedia in Vancouver following the game. “And after Adriana Leon shot and Sweden missed, I was saying, `I think she's up.' I was starting to mentally prepare for it and they showed her face on TV. I was overwhelmed with excitement and nerves at the same time, but she kept calm and did her job.”
Grosso is one of three 20-yearolds on Canada's Olympic roster and represents a bright future for the women's soccer program. She may not have been on the team had the Olympics been held as scheduled a year ago, but her play over the past 12 months impressed head coach Bev Priestman enough to put the midfielder on the 22-player roster.
Grosso was behind Quinn on the Canadian depth chart in midfield and ahead of veteran Sophie Schmidt. Grosso was bought on as a substitute in five of the six games Canada played in the Olympic tournament.
“I came into this tournament knowing the opportunity with five subs was going to be critical, and we have for the first time the depth and every player can contribute to helping us get a gold medal,” Priestman said. “You have to be brave; I've asked the players to be brave and that's what I've tried to do with people coming in and making an impact and every player absolutely did that.”
In the gold-medal final, Grosso came on at half time for Quinn and helped change the direction of the contest. With Grosso in midfield, Canada were more responsible with the ball, having turned it over far too often for the liking of Priestman through the first 45 minutes of the game.
“I think the young players coming through tonight stepped up and delivered,” Priestman said. “It's a very special group and a great blend, and they managed to do it. They wanted to do whatever it took to make the country proud and they've absolutely done that.”
Grosso's introduction also helped take some of the pressure off Christine Sinclair, who plays as an attacking midfielder under Priestman as opposed to the outand-out striker of her younger days.
Grosso did most of the running in midfield, allowing Sinclair, 38, to focus on other tasks.
“That's something I found in the past (extra pressure), but not with this group,” Sinclair said. “This group is loaded and I know I just need to do my job. I need to do whatever I can to help the team win and every game that's different. I don't need to play out of my skin for us to win and it's great to be part of that.”
In the penalty shootout, Grosso was not among the first five players selected to shoot for Canada. Yet, when the shootout was extended to sudden-death, Grosso's name was next on the list.
After goalkeeper Stephanie Labbé stopped defender Jonna Andersson on Sweden's sixth shot, the stage was set for Grosso to win the game and claim the gold medal for Canada.
“I think it (shootout) was pretty darn stressful,” Quinn said. “We've trained for this and we knew the players taking those kicks were up for the task.”
Grosso stepped up and hammered a left-footed shot into the bottom left corner, which Lindahl was able to get a hand to, but unable to keep from bouncing into the net.
“We went crazy. Absolutely crazy,” Carli Grosso said. “She looked up to me when we were growing up. She's my role model now.”
This group is loaded and I know I just need to do my job. … I don't need to play out of my skin for us to win and it's great to be part of that. CHRISTINE SINCLAIR