Canada poised to book ticket to Rio
• Fewer than eight months after exiting the World Cup on home soil, Canada is determined to book its ticket Friday to women’s soccer other major — the Olympics.
Costa Rica stands in the way in t he CONCACAF Women’s Olympic Qualifying Championship semifinal. Ranked 34th in the world, the Ticas are seen as a team on the rise. Still, the 11th- ranked Canadians would seem a significant cut above.
The top- ranked U. S. will face No. 48 Trinidad & Tobago in the later semifinal Friday at BBVA Compass Stadium. Both semifinal winners qualify for the Olympics, where Canada won bronze four years ago.
Coach John Herdman anticipates the Costa Ricans parking the bus in front of their goal.
“We’d expect t hem to probably throw a deep block out there and ask Canada to come and break us down,” he said. “We’ve had a lot of experience of that over the last three games — t eams parking the bus and forcing us to be creative. So we’re in a good rhythm in that sense.”
If teams have parked the bus, they have left the windows and doors open.
Eleven different Canadians scored during the pool stage as Canada thumped No. 89 Guyana 5- 0, Trinidad and Tobago 6- 0 and No. 76 Guatemala 10- 0.
“That’s the exciting part,” said Herdman. “Everyone coming out of the World Cup hammered us because we couldn’t score. We were one of the best defensive teams in the tournament. We didn’t get enough credit for that I don’t think, but you never do for defending.
“I think we’ve got a new threat there,” he said.
Canada scored four goals and conceded three in five games at the World Cup where it exited in a 2-1 quarter-final loss to England.
The Ticas, who have never reached the Olympics, advanced to Friday’s semifinal by beating No. 108 Puerto Rico 9- 0 and No. 26 Mexico 2-1 after an opening 5- 0 loss to the U.S.