Soccer: It’s bronze or bust as Canadian women’s team readies for battle with Mexico
After nearly five weeks of tournament play this summer, the Canadian women’s national soccer team has its last chance at hardware Friday with the bronze medal match against Mexico.
Finishing both the Women’s World Cup and the Pan Am Games without silverware would be a disappointment for national team head coach John Herdman and his touted development program, EXCELeration.
One of the three pillars the English manager has campaigned on since he began his plight to improve the women’s game in Canada after being appointed manager in the fall of 2011 is to establish consistency within the national team.
Part of that goal involves landing on the podium, like the squad managed at the London Olympics in 2012.
That should be no different for the country’s young players, who are basically trying out for a spot on next year’s Olympic team during these Pan Am Games.
“We need to rise,” head coach Danny Worthington said after his team’s semifinal loss to Colombia on Wednesday.
“There’s one task. We’ve got one day to turn it around. One day to get the plan together and one day to rise.”
At the Women’s World Cup, a topthree finish was something of a pipe dream.
The squad was buoyed by the potential of a fairy tale ending, with the underdog winning on home soil.
Then ranked eighth in the world, a number that has since dropped to 11, the senior squad met, but could not defy, expectations after getting knocked out in the quarter-finals.
Coming into Pan Ams, there was no hype. This team only played together four or five times before the tournament. It was hard to tell what to expect.
Now, with a couple impressive performances under their belts, a failure to secure the bronze would be a disappointment for the Canadians and their program.
Despite the quick turnaround, Worthington has the utmost confidence in his squad.
“If we show that resilient performance that we’ve just shown in the second half (against Colombia), we can take home a bronze medal.”