No medal for Canada but hope for future

> MEXICO 2 > CANADA 1

HAMILTON— Minutes after his team missed out on a bronze medal, Canadian women’s soccer coach Danny Worthington approached a gaggle of waiting media, opened his mouth to answer a question and paused.

“Give me a minute,” he said, collecting himself before talking about Friday night’s 2-1 loss to Mexico.

His side, an under-23 team brought to the Pan Am Games as a tryout for the senior squad which should be at the Rio Olympics next summer, wasn’t expected to challenge seasoned sides from Mexico, Colombia and Brazil. But after elevating their play against the latter two, not going home with hardware is tough to take.

“I think you’ve seen young players grow and I think you’ve seen a few bloomers there,” the coach said.

The fight for bronze medal was on from the get-go.

Canadian ’keeper Stephanie Labbé came up big in the first 10 minutes, stopping a close-range shot from striker Monica Ocampo and clamping down on a long strike from Veronica Perez.

Canada had chances of its own in the early minutes, a weak header and a shot from distance, both by Gabrielle Carle.

But midway through the half, on a fast break after Canadian striker Janine Beckie nearly punished Mexican ’keeper Pamela Tajona for being off her line, Ocampo broke away from fullback Kinley McNicoll and slotted home her second of the tournament.

It was a déjà vu moment for the Canadians, who let in a goal in the same minute against Colombia after missing a clear-cut chance.

Less than 10 minutes later they doubled their lead when an attempted clearance by Jessie Fleming in the box deflected off Perez’s knee and into the back of Canada’s net.

Fleming got one back through a textbook penalty in the 88th minute, but it wasn’t enough for Canada to claw all the way back.

National team head coach John Herdman said learning to put in a complete 90-minute performance, which Canada failed to do in four of five games, is the next step for this young squad.

“You hope next time they play they start a little bit shaper and a bit smarter. They’ll have that Central American understanding of how they play.”

The players may be disappointed to leave without a medal, but breakout performances by Carle, Janine Beckie and others left Herdman smiling: “All in all, really happy with what these five games have given us.”

Now all that’s left to decide is the gold medallist when Brazil and Colombia meet Saturday evening.