Chasing golden opportunity
Olympic berth takes some heat off, but things are set to get tougher
With Olympic spot secured, real work begins for Canadian women,
There were hugs and screams and a few good-natured profanities on the field at Dignity Health Sports Park in Carson, Calif., as a joyous — and relieved — Canadian women’s soccer team celebrated a 1-0 victory over Costa Rica that sealed a spot in this summer’s Tokyo Olympics.
They got what they came for, if not in the most eye-catching manner.
“It wasn’t the prettiest of matches,” coach Kenneth Heiner-Moller told his players in Friday night’s post-game debriefing, picked up on the telecast.
The Canadians were Olympic bronze medallists in 2012 and 2016, and their numbers in CONCACAF qualifying suggest another podium finish is within reach: 23 goals over four games (for a tournament-high 5.8 per game) while allowing none; the most passes (1,741) and best pass effectiveness (89 per cent); the top goal scorer in teenager Jordyn Huitema, with seven to date; and the world’s best international scorer in veteran Christine Sinclair, who broke American striker Abby Wambach’s career record of 184 goals in the tournament’s first match.
Canada has been “flying” in qualifiers, Sinclair said following Friday’s win. After a tough Women’s World Cup campaign (when Canada bowed out with a whimper in the round of 16) and a difficult end to 2019 (dropping two of their last three friendlies and conceding eight goals against Japan, Brazil and New Zealand) their performance in qualifying has been “nothing short of incredible,” according to goalkeeper Stephanie Labbé.
“I think it’s just a big weight off our shoulders now,” Labbé said.
But for all the confidence Canada has gained, putting too much emphasis on four matches — with Sunday’s final against the United States still to come — would be a dangerous game to play. To date, all the eighthranked squad has done is prove it can beat countries it’s expected to beat: St. Kitts and Nevis (No. 127), Jamaica (No. 51), Mexico (No. 26) and Costa Rica (No. 37).
And like Heiner-Moller said, even that wasn’t always pretty.
Canada dominated the round robin, but nothing was easy in Friday’s semifinal. They have never lost to Costa Rica — winning all 14 encounters with a 46-6 edge in goals — but were tested this time by the underdogs’ physical play and deep block.
It took 72 minutes before Huitema broke through for a tap-in goal that nearly went haywire — her first close-range attempt bouncing off the post, only to land back at her feet.
“I think the first thing I said to the team was, ‘That’s my luck for 2020,’ ” Huitema joked.
They were overdue to score after dominating possession, but in the end they were life and death to beat a country that lags behind Canada in terms of resources and talent. The Canadians struggled to find a rhythm, gave up silly fouls and lacked finesse offensively — reminiscent of their World Cup troubles.
In 15 games in 2019, Canada played just three teams ranked 26th or lower. They’ve played four already this year.
It’s only going to get harder from here.
“Going in at halftime 0-0, we felt really good about what we were able to bring and the performance, but we knew that there was another gear in us and we knew that there was a little bit more,” Labbé said after the semi.
Sunday’s final against the topranked Americans will be their toughest test to date. The U.S. qualified for Tokyo with a 4-0 win over Mexico on Friday night, and hasn’t lost to Canada in their last 35 meetings — dating back to the 2001 Algarve Cup.
Of the eight nations that have qualified for the Olympics in women’s soccer so far, six are among the top 10 in the world rankings — the U.S., the Netherlands, Sweden, Canada, Brazil and Japan — while Britain’s squad will likely draw heavily from No. 6 England. New Zealand is the outlier at No. 23. There are four spots left to fill.
“We want to be at the podium again,” Heiner-Moller said. “I do think we’ve got the team for it.”