Defensive errors costly against Brazil
Canadian women exit SheBelieves Cup on a losing note Wednesday Brazil 2 Canada 0
ORLANDO, FLA.—Bev Priestman leaves her first tournament in charge of Canada with a better idea of the young talent at her disposal, but also some pressing questions to be answered.
The Canadian women exited the SheBelieves Cup on a losing note Wednesday, blanked 2-0 by Brazil to finish the fourcountry competition at 1-2-0. Canada was punished twice for defensive errors in the first half at Exploria Stadium before regrouping in the second to take the game to Brazil, albeit without any reward.
Canada, which was missing key players and bedevilled by injury, managed just one goal in three matches. It has been outscored 9-3 in its past seven outings (1-4-2) dating back to February 2020.
Perhaps more worrying is Canada, tied for eighth with Brazil in the FIFA world rankings, is 0-8-2 in its past 10 matches against teams currently ranked in the top 10. It has been outscored 20-3 over that stretch.
Debinha and Julia scored for Brazil, which punished Canadian mistakes in the first half. After an uneven start, the Brazilians took control and showed their attacking flair against a Canadian backline that was pretty green other than centre back Shelina Zadorsky.
The 28-year-old Zadorsky, who earned her 69th cap, lined up with 18-year-old Jade Rose (two caps), 20-year-old Jayde Riviere (18 caps) and 22-yearold Gabrielle Carle (23 caps).
“We can’t start games against a Brazil side like that,” Priestman said. “I think the second half was more of a representation of what I’d expect to see from the group.”
Canada showed more purpose in the early going, stroking the ball around and stretching the Brazilians. But Brazil went ahead in the 14th minute after a giveaway by Rose.
Adriana outmuscled Jessie Fleming for the ball and, after a nice interplay with Debinha, charged into the Canadian penalty box and slid a diagonal shot through goalkeeper Stephanie Labbé’s legs from close range. The ball hit the far post and bounced back toward the shooter, with Debinha poking it into goal before Labbé and Zadorsky could corral it.
The goal spurred Brazil on and Canada paid for some more
sloppy defence late in the half. Julia hammered home a shot in the 39th minute after a penalty box scramble that saw Rose, Riviere and Carle all unable to clear the ball.
Brazil played deeper as the second half wore on, allowing the Canadians more room on attack in the final minutes. They could not convert, although Zadorsky came close in the 84th minute, kicking out a leg twice while on the ground to force consecutive goal-line stops from goalkeeper Barbara and defender Bruna off a Janine Beckie set piece.
Brazil improved its record against Canada to 9-8-7.
“I’ve learned and I’ve seen that Canada has to score more goals,” Priestman said. “I do believe we will because … the chances and the stats tell us we’re in those areas. It’s just that final quality.”
Beckie, perhaps Canada’s best player on the day, says more is needed. “I think the positive is that we’re creating those chances. But if I’m honest we’ve been saying that for a while and we’ve not shifted to putting those chances in the goal. I don’t know what the answer is right now. I think time together is helpful, which is difficult right now.”
Canada went into the tournament missing injured captain Christine Sinclair (186 goals) and midfielder Diana Matheson (19 goals). Goalkeepers Erin McLeod and Kailen Sheridan and defender Bianca St-Georges were hurt and dropped out. Defenders Kadeisha Buchanan and Ashley Lawrence and forward Jordyn Huitema were not released by their French clubs and defender Vanessa Gilles returned to her French club after the loss to the U.S..