OH NO, CANADA!
Lopsided loss aussies might be the end for goal machine Sinclair
MELBOURNE, Australia — In what could have been Canada star Christine Sinclair’s last Women’s World Cup match, she and her Olympic champion teammates were knocked out of contention by Australia, 4-0, in a group-stage finale Monday.
“I’m obviously still processing it,” Canada coach Bev Priestman said after the match. “Even hearing you say, ‘Could this be Christine Sinclair’s last game?’ It breaks my heart.”
Sinclair, 40, the all-time leading goal scorer in international soccer, women or men, has played in six Women’s World Cups. Canada finished fourth in her tournament debut in 2003, its best finish to date.
“Things have to change,” Sinclair said. “We don’t have a professional league. We don’t have that pathway for players to make the national team. If this isn’t a wake-up call, I don’t know what is.”
Sinclair and her teammates have been fighting for equal pay and support from Canada Soccer.
Canada hasn’t advanced out of the group stage in five of its eight Women’s World Cup appearances. It is the first reigning Olympic
champion to fail to reach the knockout round in the Women’s World Cup.
“From the ecstasy of two summers ago, winning gold, to losing tonight, as painful as it is, it’s part of sport,” Sinclair said. “You have to be able to accept the losses the same way you accept the wins.”
If Sinclair had scored a goal at this tournament, she would have become the first player, female or male, to score in six World Cups. That she didn’t underscores Canada’s struggles to generate offense against Australia and in its opening 0-0 draw with Nigeria.
Adriana Leon scored Canada’s only goal of the tournament in its 2-1 win over Ireland, with the other coming off an Irish own goal.
“We created some good chances in this tournament, we just weren’t clinical,” Canada’s Sophie Schmidt said.
Canada slid to third in Group B. Nigeria finished second.
Nigeria 0, Ireland 0
BRISBANE, Australia — Pretournament underdog Nigeria used a scoreless draw against Ireland on Monday to advance to the round of 16 of the Women’s World Cup. The Super Falcons finished second in Group B behind tournament co-host Australia.
After a relatively quiet first half, the Nigerians picked up the intensity in hopes of scoring the goal that would move them to the top of the group. A diving save from Ireland’s Courtney Brosnan in the 52nd minute kept her clean sheet intact and secured Ireland’s first point in its debut appearance at the tournament.
Zambia 3, Costa Rica 1
In Hamilton, New Zealand, Lushomo Mweemba scored the fastest goal at this year’s Women’s World Cup, and Barbra Banda added the 1,000th goal in tournament history, as tournament newcomer Zambia earned its first ever win.
The victory sent Zambia home from its first World Cup on an emotional high. Both teams had already been eliminated from the knockout stage before the Group C match.
Japan 4, Spain 0
In Wellington, New Zealand, Japan scored three times from lightning breaks in the first half, once in the second and defended resolutely to trounce Spain and top Group C.
Hinata Miyazawa scored twice, Riko Ueki scored once and both were instrumental in each other’s goals as Japan switched swiftly from defense to counterattack and scored from its only three attempts on goal before halftime.