The unlikely Group A winner

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This article was published 16/06/2015 (4066 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Had you offered the Canadian national women’s soccer team top spot in Group A ahead of the 2015 Women’s World Cup, they’d have bitten your hand off.

Had you offered them a single win and just two goals (one from open play) they’d have likely taken a pass.

But the two scenarios — both of which were fulfilled by Monday’s 1-1 draw with the Netherlands — combine to describe the reality of this team, what it has accomplished so far and its prospects for the next few weeks.

 

Canada, with a first-place finish, can now look forward to a Round-of-16 encounter with one of Australia, Cameroon, South Korea, Spain and Sweden, and while the assignment remains tricky it is considerably more straightforward than the showdown with Switzerland that might have awaited had they finished second, or an appointment with either Germany or Japan the fate for finishing third.

Job 1 for this side, as players and management said from the outset, was always to win the section, and now that they’ve done it they can prepare for the next phase of the tournament.

Spun a certain way their performances were professional, if uninspiring; twisted another they’ll make tasty fodder for a Norway, Colombia, France or England in the quarter-finals.

But that’s still some way down the road, and who’s to say they can’t improve further before then?

Certainly not John Herdman.

The Canadian manager made a handful of changes for the match in Montreal, and youngsters Jessie Fleming, 17, and Adriana Leon, 22, repaid him with meaningful displays.

Conversely, neither midfielder Kaylyn Kyle nor defender Carmelina Moscato did much to justify another chance in the starting 11.

Kyle, who was deputizing for the yellow-carded Desiree Scott at Olympic Stadium, was overrun at times in the centre of the park, and Moscato, who started for the gaffe-prone Lauren Sesselmann, coughed up the ball in the build-up to Kirsten Van de Ven’s late equalizer.

In other words, the personnel adjustments were both good and bad — a basic metaphor for Canada’s World Cup to date.

Even so, there are reasons for hope.

Fleming and Leon are two of them, and 20-year-old midfielder Ashley Lawrence is another. She opened the scoring after 10 minutes with a composed finish and seemed to place herself in helpful positions throughout the balance of the match.

Then there is Kadeisha Buchanan, the 19-year-old centre-back who is yet to put a foot wrong at this competition.

Already one of the world’s best defenders, and perhaps the best, she has been so dominant it’s sometimes as though there are several of her on the pitch at once — numerous Buchanans putting out fires all over the surface.

Had it not been for Moscato’s error Canada would have finished their Group A schedule without conceding a goal, as only Brazil still have a chance to do.

So let’s put it like this: if you were to offer the Canadians a single goal in the Round of 16 they’d almost certainly take it. They’d be silly not to.

 

OTHER GROUP A MATCH: Monday’s other Group A match was a see-saw contest between China and New Zealand in Winnipeg.

Since losing their opener on a dubious Canada penalty in Edmonton, China have played some of the best soccer of the competition and are back into the World Cup knockout stages for the first time since 2007, when they lost to Norway in the quarter-finals.

Their 2-2 draw with the Football Ferns sealed second place in the bracket, and while they’ll avoid the likes of Germany and Japan as a result it’s likely they’ll face a talented Switzerland side on Saturday in Edmonton.

Germany, meanwhile, took some time to find the back of the net against Thailand in Monday’s early match at Investors Group Field before prevailing 4-0 — substitute forward Lena Petermann scoring twice in two minutes shortly before the hour mark.

The victory means the two-time world champions will face a third-place opponent from one of Group A, C and D.

Golden Boot contenders Celia Sasic and Anja Mittag each played 45 minutes of the 90 but could not add to their tallies.

Thai defenders Natthakarn Chinwong and Duangnapa Sritala were exceptional, particularly in the first half, and but for their contributions the Asian outfit would surely have gone down to a more lopsided result.

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