Canada’s terrific summer of soccer continues

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This article was published 31/07/2021 (1828 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Canada’s summer of soccer was extended early Friday morning, adding at least three days to a memorable season that has included men’s World Cup qualifying and the CONCACAF Gold Cup and an Olympic tournament that will see the country’s women contest a third straight semifinal on Monday.

Women have so far powered Canada’s medal push at the Tokyo Games, and a few hours after the rowing eights claimed gold in the water the soccer side beat Brazil on penalties to keep their podium dream alive.

They’ll now face the United States—reigning World Cup champions—in a final-four showdown in Kashima (Monday, 3 a.m., CBC).

The dramatic triumph, in which goalkeeper Steph Labbe made a pair of diving saves in the shootout, followed the men’s team’s heartbreaking loss to Mexico in the Gold Cup — a semifinal that produced a rather harsh outcome in unsurprisingly controversial circumstances.

Having conceded a penalty late in a first half that Mexico largely dominated, Canada equalized shortly before the hour-mark through a spectacular Tajon Buchanan strike that beat goalkeeper Alfredo Talavera to the far corner.

It was the least the underdogs deserved.

Seeking a change in the balance of play after the restart, manager John Herdman had switched Buchanan to the left flank and pushed him higher up the pitch, and by the time the New England Revolution starlet had restored level terms it was Canada on the front-foot. Based on the goal, and a generally encouraging balance of play, they would have rightfully been expecting at least extra time in Houston.

But then they got CONCACAF’d.

Late in the second half the match was paused — a recent CONCACAF protocol — in response to homophobic chanting among sections of Mexico fans. The referee added the time to the end of the period — he shouldn’t have — and in the ninth extra minute Hector Herrera scored the winner for the reigning North and Central American and Caribbean region champions.

In other words, it wasn’t actually the Mexican national team that beat Canada late Thursday, but rather that country’s embarrassing proclivity to chant slurs from the stands. Yes, they might have won anyway, but they had done nothing to that point to earn the win in normal time.

Canada’s men deserved better.

Nevertheless, the loss concluded a memorable couple of months in which they advanced in World Cup qualification and contested a first Gold Cup semi-final for the first time since 2007.

In June, based out of an improvised camp in the U.S. due to the coronavirus, they thrashed Aruba 7-0 and topped Suriname 4-0 to win their section. Then they beat Haiti over two legs to progress to the “octagonal,” or final phase of qualifying. They’ll next host Honduras on September 2 and harbour real, legitimate hopes of booking a spot at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Kicking off less than four hours after the men’s defeat, it’s almost as though the women knew Canadian soccer fans couldn’t handle a second loss of the night.

Their quarterfinal against Brazil in Rifu was cagey and largely devoid of quality goal-scoring chances through 120 minutes, although Vanessa Gilles hit the crossbar with a header and both Marta and Debinha came close for the Selecao Feminina.

In the end, it was Labbe’s exceptional stops of Andressa and Rafaelle’s spot-kicks that made the difference, especially after Christine Sinclair’s penalty was saved.

It’s no secret that Canada struggle to find the back of the net at the best of times, but they’ll have to at least create occasional chances against the United States — and avoid costly give-aways that too often leave them out of possession.

Adriana Leon, who scored against Great Britain in the group stage and was introduced as a meaningful substitute against Brazil, should get another chance to play from the start, and midfielder Julia Grosso should be selected as well.

It’s up to manager Bev Priestman to make those brave decisions, but she might take her cue from American counterpart Vlatko Andonovski, who surprisingly kept Alex Morgan and Megan Rapinoe amongst the subs at kickoff against the Netherlands.

Priestman has encouraged her players to change the colour of the medal in Tokyo after winning bronze in both London and Rio de Janeiro, and the success of her rallying cry might come down to her own selections on Monday.

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It’s been a terrific two months of international soccer for Canada. The women stretched it by a few more days, and now it’s up to them to extend it again.

Do it, and they’ll guarantee themselves at least a silver medal. But win or lose, both men’s and women’s teams can look back on what they’ve accomplished with pride.

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Twitter @JerradPeters