Shrewd coaching decisions propel Canada

Kickabout
By: Jerrad Peters Posted: 10:18 AM CDT Wednesday, Jul. 26, 2023 Last Modified: 5:43 PM CDT Wednesday, Jul. 26, 2023 | Updates

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You have to tip your cap to Bev Priestman.

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You have to tip your cap to Bev Priestman.

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 26/07/2023 (774 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

You have to tip your cap to Bev Priestman.

Knowing her side required an adjustment, a spark, after drawing Nigeria nil-nil to open the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup, the Canada manager rang the changes.

In came Jessie Fleming and Evelyne Viens to start Wednesday’s Group B match against Ireland; out went Deanne Rose and captain Christine Sinclair. It was a brave new look to a Canadian XI — a first without its all-time leading goalscorer since 1999. And it did not go well.

Canada coach Bev Priestman (Phelan M. Ebenhack / The Associated Press files)

Conceding early to Katie McCabe’s “Olimpico” goal, straight in off a corner kick, the Olympic gold medallists appeared lost, disjointed, very much a group with only two competitive matches played in more than three months.

So, Priestman, who took over the team in October 2020, did something even braver. She admitted she’d got it wrong.

Canada had equalized in first-half stoppage time when Irish defender Megan Connolly deflected Julia Grosso’s delivery past her own ‘keeper, but with another draw of little help in a highly competitive bracket the England-born head coach sent out an old-look lineup to start the second period.

It paid off almost immediately.

Sophie Schmidt, 35, having replaced Grosso as midfielder at the break, assisted on Adriana Leon’s go-ahead tally in the 53rd minute, and Shelina Zadorksky, in for the ailing Kadeisha Buchanan, helped tighten the defence. Sinclair, subbed in at Viens’ expense, provided much-needed creativity.

A nitpicky analysis might suggest that they sat on their lead a bit too comfortably, but the fact of the matter is that Canada will now face Australia (Monday, 5 a.m., TSN) in their final group stage encounter with some control over their fate. Which, considering a preparation program that was hardly ideal, is almost a best-case scenario.

If Canada have yet to fully convince at this tournament, one takeaway supporters can count on is Priestman has an absolutely clear understanding of her squad — of which players are fully fit, which are rounding into form and which can still contribute only some of the 90 minutes.

JAMES WORSFOLD / THE CANADIAN PRESS
Canada coach Bev Priestman (centre) is humble enough to admit when she's wrong and savvy enough to make the moves necessary for Canada to have success at the Women’s World Cup. — JAMES WORSFOLD / THE CANADIAN PRESS

Canada coach Bev Priestman (centre) is humble enough to admit when she's wrong and savvy enough to make the moves necessary for Canada to have success at the Women’s World Cup.

Every match for Canada at this World Cup will be a full-squad effort. That means altered starting lineups and an emphasis on substitutions. It worked on Wednesday in Perth; it will have to work again Monday in Melbourne, and beyond.

Priestman knows this. She has an impressive grasp of what’s available to her, and when. As she proved against Ireland, she’s brave enough to make the difficult decisions when she must, humble enough to concede when she got it wrong.

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World Cup Notebook

It does not end. Five months on from the 2022 World Cup, Canada’s men’s national team has issued a cease and desist letter to Canada Soccer regarding the organization’s use of player names, images and likenesses. In the absence of a compensation agreement, they’ve also yet to be paid for their participation in the Qatar tournament. Notably, the two-page document speculates that, because of Canada Soccer’s sale of revenue rights to Canadian Soccer Business, “it is challenging to see any path forward” regarding both the men’s and women’s programs being made whole by the governing body.

Parity was always going to be a talking point — and a positive one — at the Women’s World Cup, but the level to which the 32 teams find themselves on a relatively even plane is simply astonishing. Philippines beating New Zealand? Haiti holding England to a narrow 1-0 win? Denmark edging China in the 90th minute? Jamaica playing France to a draw? More please!

If Brazil felt they’d been written off going into the World Cup — ranked somewhere behind the United States, Spain, England and Germany — they underlined their contender status with a 4-0 win over Panama on Monday. High-profile veterans Marta and Debinha are still part of the setup, but this is now the team of Kerolin, Lauren and Ary Borges, who scored a hat-trick in Adelaide.

If Ary Borges is the early favourite to win the Golden Boot, she has a worthy and motivated opponent in Alexandra Popp. The 32-year-old Germany captain scored twice in Monday’s 6-0 trouncing of Morocco and looks to be on a mission at the World Cup following a series of devastating injuries. At last summer’s Euros she was joint-top goalscorer before sustaining a knock in warmups only minutes before the Wembley final, which England won in extra time.

— Jerrad Peters