Molinaro on women’s team: Pride restored
Posted January 28, 2012 2:09 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
The demons of Bochum have been laid to rest — for now.
Canada officially booked its place at the London Games with a 3-1 win over Mexico Friday in the semifinals of the CONCACAF Women’s Olympic Qualifying tournament.
The victory came almost seven months to the day since Canada’s great capitulation in western Germany, a humiliating 4-0 loss to France that hastened the Reds’ first-round exit from the FIFA Women’s World Cup.
The memories of Bochum have loomed large over this Canadian team in Vancouver, never more so than during Friday’s do-or-die affair. A lot of time has passed since the debacle against the French, but questions still remained about Canada’s mental game, and whether it could stand and deliver when it really mattered.
This really mattered. Only a victory would have secured the Canadians’ trip to London. A loss would have eliminated them from contention. There would be no second chance, and a setback against Mexico would have had huge financial implications on a Canadian team that relies heavily on funding from Own The Podium.
Canada could not afford to miss out on the Olympics and suffer the subsequent budgetary consequences that would have dealt its program a massive blow as it prepares to host the 2015 Women’s World Cup.
What’s more, a victory was needed in order to get Canadian supporters back onside and win back the trust of those fans with the sour taste of last year’s World Cup disappointment lingering in their mouths.
So Friday’s affair was a must-win game in more ways than one. And to its great credit, Canada demonstrated great character and a tremendous will to win.
What was especially impressive about the performance against the Mexicans was it wasn’t all about Christine Sinclair.
Sure, Captain Canada set the tone with a goal in the 14th minute to settle her team’s nerves. Sinclair had a hand in setting up Melissa Tancredi’s goal 11 minutes later, and was crudely scythed down by a Mexican defender in the process.
Sinclair clutched her ankle in agony as she was attended to by trainers while the Vancouver crowd held its collective breath. The Canadian captain laughed it off, and was back at it full-speed a few moments later. It wasn’t exactly a Bobby Baun moment, but for her teammates, it was all the inspiration they needed — and how they were inspired.
Candace Chapman was her usual brilliant self, a pillar of strength in Canada’s defence who thwarted Mexican attacker Maribel Dominguez at every turn.
Sophie Schmidt firmly established herself as the best Canadian player not named Christine Sinclair with her sublime distribution of the ball and the major role she took in orchestrating the Reds’ attack.
Kelly Parker and Desiree Scott were bulwarks in midfield, throwing themselves into timely tackles that routinely stopped the Mexicans dead in their tracks.
Left-back Lauren Sesselman showed no ill effects of the knee injury that kept her out of the last two games, providing width to the Canadian attack and offering a stabilizing presence in defence.
Tancredi has rightly come in for heavy criticism for her lack of finishing and spurning goal-scoring opportunities. But full credit to her for keeping her cool and burying a chance at the top of the 18-yard box just moments after she failed to capitalize on a great feed from Sinclair.
The big test, though, came when Veronica Perez pulled a goal back for Mexico in the 67th minute to swing the momentum in her team’s favour. It appeared to be Bochum all over again, as the Canadians looked frail and desperate to hold on
But cometh the hour, cometh the man — or is this case, cometh Sinclair.
With Mexico in the ascendency, Tancredi turned provider by supplying a great ball from the flanks to Sinclair who chipped the Mexican goalkeeper with 15 minutes left in regulation to put the result beyond doubt.
“This is a feeling you want to remember, so that down the line you remember what it feels like to be on this end,” Canadian goalkeeper Karina LeBlanc said after the game.
There’s still plenty of work to do for this team, and only by winning a medal in London will Canada be able to earn redemption for Germany.
But for the time being pride has been restored. For now, that’s more than enough.
