Carson, Calif. — Canada and the United States women’s national teams are heading the Tokyo Olympics with wins over Costa Rica and Mexico. The big key for Canada was to have a strong start in the Concacaf Olympic Qualifying final.
The U.S. in this tournament typically scores goals in the first five minutes of the game. Canada was able to keep it scoreless within the first half with a strong defense. However, the second half was a different story and is a big reason why Canada lost the game.
Canadian Women — First Half
Positive Start
The Americans were attacking a lot throughout the game. However, in the first half, Canada seemed to have them under control. Even with all the possession in the first half, Canada had more shots on goal than the Americans. Christen Press, striker for the USWNT, did almost score a few times in the first half.
However, most of those chances the Americans had were from less-threatening scoring positions. A big part of their success in the first half was Kadeisha Buchanan and Sophie Schmidt of Canada with their incredible defense. The match was Buchanan’s 100th appearance for Canada.
.@CanadaSoccerEN Head Coach Kenneth Heiner-moller thoughts on today's lost against the @USWNT. pic.twitter.com/uwpDVspKx7
— Concacaf (@Concacaf) February 10, 2020
Terrific Defense in the First Half
Canada was the better team in the first half and had better scoring chances. This is because Buchanan and Schmidt worked together to eliminate any scoring chances the U.S. might have. The only blunder was giving the ball away on the defensive end to an American player, who could not take advantage.
Team Canada — Second Half
Passing
The passing of the Canadian team seemed to take a dip in the second half. For example, the first U.S. goal, by Lynn Williams, was scored thanks to a give-away by Jayde Riviere. It was also a big reason why the Americans scored the third goal was also because of a mistake. It seemed like the Canadians got tired as the game went and it showed in the second half.
Substitutes
The substitutes for Canada in the second half did not make a positive impact. Conversely, the substitutes the Americans made allowed them to score two more goals to win, 3-0. The Americans once again won the Concacaf Championship. However, Canada did its job in qualifying for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
.@USWNT Head coach Vlatko Andonovski thoughts on today's 3-0 victory over @CanadaSoccerEN | #WeBelong pic.twitter.com/LgbG7XZ0K4
— Concacaf (@Concacaf) February 10, 2020
Canadian Women and their Chances in the Game
A lot of the chances for Canada came in the second half. Christine Sinclair almost scored but was stopped by American goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher. Canada had other chances against the Americans throughout the game but looked less dangerous in the second half than in the first half. Their biggest chance in the second half was where Janine Beckie almost scored as he beat Naeher.
Where does Canada Go From Here
Performance at the Tournament
The big picture is that Canada played well enough to be one of only 12 teams in the Tokyo Olympics. Some positives to take from the game was a strong first half by Canada who looked better than the U.S. in the first half. Finally, Jordyn Huitema, the 18-year old who sent Canada to Tokyo won the Golden Boot for her five goals.
Games Coming Up for Canada
Canada will have lots of games against top competition before the Olympics. In early March, they will be facing tough-tier one women’s soccer nations like Brazil, the Netherlands and France.
All of these three games will take place in France. Canada will then have a home game at BC Place Stadium in Vancouver in April against Australia. All of these teams — except Brazil — have a higher ranking than Canada, who is ranked eighth in the world. Australia is ranked seventh, France fourth and finally Women’s World Cup finalists, the Netherlands, are ranked third in the world. However, Brazil is also not too far behind, being ranked ninth.
The Netherlands and Sweden defeated Canada in the last Women’s World Cup. Furthermore, Brazil defeated Canada 4-0 in a friendly last year. Although France is not in the Olympics, they did one better than Canada in the last World Cup by making it to the quarterfinals.
🎙️"Ready to come back stronger, ready to play them in the olympics and get a different result" – @JordynHuitema comments after today's loss against @uswnt 🇺🇸 | @CanadasoccerEN 🇨🇦 #WeBelong #CWOQ pic.twitter.com/JFkaNT4iGZ
— Concacaf (@Concacaf) February 10, 2020
Current Update on Olympic Spots for Tokyo 2020
Teams that have qualified for the Olympics are Japan, Brazil, New Zealand, Great Britain, Netherlands, Sweden, Canada and the Americans. However, there are still a few more spots to determine. In March, two Asian teams and one African team will qualify for the Olympics.
Finally, in April the second-placed teams of the African and South American regions will face each other in a two-legged match to determine the final Olympic spot. The second-placed African team is unknown. However, the second-placed team from South America is Chile. They finished runner-ups to Brazil in the South American Olympic qualification.
