Canada bounced from Women’s World Cup after crushing loss to Australia

MELBOURNE, Australia — Canada leaves the FIFA Women’s World Cup early and shell-shocked. And, in some circumstances, in tears.

The Olympic champion Canadians had been put to the sword Monday in a surprising, lopsided 4-0 loss to Australia.

It was not fairly, until you had been Australian. The Tenth-ranked Matildas wanted to win to make sure of transferring on to the event’s knockout spherical they usually wasted little time getting the job performed.

It was one-way site visitors from the get-go.

Hayley Raso scored twice as Canada’s vaunted defence was carved open within the first half. It might have been 3-0 on the break however a 3rd Australian objective was dominated offside.

Canada did not put a shot on the right track in a primary half and appeared rattled. 

And It bought worse as Mary Fowler made it 3-0 within the 58th minute. Rubbing salt within the wound, Steph Catley scored on a stoppage-time penalty after video evaluate confirmed a foul in opposition to Canada’s Jessie Fleming on the sting of the field.

Veteran midfielder Sophie Schmidt, who had beforehand stated she was retiring from worldwide soccer, stated after the sport she was “gutted, heartbroken.”

“I feel really terrible. I feel like we let down Canadians who woke up early to watch that game,” she added, referencing the 6 a.m. ET kickoff. “Australia came out strong, executed their game plan perfectly. They built momentum.”

Fleming and defender Vanessa Gilles fought again tears as they spoke to reporters.

“A bad night to have a bad night,” stated Fleming.

“I just feel a lot of disappointment,” she added, the emotion swelling. “We have a world-class staff back there with us and world-class fans and I don’t think we represented them well enough tonight. I just think this team has so much more in us and such a better performance. That was not seen tonight.”

“The Aussies outdid us today, there’s no hiding from that,” stated Gilles.

A draw or win would have moved the seventh-ranked Canadians into the spherical of 16. But they quickly discovered themselves with a mountain to climb earlier than a partisan crowd introduced at 27,706 at Melbourne Rectangular Stadium.

And now they go residence after three video games, ending third in Group B with a 1-1-1 file. They are the primary defending Olympic champion to not get out of the primary spherical of a World Cup.

It’s Canada’s worst end on the event because it went winless in 2011 and completed final. It’s seemingly additionally the Canadian girls’s worst recreation lately.

And it’s one other physique blow for Canada Soccer in a 12 months blighted by a bitter labour dispute, though Priestman and her gamers refused to level the finger on the off-field distractions.

“Has it been a really really tough year? Absolutely.” stated the coach. “But at the end of the day, we came here tonight thinking we should have been able to win. And we didn’t. And we have to reflect on that.”

Talismanic Canadian captain Christine Sinclair, who got here off the bench in final Wednesday’s 2-1 win over Ireland, returned to the beginning lineup however was one in all 4 gamers substituted at halftime as Priestman appeared for solutions. One wonders how lengthy the 40-year-old icon, the world’s all-time main scorer, will maintain going.

In departing her sixth World Cup, the fashionable captain took some blades of grass from the sector together with her as a memento from her 326th worldwide look.

Asked what was subsequent for her, Sinclair replied: “I have no idea.”

While this event is over, a two-game Olympic qualifier with No. 43 Jamaica looms in late September.

The Canadians knew a loss Monday won’t finish their marketing campaign, offering No. 40 Nigeria was crushed by No. 22 Ireland and the tiebreakers had been of their favour. Nigeria and Ireland performed to a 0-0 draw, snuffing out that state of affairs.

Australia (2-1-0) wins the group with Nigeria (1-0-2) additionally advancing. Ireland (0-2-1) finishes fourth.

Group B lived as much as its billing. Failing to attain in two video games and conceding 5 targets was not sufficient to outlive such a troublesome neighbourhood.

“Football can be cruel sometimes and I think tonight it was cruel,” stated Priestman. “We got punished. We got an early goal (against us) and I think the team lacked belief.” 

“I didn’t come here today thinking I was going home, that we were going home,” she added. “But these are the moments that make you. And it hurts like hell now but we’ll learn (from it).”

Priestman credited Australia for its efficiency. But she was quick on solutions on why her crew was “as rattled as what we’ve seen,” seemingly nonetheless processing the disastrous efficiency in the course of the post-game news convention.

She cited psychological efficiency in deadline with stress and the crew studying to take care of a goal on its again as Olympic champion.

“That’s new territory and for me that’s the difference,” stated Priestman. “The group is actually deeper and arguably more talented in some regards (than the team that won Tokyo gold).”

Canada got here into the sport 8-7-3 all-time in opposition to Australia and had gained the final three conferences, together with final 12 months’s 1-0 and 2-1 victories in Brisbane and Sydney, respectively.

Canada’s finest end on the event was fourth in 2003. Four years in the past in France, the Canada exited in a 1-0 loss to Sweden within the spherical of 16.

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