After tying Nigeria, Canada turns attention to Ireland at Women’s World Cup
MELBOURNE, Australia — After a irritating scoreless draw with Nigeria, Canada now turns its consideration to a well-drilled Irish facet on the Women’s World Cup.
Ranked twenty second on the planet, match debutante Ireland is coming off a 1-0 loss to Australia. But the Tenth-ranked Matildas needed to work arduous, needing a 52nd-minute penalty to get previous Ireland of their Group B opener in Sydney.
Nigeria coach Randy Waldrum’s crew faces the Australians subsequent. And his tackle the match co-host’s struggles with Ireland and its well-organized defence unwittingly shone some mild on seventh-ranked Canada.
“I can’t speak for them … But I’m sure they was some frustration that they couldn’t break through and score in the run of play,” stated Waldrum. “But good teams find ways to win and they found the penalty and got the result they needed.”
Defender Steph Catley, carrying the captain’s armband instead of the injured Sam Kerr, confidently hammered her spot kick shot excessive into the nook of the Irish objective within the 52nd minute earlier than an introduced crowd of 75,784 at Stadium Australia. It was simply her fourth profession objective in 110 worldwide appearances.
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Canada couldn’t match that breakthrough in opposition to Fortieth-ranked Nigeria, regardless of dominating play for chunks of the sport. And Nigerian goalkeeper Chiamaka Nnadozie produced a world-class save to disclaim Canada captain Christine Snclair’s spot kick within the fiftieth minute.
The method each coaches reacted to the single-point haul at Melbourne Rectangular Stadium spoke volumes.
“We’ve got to move on very quickly. You can get lost and be really down on that,” Canada coach Bev Priestman stated of the outcome. “Of course the team and I are devastated we didn’t get three points. But at the end of the day, we got one (point) and we took two from another team.”
The glass was undoubtedly greater than half-full for Nigeria.
“The group is so difficult every point’s vital … We wanted three but getting the point keeps you in it and keeps you alive for advancement,” stated Waldrum. “So yeah it’s a very positive feeling right now.”
Canada, which had an off-day Saturday with no availability, seemed out of sync in opposition to the Super Falcons, maybe not stunning given its bumpy journey to the match with the continued labour dispute with Canada Soccer and ongoing harm points.
Nichelle Prince, Deanne Rose and Jayde Riviere got here to the match with little or no taking part in time on account of accidents. Influential midfielder Jessie Fleming watched from the bench Friday as Priestman opted to not exacerbate an undisclosed harm, within the hope she could be prepared down the road.
While Priestman stated Sinclair was one of many crew’s three designated penalty-takers for the match, Fleming would probably have been tasked with the spot kick had she been on the sector.
The Canadians gained two penalty shootouts en path to Olympic gold in Tokyo, dispatching Brazil within the quarterfinal and Sweden within the remaining. Fleming scored in each shootouts and likewise was good on penalties in regulation time in opposition to the U.S. and Sweden.
Sinclair didn’t convert her penalty try in opposition to Brazil and had been substituted by the point the Olympic remaining went to identify kicks.
The Canadians additionally endured penalty kick heartbreak on the 2019 World Cup in France when Sinclair yielded the ball to Janine Beckie (who’s lacking this match by harm) within the spherical of 16 in opposition to Sweden. Beckie was stopped by goalkeeper Hedvig Lindahl — who had saved a Sinclair penalty earlier that 12 months within the third-place sport on the Algarve Cup — and Sweden went on to win 1-0.
With a world-record 190 worldwide targets to her credit score, Sinclair has carried Canada on her again for a few years. And she has no have to apologize for having been denied by a exceptional save.
“I just picked a side and I was happy at the end I got it right,” stated Nnadozie, who performs her membership soccer in France for Paris FC.
But on the age of 40, Sinclair’s sport and function on the crew have modified.
“She makes critical passes, is critical to this team,” Priestman stated previous to the match. “But what I do know is this team is no longer just about Christine Sinclair. I think we’ve got the depth across the forward line, the midfield line, to not rely on anyone for every single minute across the tournament and I think that’s what you’ll see (at the tournament).”
Priestman wants that ahead depth to step up. Margins are slim in match soccer and factors are at a premium now in Group B.
Going into the match, Canada had scored simply three targets and had been outscored 7-3 in its 4 earlier outings in 2023. Three of these video games got here on the SheBelieves Cup in February when the crew’s consideration was cut up amidst a menace of downing instruments because of the labour unrest.
Priestman elected to play only one sport (a 2-1 loss to No. 5 France) within the April worldwide window with a purpose to give the crew time in camp to refind its focus and to resume relationships on and off the sector.
With Prince and Rose nonetheless discovering their ft after harm layoffs and Adriana Leon coming off a season that noticed restricted taking part in time, Jordyn Huitema began up entrance in opposition to Nigeria. Cloe Lacasse and Evelyne Viens each sparked the crew in coming off the bench within the second half, giving Priestman meals for thought for Wednesday’s matchup with Ireland in Perth.
While the statistics favoured Canada, Nigeria managed to climate the storm and hit again on counterattacks. There was chaos in each penalty packing containers as the sport wore on.
But no scientific ending.
The Canadians accomplished 384-of-459 passes in comparison with 125 of 221 for Nigeria, and launched 26 crosses to Nigeria’s 11. Canada gained 23 aerial duels, nearly double the Super Falcons’ 12.
Canada held a 14-10 edge in pictures however solely led 2-1 in pictures on course. Six of the Canadian pictures had been off beam with one other six blocked earlier than they bought there.
One stat that the bodily Nigerians led was fouls dedicated, with 16 to Canada’s six.
Nigerian midfielder Deborah Abiodun had a yellow card upgraded to purple upon video assessment in stoppage time for a nasty studs-up deal with that bent Ashley Lawrence’s decrease leg at a seemingly unimaginable angle. But the Canadian fullback completed out the sport, to the amazement of many on social media, and seemed none the more severe for put on as she walked by the post-game combined zone.
“Look away now,” England’s ITV stated a couple of video clip of the foul.
“Is Ashley Lawrence’s foot still attached to her body after last night?” questioned one Canadian viewer on Twitter.
Prior to nearly having her leg damaged, Lawrence had a subject day happening the left flank and gave the Nigerian defence matches within the first half.
The Canadians miss Beckie, again residence recovering from knee surgical procedure. Like Lawrence, Beckie is a difference-maker.
Canada might want to discover a method to unlock the Irish defence and, on the different finish of the sector, stand up to Ireland’s set items. The margin for error on the match is all however gone.
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