Canadian women host Jamaica with Olympic berth on the line
TORONTO — Bev Priestman’s nonetheless feeling the consequences of a loud and boisterous crowd on her voice after Canada’s 2-0 victory in Jamaica on Friday.
She’s hoping her throat might be much more sore after Canada hosts Jamaica on Tuesday within the second leg of their playoff to find out the ultimate CONCACAF entry for the 2024 Paris Olympics. Priestman, Canada’s head coach, stated her voice was nonetheless gravelly from shouting over the din in Kingston, Jamaica, because the Tenth-ranked Canadians beat No. 37 Jamaica.
“I think from a mindset perspective, we have to go into it positively,” stated Priestman softly about Tuesday’s match. “Because I believe the worst factor you possibly can do is simply drop off and invite strain.
“We have a few things up our sleeve but ultimately, we’ve got to build on the first performance. I think the group, we were happy but there’s areas we wanna improve and I think our focus has been on taking another step forward.”
Striker Adriana Leon, who scored in Friday’s win, stated she was joyful to play at residence in entrance of a sold-out crowd.
“It’s definitely exciting that we’re playing at home,” Leon stated. “We don’t get an opportunity to do it too typically.
“Hopefully we can start to play at home a little more often, that’s something that we’ve talked about as a team, that’s something that we’d like to see. … I don’t think I’ve ever played in front of a Toronto crowd of that size, so exciting.”
Leon stated the physicality of Friday’s match was an instance of “the state of the game” however that Canada is prepared for extra.
“We’re expecting them to be even more physical tomorrow night, so it’s something that we prepared for,” Leon stated.
Friday’s win was Canada’s first match since a disappointing end on the FIFA Women’s World Cup in July, the place the reigning Olympic champions didn’t make it out of the group stage.
Canada tied No. 32 Nigeria 0-0 and beat No. 24 Ireland 2-1 earlier than being eradicated in a 4-0 loss to No. 11 Australia. The end result induced Canada to fall from No. 7 to No. 10 on the planet rankings.
Striker Nichelle Prince, who additionally scored in Friday’s victory, stated the group is dialed in attempting to get again to its previous methods.
“I think we all had to go back into our own environments and just reflect on what we could’ve done better individually and as a team,” she stated. “I simply felt a distinct vitality from the workforce in that we’re working tougher than ever and I believe we would have liked that.
“Unfortunately, that’s maybe what it (World Cup result) took but we don’t wanna be in that position again.”
The Canadian ladies have taken half within the final 4 Olympics, profitable gold, bronze and bronze after ending eighth on the 2008 Beijing Games.
The U.S. certified straight for the Olympics by defeating Canada 1-0 within the CONCACAF W Championship last in 2022. Jamaica, which misplaced 3-0 to Canada within the semifinal, defeated Costa Rica 1-0 after further time within the third-place playoff to arrange the two-legged playoff with Canada.
Canada has gained all 9 of its earlier conferences with Jamaica, outscoring the Reggae Girlz 60-1. Now with a two-goal edge heading into Tuesday, Canada may qualify for Paris 2024 even with a 1-0 loss on combination.
That’s not how the workforce is considering although.
“I think that throughout the team, we understand that this is only halftime of the two games,” centre again Jade Rose stated. “The job isn’t yet done, we can’t step off the brake, we’ve got to step back on and keep pushing until the job is done.”
Priestman fielded a 3-4-3 formation, that at instances flowed right into a 4-4-2 or 3-5-2 primarily based on the state of affairs within the first match in opposition to Jamaica.
While the workforce needed to be taught the fluid formation in camp rapidly, it acquired good opinions from gamers.
“If we learned something from the World Cup, it’s that we needed to change something,” Leon stated. “I believe that’s what the formation allowed, was only a little bit of change, a bit of pleasure within the gamers.
“We knew we individually needed to be the best out there and that’s what we brought. We focused on ourselves and it all came together and hopefully it just continues to get better the more we train it.”
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