struggling to find his focus after the off-field drama of a bitter labor dispute with canada soccerThe Canadian women came away with a 2-0 loss to the United States in the Shebelievs Cup on Thursday.
Mallory Swanson scored in the seventh and 34th minutes as the top-ranked Americans warmed up and clawed their way through a depleted Canada.
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The sixth-ranked Canadians found some semblance of rhythm midway through the half only to gift Swanson his second goal with a defensive gaffe. There was little drama in the second half with only some clumsy American finishing keeping the score down in front of an announced crowd of 14,697 at Exploria Stadium.
Canada captain Christine Sinclair said it could have gone one of two ways given the background of the game.
“Either we are fighting for everything and come out on fire or we come out flat. And I think you saw the first 10, 15 minutes, we went flat,” she said. “I think we looked like a team that was tired, a team that was mentally tired, coming up against a team that, I mean, they were defending World Cup champions for a reason. And you have to be at your best to match them. And we weren’t there tonight.
The game was supposed to be a celebration of women’s soccer, a marquee matchup between the Tokyo Olympic gold medalist Canadians and the World Cup champion Americans. But the Canadian women’s labor fight oversaw a showdown with their governing body.
Canada’s women announced last Friday that they would neither train nor play until their grievances were resolved. He boycotted training the next day and was forced to return to the field under threat of legal action by Canada Soccer.
Before Thursday’s kickoff, both teams gathered in the center circle — the Americans next to the Canadians — and then closed ranks, turning the circle into a heart shape in a show of solidarity.
But the friendship ended quickly as the Americans laid siege to the Canadian goal.
Swanson tested the Canadiens’ keeper Kellen Sheridan with a shot seconds after the kickoff. A diving Sheridan had to acrobatic to parry a shot by Ashley Sanchez in the third minute.
And the US went ahead in the seventh minute when Canada failed to deal with a cross and Alex Morgan sent the ball to Swanson, who fired a right-footed shot. The Canadians ran after the goal, trying to get their bearings.
Center back Kadisha Buchanan soon offered some resistance, knocking Morgan down with a take-no-prisoners challenge. There were a lot of tough matches throughout the night, keeping the coaches of both teams busy.
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The Canadians began to regain their composure, but the Americans kept coming and in the 17th minute, Sheridan had to accelerate to get a hand to Lindsay Horan’s header in the bottom half.
Canada was undone in the 34th minute when a backpass from Vanessa Giles, near the edge under pressure from Morgan, did not reach Sheridan, allowing Swanson to pounce on the ball with an empty goal in front of her.
The Canadians did not test Alyssa Naeher until first half stoppage time when the Americans’ keeper was forced to stop a Jayne Beckie shot.
“Breaks to work on,” Canada Soccer said in a half-time tweet via understudy.
The governing body faces its own challenge next month after the House of Commons heritage committee passed a motion on Thursday to “invite” Canada Soccer officials to testify at a meeting next month.
Sinclair, along with Adriana Lyons, were replaced by Bev Priestman in the 57th minute. Jesse Fleming took the captain’s armband. Simu Ajujo, a 19-year-old midfielder, came on for his fourth Canadian cap in the 65th as Priestman vacated his bench.
Sheridan pulled off a save in the 75th minute when Ashley Hatch was stopped from point-blank range.
No. 9 Brazil defeated No. 11 Japan 1–0 in the first game.
The Canadians now head to Nashville to face Brazil on Sunday. Japan will then face Frisco, Texas on February 22.
Canadian women are playing tournaments in protest and it showed.
Canadians wore purple T-shirts for the anthem, a symbol of gender equality, and purple ribbons on their wrists during the game. He wore his training top inside-out during pre-game warmups to hide the Canada Soccer crest, as he did in practice on Wednesday.
He wore a purple shirt for the national anthem with the words “enough is enough” inscribed on it.
Canada’s team has pledged to boycott the April international window, when the women will be in a legal position to strike, unless their concerns are addressed.
The women want the same preparation and support ahead of this summer’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand as the men got ahead of Qatar last year. Both the women’s and men’s teams want Canada Soccer to open its books and explain the cuts to both programs this year.
Canada’s men refused to play a friendly match against Panama in Vancouver last June over their dissatisfaction with labor negotiations.
The Canadian women last played in November when they split a two-game series with Brazil in Santos and São Paulo. The Americans played twice in January, defeating No. 24 New Zealand 4–0 and 5–0 in Wellington and Auckland.
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After enduring a rare three-game losing streak last fall, the Americans had won three straight going into Thursday’s play. Prior to a three-game slide, which included losses to No. 2 Germany, No. 4 England and No. 7 Spain, the U.S. women were unbeaten in 21 matches (18–0–3).
Canada and the United States last met in June 2022 when the United States won 1–0 on a 78th-minute Morgan penalty in the final of the CONCACAF W Championship in Guadalupe, Mexico.
This was the first contest between the two since Canada’s 1-0 semi-final victory at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics in August.
The Canadian women come into Thursday’s game with a career record of 4-52-7 against their northern rival.
Other Canadian victories were in 1986 (2–1 in Blaine, Minn., in the Canadian women’s second official tour ever), 2000 (3–1 in a friendly in Columbus, Ohio) and 2001 (3–0 in the Algarve). I came Cup in Portugal).
The February international window is one of the few opportunities before the World Cup for the Canadian women to come together. There is another window in early April and in July just before the World Cup.
The US is the defending Shebeliv’s Cup champion and has won five of the seven editions of the tournament. France won in 2017 and England in 2019.
Canada finished third in 2021, its previous trip to the event, Priestman’s first as Canada’s coach.
Priestman is currently without the injured Nichelle Prince, Jade Riviere, Dean Rose and Desiree Scott.