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When Canada advanced to the quarter-finals of the 2015 Women’s World Cup, it was tempting to put their success down to the benefits of hosting the tournament and the individual brilliance of Kadeisha Buchanan and Christine Sinclair.
They’ve since put those notions to bed by advancing to the bronze medal match of the 2016 Rio Games. In their defiant 2-0 defeat to Germany in the semi-finals, they exemplified the strength of football as a sport of meritocracy — where, on any given day, the footballing superpowers of the world can be defeated by the long shot.
Canada were unable to best a German side that boasts one of the finest collective midfields in the women’s game, but it was the approach of the Canucks that should earn them plaudits around the world.
While Sweden have reveled in their underdog status — amassing defenders while hardly taking any chances by coming out of their shell — Canada took the game to the two-time World Cup champions.
Germany are the uncontested champions of Europe, they’ve won the Euros on six consecutive occasions. Canada were completely unfazed by their opposition. In many ways, they were better than the European champions.
Canada fought with style. Photo: @NBCOlympics | Twitter
A rash challenge in the Canadian box by the normally dominate Buchanan resulted in a 21st minute penalty and early German lead. While Canada fought to get a foothold in the match and upset German midfield dominance, they were undone by a fantastic counterattack that put Germany up 2-0 in the 59th minute.
Rather than wilt over the final half hour, Canada continued to search for their opening goal. The final scoreline is all that really matters, but the final stats showed Canada with a 58-42 advantage in possession and a 12-9 advantage in shots.
The progress that the Canadian women’s team has made is sensational. The way they play, surging through tackles, never going to ground, moving the ball around collectively, could be valuable lessons even to the USWNT.
This summer, pragmatism and negative play have come to dominate international football. Those who’ve chosen not to dare have been rewarded. However, Canada should receive enormous credit for what they’ve accomplished. They’ve established a blueprint that will certainly reap its own rewards soon enough.
Follow me on Twitter: @ConmanFleming
