Canada clinched first place in Group A of the 2012 CONCACAF Women's Olympic Qualifiers with its third win by defeating Costa Rica 5-1.
Regarded as the fourth best team in the region, Las Ticas was anticipated to be Canada's only formidable opponent in the group stage. Costa Rica, like Canada, was victorious over both Cuba and Haiti en route to Monday night's match. The last time the two teams met was at last year's Pan American Games where Big Red triumphed 3-1.
Aligned with John Herdman's plan to play different combinations of players and to rest them accordingly, the head coach made 7 changes to the starting lineup that beat Cuba on Saturday.
In front of 8,105 fans at BC Place Stadium, the Canadians created a number of opportunities by forcing corner kicks. By their third attempt in the 6th minute, Sophie Schmidt's short corner to right back Rhian Wilkinson was delivered into the box and Sinclair took a touch with her right knee before smashing it in with her left foot. Fabiola Sanchez was shown a yellow card for attempting to clear the ball off the line with her hand.
John Herdman, Desiree Scott and Kelly Parker on Canada's victory over Costa Rica and winning Group A:
Schmidt doubled the lead with a shot from distance in the 10th minute and scored her first goal of the tournament by pouncing on a rebound. Kelly Parker's cross from the end line was spilled by goalkeeper Julieth Arias right to the feet of Schmidt. Like Sinclair did in the first match, Schmidt began trending in Canada on Twitter immediately following her goal.
Ten minutes later, Wilkinson drew a free kick. The ball eventually fell to Sinclair by way of Parker and Sinclair's centring cross was headed into the net by an unmarked Kaylyn Kyle for a 3-0 lead.
Two more scoring opportunities for Schmidt soon came about. Desiree Scott's scrappy play in the midfield forced a turnover and Sinclair's cross was miscleared, but Schmidt's shot was saved. Later, Sinclair set up Schmidt at the far post with a soft header, but the ball floated just past the end line.
Sophie Schmidt:
While Costa Rica was unable to convert on set pieces early on in the match, their most dangerous chance was a free kick in the 39th minute that bounced around the Canadian box and was eventually cleared by Wilkinson.
Christina Julien has been very active on the pitch in addition to her 1 goal and 2 assists from the first match. She had back-to-back opportunities late in the half, first, when one-timed the ball into the side netting in the 6 yard box and, then, by drawing the free kick that led to Sinclair's second of the match (Sinclair leads the tournament with 7 goals and 3 assists). 4-0 for Canada at half time.
Similar to previous games in the tournament, Canada was unable to finish despite producing a number of opportunities in the second half.
Julien and Schmidt put on relentless pressure by constantly running at the Costa Rican backline and it paid off when defender Marianne Ugalde was forced to back pass to her goalkeeper. Arias was scanning the pitch as she attempted to trap the ball with the sole of her foot and completely missed the ball, allowing it to trickle into the net for an own goal. Canada was up 5-0 in the 50th minute.
Later, during a scramble in the box, Schmidt could have taken a shot. Instead, she set up her captain, but Sinclair's shot was deflected. Within the next few minutes, Julien sent her shot directly to the goalkeeper, then her cross was deflected.
Kaylyn Kyle:
With 20 minutes left in the match, Melanie Booth tackled away the ball from an onrushing Costa Rican forward and a shot from distance was later easily picked up by Karina LeBlanc.
Upon 80 minutes, Brittany Timko, who subbed in for Schmidt, placed a beautiful curling shot into the upper far post, but a late offside call ruled the goal no good.
Approaching full time, Canada had a number of miscues. Left sided centre back Shannon Woeller, who's been a steady force in the backline and the only Canadian player to go a full 90 in all three games so far this tournament, made a couple dangerous passes, including one straight to a Costa Rican forward but the shot was well over the bar.
When a cross from the right side came into the box, Wilkinson's substitute, Robyn Gayle, lost track of Maria Barrantes and allowed the unmarked forward to take a touch before blasting a shot into the top corner of the far post. The match ended 5-1, the first time this tournament that the winning team has conceded a goal, even if the aggregate now stands at 59-1.r
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The first match of Monday night was played for pride between eliminated teams Haiti and Cuba. Things remained scoreless until the 72nd minute. Following a corner kick, Kimberly Boulos slotted in the loose ball off Sophia Batard's bouncing header for Haiti's first goal of the tournament. Batard then assisted Manoucheka Pierre Louis' goal, who placed her shot to the far post, and Nadia Valentin capped off the spirited 3-0 win. Haiti officially finished third in Group A, followed by a winless and goalless Cuba.
Prior to the match, rumours began swirling that two Cuban players had defected. Reports later indicated that forward Yezenia Gallardo and midfielder Yunelsis Rodriguez had been missing from the team since Saturday night.
Group B play will conclude tonight. First, the Dominican Republic faces Guatemala at 8PM ET/5PM PT.
Arguably the most exciting match aside from the semi-finals, storied rivals Mexico and the USA will battle for first and second place of Group B at 10PM ET/7PM PT. According to US Soccer statistics, the American have a 25-1-1 record against Mexico, with the only but extremely significant loss coming at the 2010 CONCACAF Women's World Cup Qualifiers when Mexico defeated the USA and forced them to play a home-and-away series for the final spot at the 2011 WWC.
The fist semi-final match between Costa Rica and B1 will kick off Friday, January 27 at 8PM ET/5PM PT. As the top seed in Group A, Canada is set to play the second place team of Group B in the do-or-die semi-finals for a berth to the London Olympic Games. The match-up will be live at 11PM ET/8PM PT.
While pursuing a career in non-profit event planning and fundraising, Melissa provides in depth coverage of the CanWNT for All White Kit and RedNation.
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