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Germany 2 Canada 1
The Prelude to Battle
After months of anticipation, the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup kicked off today with Canada opening their tournament against the hosts and one of the favourites to win the World Cup in Germany. Against the backdrop of a fantastic stadium in the Olympiastadion in Berlin and a raucous atmosphere that recalled the successful FIFA World Cup held in Germany in 2006, Canada entered the lion’s den as the clear underdogs, but also looking to send a message that they deserve to be counted as one of the top teams in women’s soccer.
The Opening Forty-Five
The first half kicked off with Germany immediately looking to asset themselves in front of the home crowd and Canadian keeper Erin McLeod needing to make a number of big saves to keep things scoreless in the early going.
Canada had an excellent chance to opening the scoring when some nice passing by the Canadians ended with Christine Sinclair going in alone on Germany keeper Nadine Angerer and uncharacteristically sending her shot over the crossbar.
That miss seemed to spur on the Germans who started to attack relentlessly with McLeod making a huge save on Germany midfielder Kerstin Garefrekes from in close. Less than a minute later, German winger Kim Kulig sent in a cross that the Canadian defense misplayed, as Garefrekes elevated high in the air and headed in the first goal of the match.
In the 29th minute, Diana Matheson delivered a blast that troubled Angerer but that ultimately went a couple of inches over the crossbar.
Six minutes later, Sinclair sent a dangerous cross into the German box, that Angerer grabbed just ahead of a hard charging Jonelle Filigno, as Canada put excellent pressure on the Germans in the latter part of the half.
Unfortunately for the Canadians, their offside trap failed in 42nd minute, allowing German midfielder Celia Okoyino Da Mbabi to put the home side up by two with her first ever World Cup goal.
Canada went into the half-time break down a pair of goals having shown instances of their class while at the same time suffering from a couple of defensive mistakes. Midfielder Sophie Schmidt was one of Canada’s most impressive performers in the first half, as she did an excellent job of disrupting the German attack in the middle of pitch.
The Second Half
Canada Head Coach Carolina Morace elected to make a couple of changes to start the second half, with Robyn Gayle and Kelly Parker coming on in place of Marie-Eve Nault and Kaylyn Kyle.
The Germans continued to play quite a physical game, which was highlighted by the elbow to the nose that Sinclair received from Babett Peter early in the second half. Luckily for Canada, although their captain’s nose was broken, she was able to continue in the match.
In the 57th minute, Emily Zurrer made an excellent physical sliding tackle of her own to close down a breakaway by German starlet Alexandra Popp. Undeterred, Popp blasted a shot off the Canadian crossbar less than ten minutes later.
The German onslaught continued in the 67th minute when Popp served a ball on a platter to Garefrekes, who missed a wide open net on a play that commentators were already calling the miss of the tournament.
In the 77th minute, German midfielder Simone Laudehr blasted another shot off a crossbar that was likely becoming McLeod’s best friend.
With a third German goal looking like a matter of not if but when, it was Canadian superstar Sinclair who almost singlehandedly got Canada back into the match in the 83rd minute. After drawing a foul in a dangerous position just outside the German box, Sinclair stepped up and delivered an exceptional world class free kick that beat a helpless Angerer in the top right corner.
Canada continued to press forward for an equalizer, but could not break through in the remainder of regulation time and three minutes of added time.
In the end
While this match ended up as the German victory that most pundits had predicted, Canada legitimately served notice that they are a genuine contender for a World Cup title and showed just how far they have come as a team in recent years.
Considering that Canada lost 5-0 to Germany the last time the teams met in a World Cup, this was an impressive performance by the Canadians, especially given the circumstances. While there is no point in speculating how this one might have turned out if Sinclair had been able to finish her early chance in the German box, it was plain to see that with some better finishing and a couple of instances of better defending on the German goals, Canada could have come out of this one with a victory or at least a draw.
While Morace and her staff will want to review the mistakes that lead to the goals by Germany with her players, Canada now must look forward with a focus on securing wins against both France and Nigeria. Victories in those two fixtures will see Canada through to the next round, with the confidence gained from a moral victory against Germany likely reinforcing the self-belief that Canada will need to achieve that very realistic goal.
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