The exit door at the FIFA Women’s World Cup could swing open for Canada on Monday. Or the Canadians could use it to usher out co-host Australia.
The stakes couldn’t be higher on the final day of Group B play.
“We know it’s going to a fight (Monday). They’re fighting for their life,” veteran Canadian midfielder Sophie Schmidt said of the 10th-ranked Matildas. “But we’re prepared as best we can be for what they have to offer. We know what we have to do to get the result.”
“I think that we have a long World Cup run ahead of us,” she added. “(Monday) is a massive big step for us. But we’re up for the challenge.”
Australia coach Tony Gustafsson also described the game as massive, calling it “a crossroads moment, for sure.”
Nigeria (1-0-1, four points) leads Group B ahead of Canada (1-0-1) by virtue of having scored one more goal. Australia (1-1-0) is one point behind with Ireland (0-2-0) already eliminated from advancing. Only the top two in the group move on.
The permutations favour seventh-ranked Canada, which will advance with a win or draw while the Matildas need to win to be certain of advancing.
“We know the fate’s in our hand,” said Canada coach Bev Priestman.
The Canadians can still keep going with a loss, providing Nigeria loses to Ireland in Brisbane and ends up on the wrong end of a tiebreaker. And Australia could advance with a draw if Nigeria is beaten and the tiebreakers favour the Matildas.
What may decide the outcome is which versions of Canada and Australia show up Monday.
Both had their issues getting past No. 22 Ireland and stumbled against upstart Nigeria, with Canada drawing the 40th-ranked Super Falcons 0-0 and Australia losing 3-2.
“Ultimately if we turn up — and we turned up in the second half for sure in the last game (against Ireland), then we can go and get three points,” said Priestman. “And it’s got to be about us bringing what we bring and getting the best out of the group in front of us. That is the focus, is to be brave and be what we bring and bring it well.”
Priestman said Canada will go for the win despite the fact a draw will suffice, saying if you play for a single point “you’re not playing on your strengths.”
Gustafsson, meanwhile, said his team will have to be careful not to allow the Canadians counterattacking opportunities as the Matildas press for a result.
Both teams came to the tournament with high expectations.
The Canadians looked to translate their gold-medal performance at the 12-country Tokyo Olympics into success at the 32-country World Cup, having exited in the round of 16 four years ago in France.
Australia had the weight of a nation on its shoulders, knowing no host team has ever failed to make the knockout rounds at the eight previous editions of the tournament (co-host New Zealand became the first Sunday when it tied Switzerland to finish third in Group A on goal difference behind Norway).
Canada is no stranger to high-pressure games.
Priestman’s team also had to recover from a tournament-opening draw (1-1 with Japan) in Tokyo’s Olympics before dispatching Brazil in a quarterfinal penalty shootout, the world champion U.S. in the semifinal and Sweden on spot kicks in the final.
There are injury question marks over both teams.
Star striker Sam Kerr missed Australia’s first two games with a calf injury, but told reporters Saturday that she is available for the Canada game. Just how much of a role the Matildas captain will play remains to be seen.
Gustafsson said a meeting was planned for later Sunday to discuss Kerr’s status, with the team’s medical staff and the player involved, with fitness tests scheduled for Monday. One concern is the risk of aggravating the injury and losing her for a longer time.
“So there’s a lot on the table to discuss,” Gustafsson said. “We probably won’t know how exactly we’re going to use that (information) until we come here to the stadium (Monday).”
Canadian midfielder Jessie Fleming said her team is ready for whatever lineup Australia fields.
“I think she’s just one player,” said Fleming, who plays alongside Kerr at England’s Chelsea. “We’re preparing for the game the same regardless of whether or not she plays, how much she plays. I think they have a very good team with or without her.
“Myself and the whole team are familiar with the quality she brings. She’s a threat in the (penalty) box but our backline has dealt with her before. I think we feel confident that we can deal with her again if she comes on the pitch.”
Kerr’s status has gripped Australia.
Australian rugby coach Eddie Jones even weighed in on the issue Saturday night after the Wallabies’ 38-7 loss to the All Blacks before an announced crowd of 83,944 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, when asked if he would risk one of his players if they were 50-50 health-wise.
Jones referenced Gustafsson in his answer.
“If I was him, I would be playing her, mate,” Jones told his post-game news conference. “Because they’ve got to win. They’ve got to roll her out, strap her up. Whatever they need to do. Because she can play. She can play.”
Kerr is the Matildas’ all-time leading scorer with 63 goals in 120 appearances.
Canada captain Christine Sinclair, playing in her sixth World Cup, limped off the field after making an impactful appearance off the bench against Ireland, while centre back Kadeisha Buchanan, battling illness, exited in the dying minutes of the first half.
But the two took part in the portion of practice open to the media with Sinclair wearing SpiderTech tape on her right knee. Priestman said both will be available Monday.
Both attacks have yet to hit top gear.
While Canada completed 790 of 969 passes over its first two outings, only nine of 30 shots were on target — seven of which were in the Ireland game. The Canadian setup has also been lacking with just 13 of 45 crosses completed.
The Matildas have been equally wasteful, putting just nine of 40 shots on target and completing 13 of 41 crosses. Gustafsson, however, disagreed saying the attacking football against Nigeria was the top game out of his team’s last 15.
But having said that, he conceded his team’s conversion rate was not efficient enough. Still Australia has failed to score in just one of its last 22 Women’s World Cup group matches.
Three of Canada’s backline — Vanessa Gilles, Ashley Lawrence and Buchanan — and forward Evelyne Viens are on yellow cards, meaning they face a one-game ban if they collect another Monday.
Canada is 8-7-3 all-time against Australia and has won the last three meetings, including last year’s 1-0 and 2-1 victories in Brisbane and Sydney, respectively. So playing before a hostile crowd in Australia is nothing new to this Canadian team.
Adriana Leon scored all three goals in the two most recent victories, which upped Canada’s record against the Matildas to 6-2-2 this century.
The Group B winner will face the Group D runner-up and vice versa in the round of 16. No. 4 England currently tops Group D with No. 13 Denmark in second, ahead of No. 14 China on a tiebreaker.
“At this point anything can happen,” said Priestman, asked whether avoiding her native England was motivation. “Right now it’s just abut getting three points. If we want to be the best, we’ve got to beat the best. Ultimately we’ll just be aiming for three points (Monday) and get that job done and (then) face the team in front of us.”
The showdown at Melbourne Rectangular Stadium, better know to locals at AAMI Park, kicks off at 8 p.m. local time (6 a.m. ET in Canada).
DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit Red Wings made another investment this week in a young standout, signing Moritz Seider to a seven-year contract worth nearly $60 million.
The Red Wings announced the move with the 23-year-old German defenseman on Thursday, three days after keeping 22-year-old forward Lucas Raymond with a $64.6 million, eight-year deal.
Detroit drafted Seider with the No. 6 pick overall eight years ago and he has proven to be a great pick. He has 134 career points, the most by a defenseman drafted in 2019.
He was the NHL’s only player to have at least 200 hits and block 200-plus shots last season, when he scored a career-high nine goals and had 42 points for the second straight year.
Seider won the Calder Trophy as the league’s top rookie in 2022 after he had a career-high 50 points.
Red Wings general manager Steve Yzerman is banking on Seider, whose contract will count $8.55 million annually against the cap, and Raymond to turn a rebuilding team into a winner.
Detroit has failed to make the playoffs in eight straight seasons, the longest postseason drought in franchise history.
The Red Wings, who won four Stanley Cups from 1997 to 2008, have been reeling since their run of 25 straight postseasons ended in 2016.
Detroit was 41-32-9 last season and finished with a winning record for the first time since its last playoff appearance.
Yzerman re-signed Patrick Kane last summer and signed some free agents, including Vladimir Tarasenko to a two-year contract worth $9.5 million after he helped the Florida Panthers hoist the Cup.
Veterans Tyson Beukeboom and Karen Paquin will lead Canada at the WXV 1 women’s rugby tournament starting later this month in the Vancouver area.
WXV 1 includes the top three teams from the Women’s Six Nations (England, France and Ireland) and the top three teams from the Pacific Four Series (Canada, New Zealand, and the United States).
Third-ranked Canada faces No. 4 France, No. 7 Ireland and No. 1 England in the elite division of the three-tiered WXV tournament that runs Sept. 29 to Oct. 12 in Vancouver and Langley, B.C. No. 2 New Zealand and the eighth-ranked U.S. make up the six-team WVX 1 field.
“Our preparation time was short but efficient. This will be a strong team,” Canada coach Kevin Rouet said in a statement. “All the players have worked very hard for the last couple of weeks to prepare for WXV and we are excited for these next three matches and for the chance to play on home soil here in Vancouver against the best rugby teams in the world.
“France, Ireland and England will each challenge us in different ways but it’s another opportunity to test ourselves and another step in our journey to the Rugby World Cup next year.”
Beukeboom serves as captain in the injury absence of Sophie de Goede. The 33-year-old from Uxbridge, Ont., earned her Canadian-record 68th international cap in Canada’s first-ever victory over New Zealand in May at the Pacific Four Series.
Twenty three of the 30 Canadian players selected for WXV 1 were part of that Pacific Four Series squad.
Rouet’s roster includes the uncapped Asia Hogan-Rochester, Caroline Crossley and Rori Wood.
Hogan-Rochester and Crossley were part of the Canadian team that won rugby sevens silver at the Paris Olympics, along with WXV teammates Fancy Bermudez, Olivia Apps, Alysha Corrigan and Taylor Perry. Wood is a veteran of five seasons at UBC.
The 37-year-old Paquin, who has 38 caps for Canada including the 2014 Rugby World Cup, returns to the team for the first time since the 2021 World Cup.
Canada opens the tournament Sept. 29 against France at B.C. Place Stadium in Vancouver before facing Ireland on Oct. 5 at Willoughby Stadium at Langley Events Centre, and England on Oct. 12 at B.C. Place.
The second-tier WXV 2 and third-tier WXV 3 are slated to run Sept. 27 to Oct. 12, in South Africa and Dubai, respectively.
WXV 2 features Australia, Italy, Japan, Scotland, South Africa and Wales while WXV 3 is made up of Fiji, Hong Kong, Madagascar, the Netherlands, Samoa and Spain.
The tournament has 2025 World Cup qualification implications, although Canada, New Zealand and France, like host England, had already qualified by reaching the semifinals of the last tournament.
Ireland, South Africa, the U.S., Japan, Fiji and Brazil have also booked their ticket, with the final six berths going to the highest-finishing WXV teams who have not yet qualified through regional tournaments.
Canada’s Women’s Rugby Team WXV 1 Squad
Forwards
Alexandria Ellis, Ottawa, Stade Français Paris (France); Brittany Kassil, Guelph, Ont., Guelph Goats; Caroline Crossley, Victoria, Castaway Wanderers; Courtney Holtkamp, Rimbey, Alta., Red Deer Titans Rugby; DaLeaka Menin, Vulcan, Alta., Exeter Chiefs (England); Emily Tuttosi, Souris, Man., Exeter Chiefs (England); Fabiola Forteza, Quebec City, Stade Bordelais (France); Gabrielle Senft, Regina, Saracens (England); Gillian Boag, Calgary, Gloucester-Hartpury (England); Julia Omokhuale, Calgary, Leicester Tigers (England); Karen Paquin, Quebec City, Club de rugby de Quebec; Laetitia Royer, Loretteville, Que., ASM Romagnat (France); McKinley Hunt, King City, Ont., Saracens (England); Pamphinette Buisa, Gatineau, Que., Ottawa Irish; Rori Wood, Sooke, B.C., College Rifles RFC; Sara Cline, Edmonton, Leprechaun Tigers; Tyson Beukeboom, Uxbridge, Ont., Ealing Trailfinders (England);
Backs
Alexandra Tessier, Sainte-Clotilde-de-Horton, Que., Exeter Chiefs (England); Alysha Corrigan, Charlottetown, P.E.I., CRFC; Asia Hogan-Rochester, Toronto, Toronto Nomads; Claire Gallagher, Caledon, Ont., Leicester Tigers (England); Fancy Bermudez, Edmonton, Saracens (England); Julia Schell, Uxbridge, Ont., Ealing Trailfinders (England); Justine Pelletier, Rivière-du-Loup, Que, Stade Bordelais (France); Mahalia Robinson, Fulford, Que., Town of Mount Royal RFC; Olivia Apps, Lindsay, Ont., Lindsay RFC; Paige Farries, Red Deer, Alta., Saracens (England); Sara Kaljuvee, Ajax, Ont., Westshore RFC; Shoshanah Seumanutafa, White Rock, B.C., Counties Manukau (New Zealand); Taylor Perry, Oakville, Ont., Exeter Chiefs (England).
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 18, 2024.
PENTICTON, B.C. – Vancouver Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko says he’s been working his way back from a rare lower-body muscle injury since being sidelined in last season’s playoffs.
The 28-year-old all star says the rehabilitation process has been frustrating, but he has made good progress in recent weeks and is confident he’ll be able to return to playing.
He says he and his medical team have spent the last few months talking to specialists around the world, and have not found a single other hockey player who has dealt with the same injury.
Demko missed several weeks of the last season with a knee ailment and played just one game in Vancouver’s playoff run last spring before going down with the current injury.
He was not on the ice with his teammates as the Canucks started training camp in Penticton, B.C., on Thursday, but skated on his own before the sessions began.
Demko posted a 35-14-2 record with a .918 percentage, a 2.45 goals-against average and five shutouts for Vancouver last season.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 19, 2024.
