ORLANDO, Fla. — The emotional turmoil of a bitter labour dispute took its toll on the Canadian women’s soccer team Thursday. And the U.S. took advantage.
Struggling to find their focus, the Canadian women were ambushed early in a 2-0 loss at the SheBelieves Cup.
Mallory Swanson scored in the seventh and 34th minute as the top-ranked Americans came out hot and had their way with a ragged Canada.
The sixth-ranked Canadians found some semblance of rhythm midway through the half only to gift Swanson her second goal with a defensive gaffe. There was little drama in the second half with only some wasteful American finishing keeping the score down before an announced crowd of 14,697 at Exploria Stadium.
Canada captain Christine Sinclair said given the backdrop to the game, it could have gone two ways.
“Either we’re fighting for everything and come out on fire or we come out flat. And I think you saw those first 10, 15 minutes, we came out flat,” she said. “I think we looked like a team that was tired, a team that’s mentally exhausted, coming up against a team, I mean, they’re defending World Cup champions for a reason and you have to be at your best to compete with them. And we weren’t tonight.”
The game should have been a celebration of women’s soccer, a marquee matchup between the Tokyo Olympic gold medallist Canadians and World Cup champion Americans. But the showdown was overshadowed by the Canadian players’ labour battle with their governing body.
The Canadian women announced last Friday they would not train or play until their grievances were addressed. They boycotted training the next day and had to be forced back on the field under threat of legal action by Canada Soccer.
“I couldn’t fault their effort,” said Canada coach Bev Priestman. “You could just see a flatness to them.”
Before Thursday’s kickoff, both teams gathered at the centre circle — Americans next to Canadians — and then closed ranks, turning the circle into a heart shape in a show of solidarity.
“Those images, I think, are really powerful moving forward,” said American veteran Megan Rapinoe, who helped the U.S. women win their pay equity fight.
The friendship ended quickly as the Americans laid siege to the Canadian goal.
Swanson tested Canadian ‘keeper Kailen Sheridan with a shot seconds after kickoff. A diving Sheridan had to be acrobatic to parry a shot by Ashley Sanchez in the third minute.
And the U.S. went ahead in the seventh minute when Canada failed to deal with a cross and Alex Morgan sent the ball to Swanson, who hammered home a right-footed shot. The Canadians huddled after the goal, trying to get their bearings.
“A bit shaky,” Canadian midfielder Jessie Fleming said of the start. “I think we kind of created our own mistakes and kind of created their chances for them.
“It just looked like a group of players that hasn’t been together in a while.”
Centre back Kadeisha Buchanan offered some resistance soon after, scything Morgan down with a take-no-prisoners challenge. There were plenty more hard tackles on the night, keeping both teams’ trainers busy.
The Canadians began to regain their composure but the Americans kept coming and Sheridan, in the 17th minute, had to be sharp to get a hand to a downward Lindsey Horan header.
Canada was undone in the 34th minute when a backpass from Vanessa Gilles, under pressure from Morgan near the sideline, did not reach Sheridan, allowing Swanson to pounce on the ball with an empty goal in front of her.
The Canadians didn’t test Alyssa Naeher until first-half stoppage time when the U.S. ‘keeper was forced into action to stop a Janine Beckie shot.
“Work to do at the break,” Canada Soccer said by way of understatement in a halftime tweet.
The governing body faces a challenge of its own next month after the House of Commons Heritage Committee passed a motion Thursday to “invite” Canada Soccer officials to testify at a meeting next month.
The Canadian women are playing the tournament under protest — and showed it.
The Canadians wore purple T-shirts, symbolic of gender equality, for the anthems and wore purple tape on their wrists during the game. They also wore their training tops inside-out during the pre-game warmup to hide the Canada Soccer crest, as they did Wednesday at practice.
They wore purple shirts for the anthems that were etched with the words “Enough is Enough.”
No. 9 Brazil beat No. 11 Japan 1-0 in the earlier game.
The Canadians now head for Nashville to face Brazil on Sunday. Then it’s on to Frisco, Texas, to take on Japan on Feb. 22.
And with this summer’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand looming, there is little time to waste.
“This isn’t fixed overnight,” said Priestman, referencing the current on-field turmoil. “So we’ve got to push through. We’ve got to turn it around now and be fresh-faced and be ready to go again for Game 2 (against Brazil). Because there’s probably five games before a World Cup right now. That’s the difficult position we’re in.”
Priestman, who also wore purple tape on her wrist, is clearly torn by what is going on with her team.
“It’s difficult. I’m exhausted, they’re exhausted,” she said. “But we have to find a way. These things can be the reason this team wins a World Cup. These moments make you. Adversity makes you.”
Priestman also expressed pride in her players for standing up for their beliefs.
There will be fewer games ahead given the Canadian team has promised 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 backing ahead of this summer’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand as the men got last year before Qatar. Both the women’s and men’s teams want Canada Soccer to open its books and explain cuts to both programs this year.
The Canadian men refused to play a friendly against Panama in Vancouver last June over their dissatisfaction at the labour talks.
The Canadian women last played in November when they split a two-game series with Brazil in Santos and Sao Paulo. The Americans played twice in January, beating No. 24 New Zealand 4-0 and 5-0 in Wellington and Auckland.
After enduring a rare three-game losing streak last fall, the Americans have now won four in a row. Prior to the three-game slide, which featured losses to No. 2 Germany, No. 4 England and No. 7 Spain, the U.S. women had gone unbeaten in 21 matches (18-0-3).
“I thought they were great tonight,” Priestman said of the Americans, whose record against Canada now stands at 53-4-7.
The North American rivals last met in June 2022 when the U.S. won 1-0 in the final of the CONCACAF W Championship in Guadalupe, Mexico, on a 78th-minute Morgan penalty.
That marked the first contest between the two since Canada’s 1-0 semifinal triumph at the Tokyo Olympics in August 2021.
The U.S. are defending SheBelieves Cup champions and have won five of the seven editions of the tournament. France won in 2017 and England in 2019.
Canada placed third in 2021, its only previous visit to the event in Priestman’s debut as Canada coach.
—
Follow @NeilMDavidson on Twitter
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 16, 2023
TORONTO – Singles star Leylah Fernandez and doubles specialist Gabriela Dabrowski will anchor Canada’s five-player lineup when the team tries to defend its Billie Jean King Cup title in mid-November.
The 26th-ranked Fernandez, the 2021 U.S. Open finalist from Laval, Que., is the lone Canadian in the top 100 of the WTA Tour’s singles rankings.
Dabrowski, from Ottawa, is ranked fourth on the doubles list. The 2023 U.S. Open women’s doubles champion won mixed doubles bronze with Felix Auger-Aliassime at the recent Paris Olympics.
Marina Stakusic of Mississauga, Ont., returns after a breakout performance last year, capped by her singles win in Canada’s 2-0 victory over Italy in the final. Vancouver’s Rebecca Marino is also back and Bianca Andreescu, the 2019 U.S. Open champion from Mississauga, Ont., returns to the squad for the first time since 2022.
“Winning the Billie Jean King Cup in 2023 was a dream come true for us, and not only that, but I feel like we made a statement to the world about the strength of this nation when it comes to tennis,” Canada captain Heidi El Tabakh said Monday in a release. “Once again, we have a very strong team this year with Bianca joining Leylah, Gaby, Rebecca and Marina, making it an extremely powerful team that is more than capable of going all the way.
“At the end of the day, our goal is to make Canada proud, and we’ll do our best to bring the same level of effort and excitement that we had in last year’s finals.”
Fernandez, who beat Jasmine Paolini to clinch Canada’s first-ever title at the competition, is ranked No. 42 in doubles.
Canada, which received an automatic berth as defending champion, will play the winner of the first-round tie between Great Britain and Germany on Nov. 17 at Malaga’s Martin Carpena Arena.
Australia, Italy and wild-card entry Czechia also received first-round byes. The tournament, which continues through Nov. 20, also includes host Spain, Slovakia, the United States, Poland, Japan and Romania.
Stakusic is up 27 spots to No. 128 in the latest world singles rankings. Marino is at No. 134 and Andreescu, the 2019 U.S. Open champion, is ranked 167th.
Canada will look to become the first team since Czechia in 2016 to successfully defend its Billie Jean King Cup title.
Malaga will also host the Nov. 19-24 Davis Cup Final 8. The Canadian men qualified over the weekend with a 2-1 victory over Great Britain in Manchester.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
PITTSBURGH – Sidney Crosby plans to remain a Pittsburgh Penguin for at least three more years.
The Penguins announced on Monday that they re-signed the 37-year-old from Cole Harbour, N.S., to a two-year contract extension that has an average annual value of US$8.7 million. The deal runs through the 2026-27 season.
Crosby was eligible to sign an extension on July 1 with him entering the final season of a 12-year, $104.4-million deal that carries an $8.7-million salary cap hit.
At the NHL/NHLPA player media tour in Las Vegas last Monday, he said things were positive and he was optimistic about a deal getting done.
The three-time Stanley Cup champion is coming off a 42-goal, 94-point campaign that saw him finish tied for 12th in the league scoring race.
Crosby has spent all 19 of his NHL seasons in Pittsburgh, amassing 592 goals and 1,004 assists in 1,272 career games.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
MONTREAL – Tadej Pogacar was so dominant on Sunday, Canada’s Michael Woods called it a race for second.
Pogacar, a three-time Tour de France champion from Slovenia, pedalled to a resounding victory at the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montreal.
The UAE Team Emirates leader crossed the finish line 24 seconds ahead of Spain’s Pello Bilbao of Bahrain — Victorious to win the demanding 209.1-kilometre race on a sunny, 28 C day in Montreal. France’s Julian Alaphilippe of Soudal Quick-Step was third.
“He’s the greatest rider of all time, he’s a formidable opponent,” said Woods, who finished 45 seconds behind the leader in eighth. “If you’re not at your very, very best, then you can forget racing with him, and today was kind of representative of that.
“He’s at such a different level that if you follow him, it can be lights out.”
Pogacar slowed down before the last turn to celebrate with the crowd, high-five fans on Avenue du Parc and cruise past the finish line with his arms in the air after more than five hours on the bike.
The 25-year-old joined Belgium’s Greg Van Avermaet as the only multi-time winners in Montreal after claiming the race in 2022. He also redeemed a seventh-place finish at the Quebec City Grand Prix on Friday.
“I was disappointed, because I had such good legs that I didn’t do better than seventh,” Pogacar said. “To bounce back after seventh to victory here, it’s just an incredible feeling.”
It’s Pogacar’s latest win in a dominant year that includes victories at the Tour de France and Giro d’Italia.
Ottawa’s Woods (Israel Premier-Tech) tied a career-best in front of the home crowd in Montreal, but hoped for more after claiming a stage at the Spanish Vuelta two weeks ago.
“I wanted a better result,” the 37-year-old rider said. “My goal was a podium, but at the same time I’m happy with the performance. In bike racing, you can’t always get the result you want and I felt like I raced really well, I animated the race, I felt like I was up there.”
Pogacar completed the 17 climbs up and down Mount Royal near downtown in five hours 28 minutes 15 seconds.
He made his move with 23.3 kilometres to go, leaving the peloton in his dust as he pedalled into the lead — one he never relinquished.
Bilbao, Alaphilippe, Alex Aranburu (Movistar Team) and Bart Lemmen (Visma–Lease) chased in a group behind him, with Bilbao ultimately separating himself from the pack. But he never came close to catching Pogacar, who built a 35-second lead with one lap left to go.
“It was still a really hard race today, but the team was on point,” Pogacar said. “We did really how we planned, and the race situation was good for us. We make it hard in the last final laps, and they set me up for a (takeover) two laps to go, and it was all perfect.”
Ottawa’s Derek Gee, who placed ninth in this year’s Tour de France, finished 48th in Montreal, and called it a “hard day” in the heat.
“I think everyone knows when you see Tadej on the start line that it’s just going to be full gas,” Gee said.
Israel Premier-Tech teammate Hugo Houle of Sainte-Perpétue, Que., was 51st.
Houle said he heard Pogacar inform his teammates on the radio that he was ready to attack with two laps left in the race.
“I said then, well, clearly it’s over for me,” Houle said. “You see, cycling isn’t that complicated.”
Australia’s Michael Matthews won the Quebec City GP for a record third time on Friday, but did not finish in Montreal. The two races are the only North American events on the UCI World Tour.
Michael Leonard of Oakville, Ont., and Gil Gelders and Dries De Bondt of Belgium broke away from the peloton during the second lap. Leonard led the majority of the race before losing pace with 45 kilometres to go.
Only 89 of 169 riders from 24 teams — including the Canadian national team — completed the gruelling race that features 4,573 metres in total altitude.
Next up, the riders will head to the world championships in Zurich, Switzerland from Sept. 21 to 29.
Pogacar will try to join Eddy Merckx (1974) and Stephen Roche (1987) as the only men to win three major titles in a season — known as the Triple Crown.
“Today gave me a lot of confidence, motivation,” Pogacar said. “I think we are ready for world championships.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 15, 2024.
