The reigning world champions, the United States Women’s National Team have crashed out of the Women’s World Cup eliminated in a penalty shoot-out by old rivals Sweden in Melbourne.
After a miss by Sweden’s Nathalie Björn, United States substitute Megan Rapinoe blazed her kick over the bar. Goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher then saved from Rebecka Blomqvist to give Sophia Smith the chance to send the United States through only to miss as well. Hanna Bennison scored for Sweden to take the shoot-out into sudden death.
Veteran Kelley O’Hara then struck the post with the United States seventh penalty. Lina Hurtig had the chance to take Sweden through, Naeher pushed her kick up but could not prevent it crossing the line. To add to the drama, the Swedish celebrations were delayed as the officials consulted the Video Assistant Referee, the ball crossing the line by millimeters.
The result means the four-time world champions have gone out before the semi-finals of the Women’s World Cup for the first time in the nine editions of the tournament. Previously, they uniquely had played a maximum amount of games at every single Women’s World Cup, but go out in 2023 having won only one of their four matches in Australia and New Zealand.
Since losing to Sweden in a group stage match in 2011, the United States had not been defeated within regulation time in 20 games at the FIFA Women’s World Cup since, an all-time record at the men’s or women’s tournament, a run which has seen them reach three successive World Cup finals, emerging victorious in the last two.
In the following match in 2011, the United States recovered from trailing 2-1 in extra time to Brazil, equalizing with an iconic header by Abby Wambach in injury-time. Remarkably that game was the last occasion in which the United States had even trailed in a World Cup knockout match, a sequence of ten matches.
After widespread criticism of their performance earlier in the week against Portugal in which they were a width of the post from going out of the tournament, the United States produced a much-improved display in Melbourne today.
Inspired by the direct running of Trinity Rodman, the World champions took the game to their European opponents in a tight, tense encounter. In the first half, United States captain, Lindsey Horan crashed a header against the crossbar from a right-wing corner in the 34th minute. Seven minutes into the second period, Horan was denied by a flying save from Swedish goalkeeper Zećira Mušović.
MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – AUGUST 06: Zecira Musovic of Sweden makes a save during the FIFA Women’s … [+] World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023 Round of 16 match between Sweden and USA at Melbourne Rectangular Stadium on August 06, 2023 in Melbourne / Naarm, Australia. (Photo by Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)
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Sweden, who had won all of their group stage matches, scoring nine goals, struggled to create any opportunities from open play. Having already qualified for the knockout stages ahead of their final group game, they rested some of their key players against Argentina, a luxury not available to the United States who required a result earlier in their third game.
Sweden therefore counted on having the fresher legs the longer the match went on, utilising their attacking options from the bench. It took until the 84th minute for the Scandinavians to produce their first shot on target when substitute Sofia Jakobsson forced a save from United States goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher. In the 89th minute, Mušović once more came to her side’s rescue saving an Alex Morgan header from point-blank range.
Extra-time saw Mušović make further saves from Morgan, Lynn Williams and Sophia Smith as the United States pushed for an overtime winner. Their players would have had painful memories of a similar elimination as defending Olympic champions at the hands of Sweden during the 2016 Games on a penalty shoot-out following a 1-1 draw in Brasilia.
The attendance of 27,706 in Melbourne in this, the 52nd match of the tournament took the total attendance for the championship to 1,367,037. This surpassed the record figure of 1,353,506 set in Canada eight years ago in a 52-game Women’s World Cup. Then many of the group matches were played as double-headers which inflated figures at some of the less popular games.
This has not been the case in Australia and New Zealand and with 12 matches still to be played before the ninth Women’s world champions will be crowned in Sydney in two weeks, it is likely that the current average crowd figure of 26,289 will rise substantially before the end of what is undoubtedly the biggest women’s sporting event in history.
VANCOUVER – The Vancouver Canucks announced Tuesday that defenceman Alex Edler will sign a one-day contract in order to officially retire as a member of the NHL team.
The signing will be part of a celebration of Edler’s career held Oct. 11 when the Canucks host the Philadelphia Flyers.
The Canucks selected Edler, from Ostersund, Sweden, in the third round (91st overall) of the 2004 NHL draft.
He played in 925 career games for the Canucks between the 2006-07 and 2020-21 seasons, ranking fourth in franchise history and first among defencemen.
The 38-year-old leads all Vancouver defencemen with 99 goals, 310 assists and 177 power-play points with the team.
Edler also appeared in 82 career post-season contests with Vancouver and was an integral part of the Canucks’ run to the 2011 Stanley Cup final, putting up 11 points (2-9-11) across 25 games.
“I am humbled and honoured to officially end my career and retire as a member of the Vancouver Canucks,” Edler said in a release. “I consider myself lucky to have started my career with such an outstanding organization, in this amazing city, with the best fans in the NHL. Finishing my NHL career where it all began is something very special for myself and my family.”
Edler played two seasons for Los Angeles in 2021-22 and 2022-23. He did not play in the NHL last season.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
The sixth-ranked Canadian women will face World Cup champion Spain in an international friendly next month.
Third-ranked Spain will host Canada on Oct. 25 at Estadio Francisco de la Hera in Almendralejo.
The game will be the first for the Canadian women since the Paris Olympics, where they lost to Germany in a quarterfinal penalty shootout after coach Bev Priestman was sent home and later suspended for a year by FIFA over her part in Canada’s drone-spying scandal.
In announcing the Spain friendly, Canada Soccer said more information on the interim women’s coaching staff for the October window will come later. Assistant coach Andy Spence took charge of the team in Priestman’s absence at the Olympics.
Spain finished fourth in Paris, beaten 1-0 by Germany in the bronze-medal match.
Canada is winless in three previous meetings (0-2-1) with Spain, most recently losing 1-0 at the Arnold Clark Cup in England in February 2022.
The teams played to a scoreless draw in May 2019 in Logroñés, Spain in a warm-up for the 2019 World Cup. Spain won 1-0 in March 2019 at the Algarve Cup in São João da Venda, Portugal.
Spain is a powerhouse in the women’s game these days.
It won the FIFA U-20 World Cup in 2022 and was runner-up in 2018. And it ousted Canada 2-1 in the round of 16 of the current U-20 tournament earlier this month in Colombia before falling 1-0 to Japan after extra time in the quarterfinal.
Spain won the FIFA U-17 World Cup in 2018 and 2022 and has finished on the podium on three other occasions.
FC Barcelona’s Aitana Bonmati (2023) and Alexia Putellas (2021 and ’22) have combined to win the last three Women’s Ballon d’Or awards.
And Barcelona has won three of the last four UEFA Women’s Champions League titles.
“We continue to strive to diversify our opponent pool while maintaining a high level of competition.” Daniel Michelucci, Canada Soccer’s director of national team operations, said in a statement. “We anticipate a thrilling encounter, showcasing two of the world’s top-ranked teams.”
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024
TORONTO – The Toronto Maple Leafs have announced cookie brand Oreo as the team’s helmet sponsor for the upcoming NHL season.
The new helmet will debut Sunday when Toronto opens its 2024-25 pre-season against the Ottawa Senators at Scotiabank Arena.
The Oreo logo replaces Canadian restaurant chain Pizza Pizza, which was the Leafs’ helmet sponsor last season.
Previously, social media platform TikTok sponsored Toronto starting in the 2021-22 regular season when the league began allowing teams to sell advertising space on helmets.
The Oreo cookie consists of two chocolate biscuits around a white icing filling and is often dipped in milk.
Fittingly, the Leafs wear the Dairy Farmers of Ontario’s “Milk” logo on their jerseys.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
