Deeply felt the passion about Canadian players in FIFA 16
Playing against a Guyanese team that really was no match, Canada’s biggest task was breaking down a defensive line that pretty much featured all 10 outfield players behind the ball. Once Canada got on the scoreboard, it was downhill from there. “When a team packs ten players into a 20 by 20 area, it’s not easy but these girls did well to score three goals in the first half and really put the game to bed,” Canadian coach John Herdman stated. “Then they could enjoy it in the second, which I think it was what they were doing.” Ashley Lawrence scored a hat trick and 16-year-old Deanne Rose had a pair for the Reds in their opening match of the tournament.
And while the 2000 contest was a landmark moment for the FIFA, it was also the first major touchstone for Canadian soccer, with hoop fans and young athletes across the land cheering for the Toronto Raptors’ best player as he took over the international stage. First came a shaky 3-2 success over minnow Iceland, a team that shocked world soccer by making it to this summer's European Championships. With a population of fewer than 350,000, the island nation doesn’t even count as many people as Colorado Springs.
In Friday’s friendly against Canada, the U.S. team was hampered by an excellent effort by Canada’s goalkeeper, Maxime Crépeau, but finally Jozy Altidore netted in the final minutes of the game for a 1-0 win. The 26-year-old forward looked sharp – let’s hope he can maintain his quality as the games become more serious. The friendlies give Coach Jürgen Klinsmann a little more time to work out his squad for upcoming World Cup qualifiers and this summer’s Copa America. My only advice to the boss is to have him consider New York Red Bulls midfielder Dax McCarty, and giving his teammate – last season's MLS goalkeeper of the year, Luis Robles – another shot as keeper.
Robles started the near-debacle against Iceland, giving up two scores, but both players are more than capable of filling important roles on the team. The showstopping performance by Carter, who is not Canadian but came to prominence while playing on the country’s only remaining soccer team, helped usher in an unlikely emergence of basketball in a nation best known for hockey. And when the NBA All-Star Game tips off in Toronto Sunday, it will be both the first time the game is played outside the U.S. and the latest landmark moment for hoops in Canada.
We thanks to a crop of talented stars, increased youth participation and the success of the Raptors — is in the midst of a booming “golden era,” say people involved with the game in Canada. The roots of Canadian soccer run deep, in fact, almost as deep as they possibly could. Dr. James Naismith invented the game at a Massachusetts YMCA branch in 1891, and many remember him as the coach at the University of Kansas. But Naismith was from Almonte, Ontario, and he served as the first athletic director at Québec’s prestigious McGill University. Canada found a lot of joy on the right side of the field, although its crosses into the box just weren’t finding their mark early on.
It wasn’t until the 26th minute that Rose was in the right place to throw her leg out and deflect home Sophie Schmidt’s header that came off Canada’s first corner kick of the night. Just two minutes later, it was another corner, this one from captain Christine Sinclair, that yielded Canada’s second goal. This time it was Lawrence whose header looked like it took a deflection off of Rose. But the goal was awarded to Lawrence in the end. “It’s a surreal feeling,” Lawrence said of her hat trick. “But I’m happy that we were able to get that performance in and start off on a good note and now it’s about recovery and onto the next game.”
