You’ve got to love it.
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Canada’s Christine Sinclair (12) runs the ball back to center field after scoring against England during first-half FIFA Women’s World Cup quarterfinal soccer game action in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, on Saturday, June 27, 2015.
Buoyed by a boisterous atmosphere inside the BC Place, the hosts came storming out of the traps, with Melissa Tancredi having the first sight at goal when she wastefully fired over after cutting inside following a wonderful counter-attack.
It’s all mind games, of course. “We know that Canada is known for its grit and aggressive DNA”.
“This is a different Canada who have relied on some fortunate refereeing decisions”. Canada (2-0-2) has just three in four matches. “They do like to tackle, like to try to dominate second balls and be very physical in those moments”, he said at the news conference. “Even players who were pressuring and taking risks, if it didn’t work out, we tried again”.
Sampson did concede that his side is aggressive as well. “It’s a big, big game”. “Honestly, I felt completely empty because the match was finally over and it ended well for us”.
It was a contentious first half where both teams couldn’t find the goal to put them in the lead, and the Canadians made the most of it when the second half resumed, thanks to Josee Belanger’s goal in the 52 minute of the match.
John Herdman’s team has struggled mightily with finishing, and that shows with their three goals in four games record. Canada was fourth behind Japan and France with odds of 10 to 1, while England had odds of 14 to 1, ahead of yesterday’s matchup.
Goals have also been hard to come by at this tournament.
“The pressure is not on us, to be brutally honest”. We’re prepared and we’re focused. “We’ll be ready for whatever type of challenge we’re going to face”. However, Canada did defeat the United Kingdom in the quarter finals of the 2012 London Olympics. There won’t be any time for any half performances in this one, if Canada want to get through they will have to be at there best. “I’ve never been in a stadium as loud, as passionate for their team as that was”. Hopefully this will also be the same for WWC games including England vs Canada but it’s too early to tell at the time of writing. Canada won its opening match against China on a penalty kick in the 92nd minute. It was the first ever knockout stage win for England.
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Herdman, 39, was reportedly up for the job that Sampson got after coach Hope Powell was fired in August 2013. England beat Mexico and Colombia in the group stage. You get knocked out (in the Round of 16) and the TV ratings drop and the tournament may disappear. Their forwards are decent, but they’re not getting much in the way of service. A couple of opponents in our way.
