Canadian women get 'morale boost' with big win vs. South Korea

The Canadian women’s team was put through the wringer in 2024. 

The stage for what turned out to be a tumultuous period was set last December when Christine Sinclair, international soccer’s all-time top scorer (for both women and men), retired from the national team. Forcing Canada to make do without its iconic captain after 23 years of dedicated service. 

The team moved forward without Sinclair as the ongoing labour dispute with Canada Soccer lingered on. Then came the Paris Olympics where coach Bev Priestman and two members of her staff were sent home and slapped with one-year bans by FIFA, while the Canadian women saw their bid to repeat as Olympic champions derailed in the aftermath of the drone scandal. 

Last month, Canada Soccer shared the findings of an independent report it commissioned, confirming the practise of spying on opponents via the use of drones had been going on for years within its senior national teams. Canada Soccer also confirmed that Priestman, who guided the women to a gold medal in Tokyo in 2021, wouldn’t be back as Canadian coach once her suspension was over. The team has been operating without a full-time coach since the Olympics.

But there finally appears to be a bit of light at the end of the tunnel for the Canadians who walloped South Korea 5-1 in Tuesday’s international friendly at Pinatar Arena in Murcia, Spain.  

After a difficult year, this emphatic display will give Canada a big morale boost as it enters 2025 with the spectre of the Olympic drone-spying scandal still hanging over its head. The win over the South Koreans also hinted at a possible path forward for Canada, regardless of who’ll be in charge, as interim coach Cindy Tye gave national team debuts to three newcomers.  

"Whenever you get a chance to get a win and make three debuts in one game, I think that's a win for the program. Give them the opportunity – that was the philosophy going in, and to be able to do that tonight definitely feels good for the group," Tye told reporters after the win.  

One of the criticisms of Priestman was that she relied too heavily on a core group of veterans and didn’t do enough to integrate youngsters and other players into the program. Notably, all four Canadians who earned their first caps this year did so under Tye, who also oversaw the team in last week’s 0-0 draw against Iceland.  

In just two matches, Tye, who previously reported to Priestman as Canada’s under-20 coach, expanded the national team player pool and gave it a badly needed injection of new blood. With so many fresh faces in camp, it wasn’t a major surprise that a number of them thrived under what Tye described as Canada's “objective of opportunity” during this international window. 

After giving a first cap to third-string goalkeeper Lysianne Proulx last week, Tye once again showed her faith in some new faces on Tuesday. Tye trusted Megan Reid to start in the centre of defence alongside veteran Vanessa Gilles in her first international appearance for Canada and she didn’t disappoint. Reid, 28, helped the Canadians comfortably repel South Korea’s attacking advances in a solid display before being subbed out after 45 minutes. 

“Megan, she did really well. ... (She) had a strong performance. We had a lot of the ball and she made good decisions,” Tye enthused. 

Midfielder Jeneva Hernandez Gray (18) and forward Nyah Rose (19), who played for Tye at this summer’s FIFA U-20 World Cup, also took their international bows after entering Tuesday’s game in the second half. Rose showed glimpses of attacking spark, while Gray collected an assist on Canada’s fifth goal. 

“With Jeneva and Nyah, (they had) good performances at the (U-20) World Cup,” Tye said. 

“To give them a taste of what happens here, and get them in and around the senior players, they (got to) see themselves in this environment, and it might give them a little bit of a push … so they'll be more ready the next time. And the group itself was welcoming, but also helping them adjust to the standard.” 

Tye also leaned on forward Olivia Smith, and midfielders Emma Regan and Marie-Yasmine Alidou who had been inexplicably overlooked by Priestman.  

Canada overawed South Korea with 60 per cent possession and a 22-4 edge in total shots (9-1 in shots on target), its domination owing a lot to the contributions of the aforementioned trio. 

Regan, 24, was a bulwark in midfield in only her second start in four appearances for Canada, doing the unglamorous dirty work in the centre of the park and routinely disrupting South Korea’s attacking rhythm over the course of the full 90 minutes.  

“I thought she was definitely keen to get on the ball defensively. She did well. We challenged her to face forward a little bit more and connect, which I think she really tried to do, and she had a great impact on the game today, Tye offered. 

Smith, 20, earned only her fourth start in 13 appearances and made the most of it by forcing an own-goal that opened the scoring in the 22nd minute. In the second half, she scored her third international goal with a shot from just inside the 18-yard box while fending off three South Korean defenders. Smith also marked the occasion with her second international assist. No bad for a player who was left off Priestman’s Olympic roster.   

“I think she's really obviously starting to feel that confidence, and when she comes into this group now, I can see that she absolutely belongs here. And a performance like tonight for her was a message that she's here to stay,” Tye said. 

Alidou, 29, also distinguished herself with a strong outing in her second consecutive appearance under Tye with her sublime attacking play and a gorgeous goal from 25 yards out that made it 2-0. The Montreal native only had two caps under Priestman prior to 2024, as she was snubbed despite having strong seasons at the club level in Portugal.  

But she earned two consecutive starts under Tye to end the year, scoring two goals in three games – her other goal came in last month’s 1-1 draw vs. World Cup champions Spain with assistant coach Andy Spence at the helm. The budding attacking partnership between Smith and Alidou is something that Canada should look to exploit going forward. 

“They've had a great camp, the two of them, and they have a quality to them in tight spaces. They can be very dynamic and all that trick in those spaces, which is what we saw tonight. So, very pleased to see that partnership and to see it come alive and to be rewarded,” Tye said. 

It should be pointed out that Tye’s hand was somewhat forced during this international window, as Canada was missing defenders Jade Rose, Kadeisha Buchanan and Sydney Collins, forwards Jordyn Huitema, Cloé Lacasse and Evelyne Viens, and midfielder Quinn through injury or personal reasons. Had those veterans been in Spain, we might not have seen so many debuting players. 

But these last two games showed that the Canadian women’s team does have depth. It just needs to give chances to these less experienced players in order to build for a successful comeback after a disappointing 2024.