Long-standing issues with scoring, creativity at root of Canada's World Cup exit

One of the prevailing sentiments from within the Canadian women’s team camp in the buildup to this summer’s FIFA Women's World Cup was as follows: We don’t get our proper due. We’re overlooked.

The Olympic champions were letting it be known to all who would listen that they felt disrespected over not being considered one of the tournament favourites.

But respect is earned. It’s not automatically given. And while winning an Olympic gold medal was an impressive feat, finding success at the World Cup is an entirely different and much more complicated matter. 

It’s a sobering lesson the Canadians learned the hard way on Monday as they crashed out of the competition following an embarrassing 4-0 loss to co-hosts Australia in Melbourne. In doing so, Canada became the first reigning Olympic champion to fail to advance out of the group stage at the World Cup.  

Really, the Canadians’ early exit should not come as too much of a surprise. Considering Canada's track record, capitalizing on its status as Olympic gold-medal winners at this World Cup was always going to be easier said than done. Women's soccer made its Olympic debut in 1996 in Atlanta, and Canada first qualified at Beijing 2008 when it bowed out in the quarter-finals. Since then, the Reds have reached the podium on three consecutive occasions.  

Breaking through at the World Cup has been much harder to do, though. The Canadians have now participated in eight tournaments since playing in their first in 1995 and have been eliminated in the group stage on five occasions — including in 2011 when they finished in last place. Canada reached the semifinals in 2003, but it was never able to build upon that splendid run to the final four in its two subsequent appearances in the knockout round, which included a rather tame quarter-final showing on home soil in 2015. 

So, no, the Canadians weren’t disrespected coming into this year’s competition because history has shown that it’s continually been too high of a mountain for them to climb. 

Setting aside an obvious record of underperforming on the sport’s biggest stage, lingering doubts over a lack of scoring thrust have long hounded the team. As marvellous as the Canadians’ gold-medal run was in Tokyo, it was achieved largely based on its defensive steel and the strength of its goalkeeping, rather than a free-flowing flood of goals. 

The Canadians only found the net twice at this World Cup (one of them an own-goal), which means the persistent questions about their goal-scoring ability will only grow louder (and justifiably so) as they attempt to recover from their meagre showing Down Under over the last 11 days. 

Let’s not mince words here: This latest loss was a microcosm of Canada’s long-standing problems in attack, underlining the team’s lack of creativity in the final third of the pitch and an inability to routinely break down its opponents.

It was a night to forget for the Canadians as they struggled to deal with the aggressive, high press from the fervent Australians, who used their speed and quick thinking to unbalance the Olympic champions on the counterattack right from the start.  

Canada had trouble playing out from the back and resorted to hitting high and hopeful balls in attack rather than making penetrating runs in an attempt to get behind Australia’s defence. Bev Priestman’s side enjoyed 62 per cent of the possession, but only registered three shots on target, the first of which didn’t occur until the 70th minute when it already trailed 3-0. 

Tokyo Olympics aside, too often Canada’s most important players have fallen well short of the mark in the team’s biggest games, with Monday’s loss being the latest example. 

Forward Jordyn Huitema has one goal in her last 16 matches for Canada. Her lack of production could be excused if she offered something substantive. But once again, her final ball and crossing let her down at times on Monday. Captain Christine Sinclair, perhaps playing in her last World Cup, failed to get herself into dangerous shooting positions before being subbed out after an anonymous 45 minutes of action. 

Usually a model of consistency, influential midfielder Jessie Fleming’s touch escaped her — she completed just 63 per cent of her passes and her trademark pinpoint crosses were few and far between. Fullback Ashley Lawrence was a non-factor. Considered to be among the best goalkeepers in the world, Kailen Sheridan hopelessly flailed at a corner kick on Australia’s opening goal, capping off a tournament she’d just as soon forget. Julia Grosso was a defensive liability in central midfield. 

“Football can be cruel sometimes,” Priestman told reporters after the loss. 

“Tonight, we got cruelly punished and they got the early goal. I think the team lost belief and I was with them till the very end pushing. It wasn’t our night tonight.” 

The temptation here is to point to the team’s ongoing and highly publicized labour dispute with Canada Soccer as the main reason why its World Cup campaign went completely off the rails.  

As Olympic champions, the Canadians never should have been put in the position of having to go on strike earlier this year over funding cuts to their program just months before the World Cup. The fact that the players went back to work almost immediately after being threatened with legal action by the sport’s national governing body — and that they still don’t have a collective bargaining agreement to this day — just speaks to the gaping faction that must be bridged between the two sides. 

But the labour dispute and the team’s fight for equality can’t and shouldn’t be used as an excuse for their premature World Cup exit. 

The Canadians need only look to their southern neighbours as an example of how to compartmentalize. The United States was engaged in a similar fight for years with its federation, yet it still managed to win World Cups and Concacaf tournaments without missing a beat. Or they can look to Group B rivals Nigeria, who like Canada has had to battle its federation, yet still managed to advance to the knockout round at this World Cup. 

One day, and it can’t come soon enough, the Canadian women’s team won’t be embroiled in such battles and can focus entirely on matters on the pitch. 

But in the meantime, Canada must find a way to bolster its toothless attack and get the most out of its key players when it needs them the most. Unless that happens, World Cup glory will continue to elude them.