Canadians bounce back with trademark performance, close in on Olympic berth

After a disastrous FIFA World Cup this past summer, the Canadian women’s team returned to the basics on Friday night. 

In doing so, Canada finds itself on the cusp of qualifying for the 2024 Paris Olympics after earning a 2-0 road win over Jamaica in the first leg of its Concacaf Olympic play-in series at Independence Park in Kingston, Jamaica.  

Nichelle Prince and Adriana Leon scored for Canada, which only needs a draw in next Tuesday’s return match at Toronto’s BMO Field to qualify for the Olympics. Even a 1-0 loss would be enough for the Canadians to punch their ticket for Paris. 

Prince scored for the first time in nearly two years for her country and Leon marked her 100th appearance for Canada with her 30th international goal. The Canadians’ longstanding scoring issues have been well documented, highlighted by their anemic offensive production at the World Cup when they scored just twice, one of which was via an own-goal. So, the fact they were able to put two goals past Jamaican goalkeeper Rebecca Spencer while captain and all-time top scorer Christine Sinclair was on the bench for the entire game is a positive development for a team that desperately needed to break out of its scoring funk. 

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But the strength of Canada’s defending on Friday night should not be overlooked as it provided the foundation upon which this important victory was earned. 

Canada’s ability to defend has long been its hallmark in the international game. The gold medal in Tokyo was secured not because of the team’s scoring prowess, but its ability to thwart its opponents from doing so. The Canadians conceded just one goal in three knockout matches during the 2021 Olympics, using their defensive grit and steel to get the better of top nations such as Brazil, the United States and Sweden. 

But somehow, Canada had lost its way. The team’s defence had become penetrable in coughing up 12 goals in its first seven games this year with just two shutouts. 

“Canada doesn’t concede [goals] but 2023 was the year of conceding … Ultimately we need to get back to the values and the things that are associated with this team for sure,” coach Bev Priestman said in the buildup to Friday’s game in the Jamaican capital. 

Against the Reggae Girlz, Canada kept things tight at the back and completely neutralized Jamaica’s Bunny Shaw, one of the top forwards in the world and a finalist for this year’s Ballon d’Or. Canadian goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan only had to make one save on the night, in the 79th minute.  

Switching to a 3-5-2 formation from the 4-2-3-1 setup that Priestman had preferred in recent times allowed the Canadians to gain a strong defensive hold on the game. The centre back trio of veterans Kadeisha Buchanan and Vanessa Gilles and youngster Jade Rose flawlessly managed the contest by keeping the action in front of them and were ably abetted by the workhorse efforts of Quinn in central midfield. 

“I thought in organized play, we were very good. And to be honest I celebrated the clean sheet because it has to be; it’s the foundation of what this team is. We came in with that goal and we achieved it,” Priestman said in the post-game press conference. 

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The stout defensive organization shown by the Canadians on the night harkened back to the Tokyo Olympics when the new centre back pairing of Buchanan and Gilles masterfully combined to marshal a four-woman back line that gave very little away. Playing alongside Rose (a 20-year-old junior at Harvard University) on Friday, Buchanan and Gilles looked completely invigorated after both suffered through poor individual World Cup campaigns. 

With things taken care of at the back end, Canada confidently broke forward in numbers in search of goals, especially down the flanks against a compact Jamaican team that defended in a deep block. In particular, Ashley Lawrence pushed the attack with her probing runs down the right side. It was Lawrence’s who used her speed to give a Jamaican defender the slip before delivering a pinpoint cross into the box that led to Prince’s opening goal in the 18th minute.

Leon’s goal in injury time off a setup from a substitute Gabrielle Carle came after Canada’s bend-but-don’t-break defence repelled Jamaica’s persistent attacking advances for the final 15 minutes of regulation time.  

This was Canada’s first outing since its nightmarish 4-0 defeat to Australia back in July that hastened its early exit from the World Cup. The memory of that humbling loss no doubt lingers within the collective conscience of this Canadian team, which is why it was so important for the Olympic champions to return to their roots on Friday with a stellar defensive display. 

“We put a lot of attention on the mindset because I felt that was lacking and affected (the team) in the World Cup. I told them to go out there today and, first and foremost, show that this team’s character is back. The football will take care of itself. We’ve been working hard on the pitch on that domain,” Priestman said. 

“But I felt the most important thing — to come to Jamaica, home crowd, they’re the team that’s been riding high — is our character had to shine through. And I’m over the moon because I feel like it did.” 

John Molinaro is one of the leading soccer journalists in Canada, having covered the game for over 20 years for several media outlets, including Sportsnet, CBC Sports and Sun Media. He is currently the editor-in-chief of TFC Republic, a website dedicated to in-depth coverage of Toronto FC and Canadian soccer. TFC Republic can be found here.