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The Canadian women’s national soccer team has developed a new attitude against the United States since its gold-medal triumph at the Tokyo Olympics last summer.
Canada defeated the United States in one semifinal of the Tokyo Games a year ago en route to the gold medal, and going into the final of the Concacaf W Championship on Monday (10 p.m. ET, OneSoccer) at the BBVA Stadium in Monterrey, Mexico, believe they can do it again.
It won’t be easy, as the United States is still considered the best team in the world, but after beating its southern rivals at the Olympics, Canada is no longer going into the contest with an inferiority complex.
“I definitely think our confidence going into this match is at an all-time high,” said Canada midfielder Desiree Scott on Sunday. “We obviously, have that confidence coming from the Tokyo Olympics. Obviously, nothing is ever given; it’s earned and we know that coming into the final, and I think the mental space of the squad is a confident one and we’re really pumped for this final.”
Canada has been improving as the tournament has gone along and go into the final with identical numbers to the United States. Both teams are 4-0 going into the game, have scored 12 goals and have yet to concede any.
Canada qualified for the final with a 3-0 win against Jamaica in the semifinal, while the United States defeated Costa Rica 3-0 in its semifinal.
“I think the U.S. look hungry,” said Canada head coach Bev Priestman. “I think if you look at the team and how they’ve evolved since we last played them in Tokyo, they’ve changed in some ways. Most of their goals would come in the first 15 minutes and they’re a team now that will look to finish a game strong and score most of their goals in that time period of the game.
“I think they’re evolving, they look hungry, but the style of the team hasn’t changed drastically and the tendency and trends are still the same. It’ll be the game we expect, it’ll be about getting the best out of both teams and for any player these are the games you live for; when you have to bring your absolute best to get a result.”
The Concacaf final was always expected to feature Canada and the United States as they are still, by far, the best two teams in the region.
At stake is an automatic berth into the 2024 Olympics in Paris, which will go to the winner of the tournament. The second-place finisher will have to face the third-place team in a playoff for another Olympic berth in September 2023. Costa Rica and Jamaica will play each other in the third-place game earlier Monday.
“I think our team now views themselves as one of the best teams in the world,” Priestman said. “You could argue; did they really think that, historically? I don’t know. But I think the story has to keep being told, that’s the critical thing.
“We don’t want to be a one-off team, we want to be a team that can consistently win on the world stage and if you start to look over the last Tier 1 games we’ve played from Tokyo until now, and what our defensive record is like, we’ve beaten the top three in the world, and you start to add that, and that adds confidence to players. When it comes to playing the best teams in the world, the numbers tell us that we can.”
Since defeating the United States and then Sweden in the final at the Olympics, Canada has drawn with England, defeated Germany and dropped a one-goal decision to Spain at the Arnold Clark Cup. They have also lost to Mexico and tied Nigeria.
At the Concacaf Championship, Canada has faced extremely defensive teams to this point. They will be going up against a much more offensive squad in the United States.
“I think this game is going to be much more transitional, very high tempo and very physical,” Scott said. “I think that’s one change in our mindset, going into the match and we know both sides are going to bring their A-games. So it’s just about focusing on us and what we can do and bringing that speed and tempo to the match and then driving that attacking side of things and then mentally and physically be ready to battle.”
For their part, the United States is going through a transition with head coach Vlatko Andonovski fielding a younger squad at the tournament with a focus on next summer’s FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. All four semifinalists qualified for the World Cup.
The United States is unbeaten in 17 games since losing to Canada at the Olympics, which Andonovski said is not a big talking point among his team in Mexico.
“If you look at the group of players that is here, I don’t know if there’s more than four or five players that were on the field in that game that are here,” he said.
Canada shut out the United States in Tokyo and won the game on a penalty converted by Jessie Fleming. They will need another strong defensive effort to get past the United States again in the Concacaf W final.
“For us, it’s priding ourselves in our defensive play, we always do that,” Scott said. “We’re a tough side to break down, we’re going into this game with zero goals against and we have to keep that, we have to keep the Americans and their attack at bay and then being clinical in our final third.
“I think we can get chances and opportunities with our crosses, especially with the attacking prowess we bring and then just finishing and capitalizing on those chances because there may not be very many, so we really have to capitalized on those chances we do get.”
Email: dvandiest@postmedia.com
On Twitter: @DerekVanDiest
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