In the game billed as “The Rematch,” American star Alex Morgan played the role of villain once again.
Morgan scored twice to lift world No. 1-ranked United States to a 3-0 victory over Canada’s women’s soccer team Sunday. It was the first meeting between the North American rivals since Canada’s heartbreaking 4-3 loss to the U.S. in the Olympic semifinals, and the Canadians’ first game back home since they won bronze in London.
Watch highlights of the game courtesy of Sportsnet
Sydney Leroux, a Canadian-born striker who plays for the U.S., drew boos from the crowd when she kissed the badge on her jersey after scoring the Americans’ third goal.
Morgan, whose goal in the 123rd minute in that memorable Olympic semi sealed the U.S. victory, scored her first Sunday in the 70th when she cut inside defender Emily Zurrer, firing from the top left corner of the 18-yard box and slotting it past Canadian ‘keeper Erin McLeod into the right corner of the net.
Morgan’s second goal came two minutes later from the identical spot.
Leroux scored seconds before the final minute when she ran in on a breakaway, placing the ball past McLeod.
The so-called friendly was anything but for the two teams, who had battled goal-for-goal in last summer’s Olympic match that will go down as one of the most memorable games in Canadian soccer history — women or men.
Canada’s captain Christine Sinclair recorded a hat trick in that match that turned on a controversial free kick. Referee Christina Pedersen awarded the kick to the Americans in front of Canada’s net, claiming McLeod took longer than the allowable six seconds to put the ball back into play.
Sunday, BMO Field’s 22,453 fans — a record for a soccer game at BMO Field — loudly counted off the seconds each time American ‘keeper Nicole Barnhart took a goal kick.
Those were arguably the most entertaining moments of a sloppy affair that saw the Americans dominate possession in the first half, keeping Sinclair under wraps. She finally got free for a decent shot on net in the 48th minute, but fired it over the net.
Morgan had a clear path to the net several minutes later, but 17-year-old rookie defender Kadeisha Buchanan — the only starter for No. 7 Canada on Sunday who wasn’t on the London Olympic team — was quick enough to get in Morgan’s way.
Buchanan cleared a ball off the goal-line a minute later.
Canada’s best scoring chance came in the 90th minute when national team newcomer Tiffany Cameron had an open shot from just outside the six-yard box that she fired wide right of the net.
Canada would go on to beat France for the bronze in London, capturing the country’s first Olympic medal in a traditional team sport since 1936.
Sunday’s game featured 15 of the 22 starters from that nailbiting Olympic semifinal.
But the rematch, the Canadian players had been saying all week, was as much about thanking their fans for the outpouring of support as it was about getting a result against their southern foe.
BMO Field was a sea of red and white for the game that sold out in less than two hours. Young girls dressed in soccer jerseys, and tiny Canadian flags tucked into their hairbands, dotted the crowd. It appeared there wasn’t a person in the south grandstand that wasn’t waving a Canadian flag.
Despite last summer’s result, the Canadians knew they were in tough against an American team that has now won 36 straight games. The Canadian women have an all-time record of three wins, five draws and now 45 losses in 53 international matches against the might Americans, and have never won at home, tying them once and losing six times in seven home matches dating back to 1990.
Canada last beat the U.S. at the 2001 Algarve Cup, a 3-0 victory.
Morgan scored twice to lift world No. 1-ranked United States to a 3-0 victory over Canada’s women’s soccer team Sunday. It was the first meeting between the North American rivals since Canada’s heartbreaking 4-3 loss to the U.S. in the Olympic semifinals, and the Canadians’ first game back home since they won bronze in London.
Watch highlights of the game courtesy of Sportsnet
Sydney Leroux, a Canadian-born striker who plays for the U.S., drew boos from the crowd when she kissed the badge on her jersey after scoring the Americans’ third goal.
Morgan, whose goal in the 123rd minute in that memorable Olympic semi sealed the U.S. victory, scored her first Sunday in the 70th when she cut inside defender Emily Zurrer, firing from the top left corner of the 18-yard box and slotting it past Canadian ‘keeper Erin McLeod into the right corner of the net.
Morgan’s second goal came two minutes later from the identical spot.
Leroux scored seconds before the final minute when she ran in on a breakaway, placing the ball past McLeod.
The so-called friendly was anything but for the two teams, who had battled goal-for-goal in last summer’s Olympic match that will go down as one of the most memorable games in Canadian soccer history — women or men.
Canada’s captain Christine Sinclair recorded a hat trick in that match that turned on a controversial free kick. Referee Christina Pedersen awarded the kick to the Americans in front of Canada’s net, claiming McLeod took longer than the allowable six seconds to put the ball back into play.
Sunday, BMO Field’s 22,453 fans — a record for a soccer game at BMO Field — loudly counted off the seconds each time American ‘keeper Nicole Barnhart took a goal kick.
Those were arguably the most entertaining moments of a sloppy affair that saw the Americans dominate possession in the first half, keeping Sinclair under wraps. She finally got free for a decent shot on net in the 48th minute, but fired it over the net.
Morgan had a clear path to the net several minutes later, but 17-year-old rookie defender Kadeisha Buchanan — the only starter for No. 7 Canada on Sunday who wasn’t on the London Olympic team — was quick enough to get in Morgan’s way.
Buchanan cleared a ball off the goal-line a minute later.
Canada’s best scoring chance came in the 90th minute when national team newcomer Tiffany Cameron had an open shot from just outside the six-yard box that she fired wide right of the net.
Canada would go on to beat France for the bronze in London, capturing the country’s first Olympic medal in a traditional team sport since 1936.
Sunday’s game featured 15 of the 22 starters from that nailbiting Olympic semifinal.
But the rematch, the Canadian players had been saying all week, was as much about thanking their fans for the outpouring of support as it was about getting a result against their southern foe.
BMO Field was a sea of red and white for the game that sold out in less than two hours. Young girls dressed in soccer jerseys, and tiny Canadian flags tucked into their hairbands, dotted the crowd. It appeared there wasn’t a person in the south grandstand that wasn’t waving a Canadian flag.
Despite last summer’s result, the Canadians knew they were in tough against an American team that has now won 36 straight games. The Canadian women have an all-time record of three wins, five draws and now 45 losses in 53 international matches against the might Americans, and have never won at home, tying them once and losing six times in seven home matches dating back to 1990.
Canada last beat the U.S. at the 2001 Algarve Cup, a 3-0 victory.
Second-half goals cost Canada in front of record crowd
2 june 2013
A pair of second-half goals by Alex Morgan and an insurance marker by Sydney LeRoux powered USA to a 3:0 win over Canada in front of a record crowd of 22,453 at BMO Field in Toronto. The crowd marks the highest-ever attendance for a soccer match at the national soccer stadium.
Canada managed to limit the Americans to only a handful of clear-cut chances but Morgan and LeRoux made the most of the opportunities finishing clinically on all three occasions.
Christine Sinclair had Canada's best chance of the game when she was played through in the first half - but her chipped effort did not make it past the on-rushing keeper.
"The heart was there, the spirit was there - but again this has proved to be a very difficult fixture for us," said Canadian Head Coach John Herdman.
The Canadian coach added that this result will serve as a 'reality check' for his side as they continue their preparation for the FIFA Women's World Cup Canada 2015."There is a gap - but we need to ask ourselves collectively what we can do to close that gap.
"Don't write us off. We'll be back."
Canada WNT's next schedule match is a 19 June friendly away to Germany.
Match Report available hereCanada WNT to host Korea Republic in Edmonton
2 june 2013
Canada WNT will host Korea Republic in a Women’s International Friendly at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton, AB on Wednesday 30 October 2013. The match in Edmonton will be Canada’s first women’s fixture at Commonwealth Stadium since a 2005 friendly against Germany. The contest between Canada and Korea Republic will be a precursor to the FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015 as Canada will play the Opening Match in Edmonton.
Commonwealth Stadium holds the record for the highest-ever attendance at a women’s international fixture in Canada: a crowd of 47,784 attended the final of the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup in 2002 between Canada and USA.
Edmonton also holds the record for highest home attendance to a Canada WNT game, with 29,953 fans attending a win over Mexico in 2003.
Ticket details for the match will be announced at a later date.
Canada has an all-time record of 3W-0D-1L against Korea Republic in four matches dating back to 2000.
About the Canadian Soccer Association
The Canadian Soccer Association, in partnership with its membership and its partners, provides leadership in the pursuit of excellence in soccer, both at the national and international levels. The Canadian Soccer Association not only strives to lead Canada to victory, but also encourages Canadians to a life-long passion for soccer. For more details on the Canadian Soccer Association, visit CanadaSoccer.com
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Media Contacts
Max Bell Manager National Teams Communications mbell@canadasoccer.com C 416-797-9192 | Michèle Dion Acting Director Communications mdion@canadasoccer.com T 613-237-4580 x 226 C 613-857-0827 |
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