In their 2-1 win over New Zealand, Canada played like a team that didn’t need a drone to spy on their opponents’ training sessions. Canada outpossessed and outworked New Zealand, holding a significant physical and technical edge.
Before Canada’s highly-anticipated match with New Zealand, an uncredited member of the Canada national team used a drone twice and flew it over the New Zealand practice sessions. Canada assistant coach Jasmine Mander and the analyst took an immediate flight home, while head coach Bev Priestman withdrew from the first match of the Olympics.
“I think this kind of lit a fire in our bellies,” New Zealand forward Indiah-Paige Riley said about the scandal.
Assistant coach and ex-Everton Ladies manager Andy Spence was Priestman’s replacement. His opening minutes came catastrophically. Seemingly with their first chance, New Zealand scored the match’s first goal.
Kiwi midfielder Katie Kitching sent in a corner that rolled into space. Mackenzie Barry cleverly trapped the ball and turned. Her chipped shot beat Canada keeper Kailen Sheridan, bounced off the crossbar, and rolled past the goal line and into the net. Bowen’s impressive finish gave the New Zealand side an early lead they would sit on throughout the first half.
New Zealand sat deep and defended on the back foot for most of the first half, with relative success. Canada couldn’t break down the New Zealand low block, and even when they did, they couldn’t finish well. Multiple attacking moves down the wings were squandered because of poor, shanked shots. Despite easily cutting through the New Zealand defense and picking out holes, they lacked the end product to finish their moves. Canada looked far from their best.
The biggest miss came down the left-hand flank. Nichelle Prince latched on to an Ashley Lawrence cutback, but, hurried under the pressure of the New Zealand defense, sent her shot flying over the bar. It was one of Canada’s best chances in a first half filled with disappointment.
Canada turned their fortune around with a goal just before halftime. After getting on the receiving end of a give-and-go with Jessie Fleming, Lawrence played an incisive ball to Prince in the box. Prince impressively flicked a pass to Cloe Lacasse, narrowly beating out a lethargic New Zealand defense. Lacasse rocketed her shot into the top corner to give Canada a well-earned advantage.
From there, the game opened up as Canada’s elite attackers began to take control of the match. Adriana Leon created another opportunity for Canada, dragging the ball past Barry on the wing before forcing a brilliant save from Anna Leat. Fleming whipped a free kick into the box, with Quinn stooping down and nodding a header towards goal. It took a full-body, outstretched save from Leat to keep Canada from getting their second goal.
With only minutes left in the game, Fleming ripped yet another terrific through-ball into space. Super-sub Evelyn Viens raced onto the ball, beating two New Zealand defenders in transition. Viens tucked her shot into the bottom left corner while on the run, framing it just out of reach for Leat.
Although New Zealand attempted a late push for an equalizer, they looked too fatigued to do anything of note. New Zealand found their efforts to score halted by a valiant defensive effort from Canada and numerous halts in play.
Canada can now seal a knockout round bid with a win over France on Sunday. The New Zealand squad will need a positive result against a Linda Caicedo-led Colombia squad. They’ll likely be without midfielder Macey Fraser, who limped off the field in added time with an apparent ankle injury. France will play Colombia on Thursday at 3 p.m. ET.
PHOTOS: IMAGO
