When Canada won the gold medal at the Pan Am Games in Guadalajara, Mexico October 27, they got more than just the victory. It was the first tournament Canada played in since their very disappointing run at the FIFA Women's World Cup in Germany this past July, and Canada got to feel what being at the top feels like.
Canada defeated Brazil in a penalty shoot out after time expired. The match didn't open well for the Canadians, who found themselves a goal down in the fourth minute. Brazil's Debora pushed through the defense and fired a shot from range to beat goalkeeper Karina LeBlanc and put Canada on their heels.
The match stayed at 1-0 until the 88th minute, when Canada finally found the equalizer off the head of Christine Sinclair. She got the ball from a corner kick sent in by Diana Matheson. After regulation and extra time, the score remained locked at 1-1 and a penalty shoot out had to decide between gold and silver.
Sinclair, Matheson, Melanie Booth and Sophie Schmidt all found the back of the net for Canada in the penalty shootout, while Brazil only managed three. LeBlanc came up big against Debora and Grazielle to earn the win for Canada. On their way up through the Pan Am Games, Canada defeated Costa Rica 3-1, took Argentina 1-0, played to a scoreless draw with Brazil, and took Colombia 2-1 to make it to the final.
The Pan Am games offered Team Canada a run at sharpening their tournament skills in advance of the CONCACAF Olympic qualifiers to be played on their home soil in Vancouver, B.C. coming up in January. The side got the chance to get a few more games in with new head coach John Herdman, who was hired after the resignation of Caroline Morace.
More than anything, the gold medal win will boost Canada's morale and help them forget about the poor showing at the World Cup where they only scored one goal in group play and exited the tournament with zero points. Everyone had expected more from Canada, even if they were in Group A with Germany, France, and Nigeria.
I saw Canada play live against United States in a friendly in Portland, Oregon September 22. Canada lost the match, but showed some interesting play that promised potential. The match was played just three weeks after Herdman was named to coach Canada. With more time, he is proving to be effective. I think they will be joining United States as the two Olympic qualifiers from CONCACAF once the tournament in Vancouver is finished.
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