Rhian Wilkinson's Official Website

RHIAN'S SOCCER JOURNALS:

CANADA DROPS FIRST GAME OF TOURNAMENT 16th January 2008

I will start with the negative and bad news. We lost. The final score was 0 - 4, and all four goals were scored on us in the second half.

I could dwell on the loss, and the obvious frustration that goes hand in hand with it, but I have chosen instead to highlight the positives. There were many of these, despite the score. Even was trying out many new players in new positions, and I thought many of these experiments and tweaks worked out pretty well. There is a learning curve to every new position, and this curve gets steeper and steeper the further up the ladder you go. I feel that all new players and those in new positions worked their butts off.

I need at this point just to take a second here to congratulate Jonelle Filigno in the 46th minute, Julie Armstrong in the 67th minute, and Kaylyn Kyle in the 80th minute, who all earned their first Senior international caps today.

The first half of the game we completely dominated the Americans. They came down the field a few times, and looked dangerous on a few plays, but for the most part the match was all Canada. We needed to put away opportunities at this time, to really stick it to them, but we were unable to convert our opportunities. Instead, we went into half time tied at 0-0.

The second half was a change, and for the most part, the Americans dominated. Three of the goals they scored against us were late in the half, and these were all the result of individual errors. They were not well-executed American plays. Amy Rodriguez scored the first American goal in the 51st minute. The other three goals came in the last 25 minutes: Rodriguez scored her second of the day in the 65th minute, then Lindsay Tarpley’s scored twice in the 75th and 80th minutes.

By late in the second half, the Canadian back four were having trouble dealing with the constant American pressure. I am saying this as a back four player, as I was selected at right back. However, for the better part of the game the four of us played well together. It was only at times that we appeared to be on different pages, something a lesser team might not have been able to exploit. However, the Americans did.

Every mistake we made seemed to end in them scoring a goal. We just could not catch a break. For example, one of their goals hit someone's trailing leg and went in. Sometimes, you just feel that it isn't your day. Erin once again played well in nets for us, and the score does not adequately reflect her stellar performance. She made one or two classic Erin saves, the kind where you stare opened mouthed and wonder how she reached the ball in time. I also thought Hope Solo played well for the Americans. We put quite a bit of pressure on her during the game and she was rock solid.

Well, I am tired and sore, and looking forward to lying down in front of the TV to recover. This was the first game of the 2008 season, and good things did happen in this game, although the score (and the result) was not one of them. After walking off the field though, I am even more confident in this young team and what we can accomplish. And, that is a great feeling.

Our next match is against China on 18 January at 2:00 pm local time, and we are looking forward to the challenge.