FREEDOM TIES CANADA WNT 3-3   23rd May 2010

So. what can one write when Canada's Women's National Team was tied 3 - 3 by the Women's Professional Soccer club Washington Freedom this afternoon? In the first half, the whole team was awful. We were terrible, and there is no way around admitting this.  The Washington players really put the pressure on us and, even though they were missing some of their better known players, they came out firing on all cylinders. They had us reeling on the back foot right from the get-go.

Our defence was under constant pressure, and we lost all shape. Even going forward Canada could not retain the ball and possession. We were not playing at a National team level. The Freedom built up a two-goal lead, with scores from Christie Welsh and Lene Mykjåland.

As we gradually settled, we did begin to come back and cut the Washington lead. At the 23rd minute mark, Kelly Parker made a good run for CJ to finish.

We went into half time understandably deflated. Also understandably, we were told in no uncertain terms about the quality of our play. We were more than well aware that our performance had not been good enough. We headed back out onto the pitch 3-1 down.

"We started off slowly and heavily," said Canadian national head coach Carolina Morace. "We made changes before the second half and we got better. Overall, it was two steps back from our performance in Cyprus (earlier this year)."

However, we did come back with a changed attitude in the second half. This period of play much better represented the kind of team we are and that we want to be. The young replacements were awesome. We came out really strong and scored a pair of goals in the first 15 minutes. In the 51st minute, Parker played a through ball to Sinclair in the box who reached out to poke in the ball for Canada's second goal. A minute later, it was Sinclair doing the work in the box, feinting a shot on the left before playing it up top to Parker in the middle. Parker's shot was stopped by McLeod, but Robinson connected on the rebound to even the score. It was 3-3 after 52 minutes.

Canada's starting XI featured Karina LeBlanc in goal, Rhian Wilkinson at right back, Candace Chapman and Emily Zurrer at centre back, Marie-Eve Nault at left back, Kelly Parker, Sophie Schmidt and Carmelina Moscato at midfield, and Christina Julien, Christine Sinclair and Josée Bélanger up front.

Yes, we did tie a team we should have beaten. However, we did show some character to come back after being rocked by two quick goals. We did come back from 3-1 down to tie the score. And, we had six of our younger players out on the field to change the game with their work ethic and courage.