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SOCCER MEDIA REPORTS:

EVEN EVEN PELLERUD CRACKED A SMILE

By Richard Starnes, The Ottawa Citizen August 11, 2008

You know what? I wish I had been there to watch Canada's women's soccer team play possibly its best game ever in the face of almost impossible odds.

The temperature was around 35 C, but felt like 45. Reports were coming in that the air was so smoggy thick, those on the field couldn't even see the crowd in the upper tier of the stands.

Talk about a crowd. Coach Even Pellerud's team was playing against the host country in front of 60,000 wild Chinese fans who began to shout 30 minutes before the game even started and refused to let up. The sound was incessant and worth at least one extra player for the home team.

But Canada dominated. Canada was quicker to almost every ball. Canada defended impeccably. Canada tackled and scrapped from first minute to last. Canada threw its weight around to thumping effect. What's most astonishing is that Canada was fitter than China.

Pellerud is not one to give praise, but even he was amazed enough to say this was "one of the better performances I have ever seen" from the Canadian team he has been running for nine years.

In June, Pellerud announced he will be standing down after the Olympics (officially December) because he had been with the team for a very long time and it was time for the players to get a new perspective, see a new face, hear a new voice and find a new angle.

This show suggests a new angle is not needed.

I know there will be those out there saying we only drew this game 1-1 and that's not good enough. Actually, it very well may be. Canada plays Sweden tomorrow in Beijing (see it on CBC at 7:45 a.m.) and needs no more than a draw to qualify for the quarterfinals. Since there are three groups in the round-robin portion of the Olympics, the top two in each group go through, and the two best third-placers join them.

Had Canada beaten China it would already be through. But its chances remain high. Pellerud said he was too tired to work out the mathematics, but suspected enough had already been done.

Don't get me wrong here. Pellerud will not be easing off on his squad. His calibre of coach doesn't do that.

Still, he was clearly delighted. This is a man who very rarely smiles when a game is on. TV cameras caught him almost laughing out loud at one stage.

The Swedes are the highest ranked team in this group, but have been struggling. They were shocked 2-1 by China and only managed to squeak out a

1-0 win over Argentina. They must win tomorrow, so expect them to be fierce and fast, which is something they will have to be to beat a Canada playing this way.

Let me put on my critical hat for a couple of seconds -- and that's all it will take. Whether or not the Chinese goal was offside -- and it was a tight call -- the Canadian team committed one of soccer's cardinal sins by letting down its guard immediately after it had scored.

Even the slightest lapse at this level is often punished, and so it was here.

Teams playing with less self-belief might have folded at this moment. But Canada didn't, and it was only the crossbar that came between Rhian Wilkinson and a second Canadian goal less than two minutes later.

Wilkinson deserved it. She is proving the quintessential team player at these Games. In Game 1 she played a defensive role. When injury kept Melissa Tankredi out of the lineup -- yes, Canada was even playing without its most potent striker -- Wilkinson was pushed up to attacking midfield. She was tremendous there, too.

Watching from home, it is impossible to get a sense of just how huge an occasion this was for the Canadian women.

This was the loudest, most aggressive crowd they will have ever seen. Midfielder Sophie Schmidt admitted the fans "never stopped making a noise. They were crazy and unbelievable at the same time." She also admitted the longer the game, the heavier her legs became, but "it's the Olympics. You just push through anything that comes in the way."

In a game of this sort, it may be unfair to pick out a particular player. There wasn't a Canadian without a wringing wet shirt, and there wasn't a Canadian who took her foot off the accelerator.

Often it is strikers who grab the glory and, for my money, the most exquisite moment came when Kara Lang chipped a perfectly delicate ball over a defender for captain Christine Sinclair to run onto and slip confidently past the Chinese goalkeeper.

But my player of the match award goes to central defender Candice Chapman. She didn't put a foot wrong. The Chinese couldn't find a way past her. My assessment is shared by CBC commentator Jason de Vos, who mentioned several times how well Chapman reads the game. De Vos should know. He played the position as captain of Wigan, Ipswich and Canada.

So let's leave the final word on this one to Sinclair. After all, she is the captain. She told the media everyone was absolutely exhausted: "It got to the point where, 'Ref, just blow the whistle. Let it end.'"

I don't know about you, but I can't wait until tomorrow morning.