RHIAN SOCCER AND MEDIA REPORTS

CANADA CLAIMS SILVER AT CONCACAF WOMEN'S OLYMPIC SOCCER QUALIFIERS                   30th January 2012
(From The Province, Canada.com and M. McColl)

After securing qualification for London 2012 on Friday, Canada fell short of its last goal at the 2012 CONCACAF Women's Olympic Qualifying tournament: A victory against arch-rival USA. On the final day of the competition, Canada could not defeat the favored Americans.

  "We talked [before the game] about this match being for Olympic gold and what would happen," said Canada's coach John Herdman, "and we were four goals away from the USA tonight." We had the whole nation captivated and it was our chance to really bring it alive, and we never did." Herdman continued "This one's going to hurt all of us. And we'll be walking out of here with absolutely a clarity of what needs to happen for London."

The United States prevailed 4:0 on the day, in front of a sell-out crowd of 25,427 fans at BC Place in Vancouver. The silver medal  closed out a successful CONCACAF 2012 Tournament for both the home team and the overall competition. Over 15 matches, the tournament featured a combined attendance of 162,223 fans from 19-29 January.

Canada started the game poorly when Alex Morgan burst through the Canadian back-line to send the ball past stranded goalkeeper Erin McLeod in the fourth minute. A long ball pass up the middle was headed forward by Wambach to the streaking Morgan.

Wambach was next to score for the Americans as Morgan whipped a ball to the near-post. Wambach struck again only four minutes later as she collected a loose ball in the box and knocked the finish past McLeod to the bottom corner.

Canada’s best opportunity of the first half came when Christina Julien latched onto a through ball and ran clear onto USA goalkeeper Hope Solo. Julien could not kick the ball over the oncoming Solo. The USA goalkeeper Solo established a new tournament record with 450 minutes of shutout play. Canada were made to pay for not taking their chances.

The Americans maintained the vast majority of pressure in the second period as well and ultimately offered the Canadians little chance to get back in the game. At the half Wilkinson was subbed in, and her speed did help to shore up the defence against the Americans. Tancredi also joined the game and provided a more physical attack. Canada was able to lock down the defence from that point forward, but could do little to create much of their own in the second half.

Morgan used her pace again on the fourth goal as she blew by Woeller and carved enough space on the second phase of play to finish past a scrambling McLeod and Wilkinson in the 56th minute.

Sophie Schmidt came closest to scoring when she linked with Melissa Tancredi to send a cross into the box, but the ball drifted narrowly wide of the far post on the play.

Canada will be disappointed not to have closed out the tournament in style, but after qualifying for the Olympics in front of a number of record crowds – the team will still leave the competition with its heads held high.

Coach John Herdman thinks Canada can still be medal contenders at the summer 2012 Olympics. "First up? Fitness. And more work on the mind and how the staff  manage the team through a long tournament. In fact, Herdman also put the loss on himself. He credited U.S. coach Pia Sundhage, whose choice of Morgan to partner Wambach up front proved devastating for Canada. And he admitted he'd have chosen a different starting lineup if he could do it again. "I think she picked the right team," he said of Sundhage, "and I picked the wrong one."