(Perth, Australia) Seeking ranking points to stay alive at the Women’s World Cup, Canada said they knew they would have to play their full game against Ireland on Wednesday after settling for a disappointing 0-0 draw with Nigeria to open the tournament.
“We want to send a strong message,” said Canadian defender Ashley Lawrence.
The Canadians, who have only one point in the bank and will face No. 10 Australia in their last match in Group B in Melbourne, need to pull themselves together. Canada (no 7), in the absence of several experienced players, and while others had very little time to recover from various injuries, looked rough in their match against Nigeria (no 40).
As a result, the Maple Leaf representatives will be under a lot of pressure against Ireland (#22).
“We just can’t leave the field [Wednesday] without the three ranking points,” said Canadian coach Bev Priestman.
“This is a golden opportunity to grow collectively,” she added.
The Irish are not to be taken lightly, however. Australia had to go to the penalty shootout to overcome Ireland 1-0 in their opener. And the Irish knocked on the door a few times towards the end of the second half, using their set-piece skills to set the stage for a thrilling end to the game.
“They work hard and never give up,” Priestman said.
“What I do know is that when we’re challenged by teams like this, we perform at our very best,” she continued.
Priestman praised Ireland for their resilience.
That resilience was very visible in the play of Irish defender Louise Quinn, who sacrificed her body against the Matildas. The Birmingham City defender, who has represented her country 105 times internationally, left the pitch with a black eye and a protective one-footed boot.
Her foot injury “isn’t very significant,” said Ireland coach Vera Pauw.
“We believe she will be able to play… She will train and we will see if she will be able to keep up,” added the ex-Dutch international.
News was better from the Canada side about Jessie Fleming, the dynamic Chelsea midfielder who missed the game against Nigeria with a calf injury.
“Jessie had no restrictions in training [Monday]. We have one practice left before [Wednesday], but Jessie should be available,” Priestman said.
Just like Pauw, by the way.
“Fleming will play [Wednesday],” she said.
With 115 games behind the tie on the international stage, the 25-year-old will allow Canada to enjoy a certain calm and a good dose of creativity in midfield – not to mention that she excels in penalty situations. Canada could have sent her into the fray against Nigeria, as her goalkeeper, Chiamaka Nnadozie of Paris FC, made a spectacular save early in the second half following a close-range shot from Christine Sinclair.
In addition, central defender Kadeisha Buchanan did not take part in the portion of Canada’s training session that took place in front of members of the media. Buchanan was to accompany Priestman ahead of them, but she was replaced by Lawrence – with no explanation from Soccer Canada to justify the change.
Canada will therefore have to keep an eye on Ireland. A defeat, coupled with the possibility of Australia avoiding defeat to Nigeria on Thursday, and the Irish would be eliminated from the tournament.
“When you face the Olympic champion, you have to be realistic,” Pauw said. But it is obvious that if we want to get out of our group, then we will need a result. It’s obvious.
“If we win, then we will have our destiny in our hands,” she continued. If we get a draw, then we will depend on the other results even if we win against Nigeria [in our last game of the group stage]. »
Wednesday will therefore be Canada’s 29th match in Women’s World Cup history, and only Ireland’s 2nd. However, Priestman believes that we must avoid falling into this kind of trap.
“We have to respect Ireland. In the end, we saw teams from the top 10 in the world, teams that have already won the World Cup, rubbing shoulders with her and snatching a narrow 1-0 victory, she recalled. We can’t afford to go into the game thinking it’s going to be easy. I saw their level of intensity, their will to win.
“However, we know what we have to do, and I just hope that our talent and our experience will allow us to prevail,” she concluded.
Canada and Ireland have only faced each other once before: Canada came from behind to win 2-1 in a match for fifth place at the 2014 Cyprus Cup, following a 90th-minute goal from Sophie Schmidt.