A 1-0 victory for Canada tonight means that they are through to the knockouts, against the odds, after having faced a six point deduction. 

The Lineups and squad information:

Due to a red card suspension picked up prior to this game, Chelsea superstar Mayra Ramirez did not feature in the game.

Canada’s lineup:

Kailen Sheridan, Jade Rose, Vanessa Gilles, Kadeisha Buchanan, Ashley Lawrence, Julia Grosso, Jessie Fleming, Janine Beckie, Adriana Leon, Jordyn Huitema and Cloé Lacasse.

Substitutes used:

Nichelle Prince 45’

Evelyne Viens 61’

Quinn 74’

Colombia’s lineup:

Katherine Tapia, Carolina Arias, Jorelyn Carabalí, Daniela Arias, Manuela Vanegas, Ilana Izquierdo, Marcela Restrepo, Leicy Santos, Linda Caicedo, Manuela Pavi and Yirleidis Minota.

Substitutes used:

Daniela Montoya 78’

Kick off

Chances on attack immediately started for Canada from kick off, with Jordyn Huitema getting involved instantly and Adriana Leon moments later also setting up another attack.

After ten minutes of chances for Canada, Colombia started to approach, however, the first real scare for Canada was safely collected by Canadian goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan.

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Just before the fifteen minute mark, Canada had an excellent chance to go ahead but Leon could not convert the excellently placed ball from Huitema and the ball goes just wide.

Although Canada were on top of possession at the half an hour mark, one player for Colombia who was providing excellent flashes of play was youngster Linda Caicedo. When on the ball, Caicedo provided a positive impact.

Towards the end of the first half, the fouls started to consistently come in. As a result of this, Canada were given several set piece opportunities but failed to capitalise on these chances.

At half time, it remained goalless. Neither of the teams – even with Canada’s dominance – could not convert goalwards.

Second half

Canada started off the second half by making a substitution with Nichelle Prince replacing Cloé Lacasse. Prince has an instant impact on the ball.

As she has in the other games, Ashley Lawrence continued to provide versatility slotting excellent balls into the box.

After several set pieces, Canada finally capitalised on one. Vanessa Gilles headed it in to put Canada in front in the 61st minute.

In the final quarter of the game, each team had equal amounts of possession and had some promising attempts on attacking towards goal.

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Canada and Colombia continued to make substitutions in the hope that for Canada they’d be able to seal their victory and for Colombia that they’d potentially be able to go neck-and-neck.

Unfortunately for Canada, their goalscorer Vanessa Gilles had to be substituted due to an injury. She was replaced by Shelina Zadorsky.

The final minutes soon approached and there was seven minutes added onto the 90. Set pieces were still being won but both teams still failed to convert.

The final whistle went. Victory for Canada and against the odds, with six points deducted, they have made it into the knock out stages of the tournament.

Although they would’ve wanted to win tonight’s game, Colombia are also through to the knock out stages due to being in the top two third place teams alongside Brazil.


Featured image courtesy of Marktci via Flickr. No changes were made to this image. License details found here


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