Canada Women Lose 1-0 to England in Exhibition

The Canadian women’s national team’s European tour ended in heart-breaking defeat. A stoppage time header was enough to steal the win for England against a battling Canadian team. Al Dannity looks back on the best of Sunday’s action.

Having drawn 1-1 with France in the first game of their European tour, hopes were high in the Canadian camp of coming home unbeaten. For 91 minutes on Sunday it looked like they would achieve that aim but Ellen White had other ideas. White’s 13th international goal, which came in the 92nd minute, was enough to earn a win for the hosts in Rotherham. The victory followed up a win via the same score-line in last month’s Cyprus Cup final.

While the result won’t have been to Canada’s liking, the trip as whole has proven beneficial as part of the team’s lengthy build-up for World Cup 2015, which Canada is hosting. Diana Matheson earned her 150th cap while Kylla Sjoman made her first start for the national team. Goalkeeper Erin McLeod looked solid between the uprights. At this stage it’s all about these baby steps, something head coach John Herdman is all too aware of.

“We are still trying some new things, so it may take us awhile to gel, but we are lucky because we have 2-3 years before we play in that FIFA Women’s World Cup in Canada,” Herdman. “It is nice to be able to test a few things at this stage.”

It was also an historic day for England’s Rachel Yankey, who reached 125 caps in Sunday’s game. The performance was of far more importance to the hosts who play in the European Championships in three months’ time. “We are on track, it’s important to get this sort of quality of friendlies in to really test ourselves,” said England coach Hope Powell. “We have to perform when it’s do or die and this gives us some experience and confidence knowing we are capable of playing against the best teams in the world and beating them.”

For Canada the long wait to play at home ends in June. Since taking bronze in heroic fashion against France at the London 2012 Olympics, the Canadians haven’t played a single home game. BMO Field will be the venue for their homecoming on June 2 and it promises to be a big one. The USA, who beat Canada in controversial circumstances en route to taking gold in London, will be the visitors and the word friendly won’t do this game justice.