Cyprus Cup 2010: Canada Rallies To Beat Swiss
Canada opens Cyprus Cup with victory over Switzerland
Canada’s women’s national team opened the 2010 Cyprus Women’s Cup with a 2:1 victory over Switzerland on Wednesday. Canada was forced to rally from a 1-0 first half deficit to defeat a feisty Swiss squad despite dominating for much of the match. Captain Christine Sinclair equalized for Canada, scoring from the penalty mark in the 26th minute and Christina Julian scored the winning goal early in the second half as the Canadians held on for victory. The match was played at the Ammochostos Stadium in Larnaka, Cyprus.
“Today we won, which is important, but I felt that we made too many mistakes,” said head coach Carolina Morace following the match. “When we play a 4-3-3 formation the most important thing is for us to attack. In the first half we were able to keep them in their half and we were able to maintain possession which was important. We were able to create many chances to score but we need to be more precise with our finishing.”
Head coach Carolina Morace was forced into making two changes to the starting line-up that defeated Poland on Saturday as defender Brittany Timko and goalkeeper Erin McLeod were unavailable due to injury. Replacing Timko at left back was Marie-Eve Nault while Karina LeBlanc took McLeod’s place in goal.
Canada dominated the possession and the territorial advantage for much of the first half, outshooting Switzerland by a 9-2 margin. From the opening whistle Canada was on the attack as the players continue to gain familiarity with their attacking 4-3-3 formation which they have been implementing during the Cyprus Camp. Switzerland countered by sitting all 11 of its players inside its own half to frustrate the Canadian attack.
However, on 13 minutes Switzerland served notice that they would be dangerous on the counterattack as forward Ramona Bachman caught Canada short at the back, but she could only muster a weak shot which goalkeeper LeBlanc was able to easily catch.
In the 21st minute Christina Julien opened an exciting passage of play as she broke threw the Swiss defence only to see her low shot charged down by the goalkeeper.
Switzerland quickly moved the ball back up the field where Lara Dickenmann snuck between the Canadian defence and goalkeeper LeBlanc to get a toe on the bouncing cross and redirect it into the Canadian goal for a shock 1-0 Swiss lead. The goal coming against the run of play was a huge let down for the Canadian squad who had been dominating the play to this point.
The Canadian players maintained their composure and three minutes later had equalized to complete a thrilling five minute spell of soccer. Sinclair was tackled from behind in the Switzerland penalty area and the Maltese referee showed no hesitation in pointing to the spot. Sinclair got up to take the penalty herself and calmly placed the ball in the bottom left corner of the net, sending the Swiss keeper the wrong direction.
Canada continued their positive response after equalizing, piling the pressure on the Swiss goal in wave after wave of attacks. On 30 minutes, Canadian forward Jodi-Ann Robinson was the first to react to a rebound from a Sinclair shot and had the ball in the back of the net only to see the goal disallowed by the offside flag.
After reaching halftime with the score still level, Switzerland squandered a terrific chance two minutes after the restart as Ana Maria Cmogorevic missed the goal from four yards.
The Swiss were made to pay for their missed opportunity on 53 minutes as Julien scored her second international goal for Canada. Sinclair raced onto a ball in space down the Swiss right and cut a cross back to Julien at the top of the penalty area. Julien took a moment to steady herself, and hit a first time half-volley that rocketed past the diving Swiss keeper into the back of the goal. Julien’s only other goal at the international level for Canada came in the opening match of last year’s 2009 Cyprus Women’s Cup. On that day, Julien scored Canada’s lone goal in a 1:1 draw with New Zealand.
On 60 minutes Julien and Sinclair again combined to stretch the Swiss defence. After a neat give-and-go Sinclair was inches away from getting to the end of Julien’s centering pass with an empty goal to shoot at.
Morace made her first substitution of the match on 72 minutes handing Desiree Scott her first senior national team appearance replacing goal scorer Julien. With the switch Canada reverted to a 4-4-2 formation as Morace continued to test her player’s in-match flexibility.
As Canada was taking time in adjusting to the new formation, Switzerland began to come on in the match. Canada ’s central defence pairing of Candace Chapman and Emily Zurrer needed to make several important tackles to nullify Swiss attacks.
Morace made two further substitutions in the match as Sari Raber replaced Robinson on 80 minutes to earn her third career cap, while Cindy Walsh came on for Kelly Parker in the 88th minute to earn make her second appearance in four days.
In the 90th minute Switzerland ’s Selina Kuster blazed over the goal from the edge of Canada’s penalty area as Canada held on gamely. There was still time for Switzerland to mount one last attack in second half stoppage time as a low, whipped-in cross bounced dangerously through the Canadian penalty area before being cleared from danger.
Canada opened the match with the starting XI of Karina LeBlanc in goal, Marie-Eve Nault, Candace Chapman, Emily Zurrer, and Rhian Wikinson in defence, Kelly Parker, Carmelina Moscato, and Diana Matheson at midfield, and Jodi-Ann Robinson, Christina Julien, and Christine Sinclair up front.
With the win Canada currently sits in first place in Cyprus Women’s Cup Group 2. In Wednesday’s other action from Group 2, England defeated South Africa 1:0. Canada will now prepare to face defending champions England in two days time on Friday February 26, before completing the group stage against South Africa on March 1.
