Final Thoughts on Tokyo 2020
Okay, now that I’ve managed to calm down from this morning’s wild hysterics, can I just say again, how proud I am of this Canadian women’s team?
Can we talk about these kids for a second? They all came in as underdogs in this tournament. In the USWNT game, Rose came up absolute clutch running down that ball to draw the PK from Tierna. Canada had barely any offense in that match, but the sole chance they had, Sinclair had the knowledge, the selflessness, and the leadership to say, “no, I am not taking this, I’m handing it off to the younger generation” in Fleming. Of course people will say that it was because of Franch being her teammate, or that she missed her previous PK (both of which are most probably true), but the symbolic gesture of passing the torch from arguably one of the greatest players to ever grace this game, to the up and coming talent in Fleming - breathtaking. And Fleming taking that PK with confidence, collectedness, for a moment it was like witnessing a young Sinclair again. When her country needed her, Fleming came through for them, just as Sinclair had done time and time again throughout her decorated career.
And then, in the Gold medal match, when Sinclair gets fouled in the box, again, she decides against taking the PK and hands it back to the prodigal daughter. And once again, Fleming provides an absolutely clinical PK that no GK could stop. Canada went this entire bracket run without ever scoring an open play goal (lol), and they managed to concede only one open-play goal during the run, and it was to Sweden’s best striker. Each player on this team knew their role, their tactics, their marks, and they played with grit, determination, and work. They wanted to win their matches, and they did it in their own rights. They focused on their defense, they neutralized all the offensive star players (aside from Blackstenius with her fabulous goal in the first half) from all three teams. Major credit here goes to the young Bev Priestman, with her confidence and belief in this team to play the way she envisioned them to play, to their full ability and talent. Every player was used almost perfectly for each match-up.
But what’s the most emotional moment about this tournament for me is just how committed the kids on this team were to winning gold for the vets. A young Fleming watched the 2012 game as a child and idolized Sinclair and now is in line to take over the reigns from the captain in the near future. Gilles, only 11 caps with this team, became one of their best defenders. Huitema carried them through the initial qualifiers. Sheridan, when Labbé had to sub out injured, took over and held the team strong through the group stages. And then Grosso, the BC girl, only 20 years old, scores the game-winning PK to give Canada gold.
The CANWNT were not the best team in this tournament by any shot. That title still steadily belongs to Sweden, with the Netherlands in a close second. But this team had the heart, the fight, and the drive to bring home a win for those who paved the way for women’s soccer in Canada. They did this for Sinclair, for Scott, for Tancredi, for Matheson, for LeBlanc, for Schmidt, and for McCleod. They did it for those who pioneered women’s soccer and worked to bring it to attention in Canada; they worked for the young girls watching at home wanting to have their spot at the national stage for the sport they love; they did it for themselves, as young players wanting to change the narrative of our game.
But the storyline, though. Losing in 2012 after arguably one of the best CANWNT performances of all time, all to poor officiating, but then still managing to clinch Bronze, to then again missing out during 2016, but again managing to clinch Bronze, to now, making the full, unbeaten run, to Gold. And to have the team members on this squad who experienced those hard losses to now have the chance to drape the medal around their necks, it’s poetic justice. If the last moment of Sinclair’s international career is her limping off the field, drenched in sweat after securing the equalizer opportunity for her team, completely spent of every dredge of energy she had left, only to be replaced by the young BC native Huitema - then what a final image to go out on for her.
As a Canadian who grew up watching Sinclair and Scott and McCleod, to see them in tears, embracing each other after grabbing gold, nothing feels better. They really are the epitome of the quote, “Hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard” with how they played this entire run. This team of young guns are going to make a huge impact in the 2023 WWC and I can’t wait.
