In its first home match of the year, Canada fell 3-2 to Germany in a battle of two of the top five teams in the world.  Christine Sinclair and Jessie Fleming scored for Canada in front of 22,826 fans at Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton, ON.

Canada, ranked fourth in the world, has only beaten the third-ranked Germans once in the program’s history, in the group stage of the 2016 Rio Olympics.  They’ve now lost six of their last seven meetings, with all but one of those games decided by one goal.

“I’m very proud of the team that stepped onto the pitch for Canada,” said head coach Kenneth Heiner-Møller, as the team continues to prepare for World Cup qualifying later in the year. “The only thing I asked of these players was to leave everything out there, and I think they did.”

“We have such high expectations for ourselves.  We’re really pushing.  We say we want to be number one, and we’re very serious about that. So when we come out against these teams, we definitely want to get the results,” said goalkeeper Stephanie Labbé.

“I’m extremely happy with the performance. We were able to score two great goals in front of Canadian fans and get them excited about it. I think a good takeaway is that we are right there.”

Canada is now 3-3-0 on the year, with its other two losses also coming against top 10 teams (France and Sweden).

“I think as a coach you need to look sometimes through the result and look at the performance. I’m very happy with the performance. It’s 80 per cent great stuff, and the last 20, we’ll work on it,” said Heiner-Møller.

“Obviously very disappointed that we lost,” added Sinclair. “But I think this is one of those games we’ll be able to look back on. We put forth a good performance and a positive performance that we can build on in World Cup qualifying.”

CAPTAIN CLUTCH

Sinclair scored her 173rd international goal, putting her 11 back of tying American Abby Wambach for most all-time. 

After a hard foul on Janine Beckie in the 58th minute, the Germans couldn’t clear the ball out of their box on the ensuing free kick.  It ended up bouncing right to Sinclair, who headed it past Carina Schluter, making her first appearance for the German national team. 

It’s also Sinclair’s team-leading fourth goal for Canada this year, and she’s leading the NWSL with six goals this season.

“I think the middle third of this match was one of the best matches while I’ve been a coach that we played,” said Heiner-Møller.

Sinclair then helped set up Canada’s second goal in the 69th minute on a beautiful ball fake that went right to Fleming. The 20-year-old netted her sixth career international goal.

“Her second half was maybe one of the best halves this year, when she actually started playing forward, moving a lot,” said Heiner-Møller about Fleming. “One of the things I like about us playing the way we did is she’s getting closer to goal. I think she’s a great player setting up the game, but if we can have her closer to [Sinclair] or whoever’s playing up front, that’ll be a huge win for us.”

NEW FORMATION

It wasn’t the strongest game for Canada defensively, who began the game with an unusual 3-5-2 formation. 

“We definitely worked hard the last four days to try to create a new structure,” said Heiner-Møller. “And if you know how hard it is for players to get out of their normal shape and into what we did against a tier-one opposition – the hairs started raising on my arm. Definitely proud.

“This team had worked the last four or five years to become the most adaptable team in the world. I think we’ve got so much quality up front, so we can hurt opponents in different ways. So for us, for me, this team, just always to explore how we can improve instead of doing what we’ve always done.”

“It’s a new formation, [but] nothing much really changed from my game, so I felt pretty comfortable,” said centre-back Kadeisha Buchanan.  

The squad normally plays with four in the backline, and the adjustment left them exposed early.  

In the 1st minute, Rebecca Quinn came across to challenge Lea Schüller, who was streaking up the middle. Quinn’s clearance went straight into the path of Svenja Huth, who buried her fifth international goal past Labbé. It was the earliest goal Canada has allowed since Mar. 10, 2014 against England.

“It’s never the start you want,” said Labbé. “It’s unfortunately a good lesson for us, a good reminder for us when you come out on the field from the first whistle to the final whistle you’ve got to be focused and ready to go and not let those things happen.”

A minute after Fleming scored to give Canada the lead, Sara Däbritz was allowed to walk down the middle and fired a scorching shot into the corner for her ninth career goal.

Then in the 84th minute, after Quinn was called for a foul just outside the box, Germany’s free kick went off the post after Labbé got a touch on it. Turid Knaak found the rebound first, and netted her first career international goal in just her second appearance with the team.

“It was a tough one.  It’s pretty close to goal, and when you have such a large wall, it’s tough to get any vision on the ball, really,” said Labbé.  “I was happy to get a hand on it, and give us a chance, but at the same time, when you have a big wall, it’s less people man-marking, so it’s tough to keep track of the man for the rebound.”

“They are lethal around the box, definitely.  But they’ll be even more lethal if we give them the opportunity to be there,” said Heiner-Møller. 

ROSTER NOTES

Heiner-Møller fielded a different starting 11 for the sixth time in six games this year.  Sinclair and Fleming remain the only players to start every game, with five other players starting in five of the six games (Quinn, Beckie, Buchanan, Ashley Lawrence, and Desiree Scott).

On Friday, Heiner-Møller had said that he liked all the starting 11 formations he has used, and that one of the strengths of the roster is its depth.

Germany was missing a few of its regulars, including Alexandra Popp and Dzsenifer Marozsán, who have a combined 73 international goals. Entering the game, the German starting 11 had a combined 235 caps with the international team. Sinclair alone had 267 caps before Sunday.

Heiner-Møller had most of his regulars in the lineup, except for teenager Jordyn Huitema, who is with the under-17 team at the CONCACAF Women’s Under-17 Championship. Huitema assisted on Canada’s lone goal in its 2-1 semifinal loss to Mexico on Sunday.  

WHAT’S NEXT

This is the last official match scheduled for Canada before World Cup qualifying begins in October, although Canada Soccer is planning for one more friendly in September during the next FIFA window. 

The 2018 CONCACAF Women’s Championship, which serves as qualifying for next year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup, begins Oct. 4. Canada will play its group stage games at H-E-B Park in Edinburg, Texas. The Canadians, who earned an automatic berth into the tournament along with the United States and Mexico, will play in group B, but it’s unknown at this point what teams will also be in their group.

“I think we’re in a good space,” said Sinclair. “You look at the teams we’ve played this year, they’ve all been top teams in the world, and we’ve done pretty well. I think we’re moving in the right direction, and we keep adding to our team, which is exciting.

“To play a new formation against one of the top two or three teams in the world, and to walk away with the performance we did, it just adds another dimension to our team. We’re going to be heading into the qualifiers very confident. We’re a top team in the world, and we expect to qualify.”