Reigning champ US women, Canada qualify for Olympics

Before last night Christine Sinclair had been a bit of a ghost during the Olympic qualifying tournament.

Canadian coach John Herdman was anything but PG when asked about his take on Sinclair’s second.

“I was hoping that once we went up by a couple of goals, they would come at us, that they would press us and I would be more involved in the game”.

Costa Rica failed to deal with a looping cross from the Canadian right wing and when the ball bounced to the far post, Sinclair was on hand to bring it down and volley a cool finish past ‘keeper Dinnia Diaz into the lower right corner of the net. “So we’re in a good rhythm in that sense”. The team went on to defeat Puerto Rico 10-0, featuring a national team record-tying five goals from Crystal Dunn.

“We’re looking forward to it”, he added.

Canada, the 11th ranked team in the world arrived with a team that changed its direction if for nothing else than this tournament. We didn’t get enough credit for that I don’t think but you never do for defending. While the US has enormous depth on their roster, such a rotation would take away Ellis’ ability to evaluate her preferred starting XI against a quality opponent-a rarity for the U.S.in recent months.

The USA is 9-0-0 all-time vs. T&T, but the Soca Princesses managed to hold the U.S.to a tight 1-0 win during qualifying for the 2015 Women’s World Cup.

“I can’t believe I’m amongst some really great names”, she said afterward, reports Concacaf.com. “But I think this team believes they can, which can be a strength and a weakness”. Captain and playmaker Shirley Cruz, who plays for Paris Saint-Germain, was well-marshalled. Fellow midfielder Raquel Rodriguez Cedeno scored in Penn State’s 1-0 win over Duke in the NCAA Division I final and won the MAC Club Hermann Trophy as the top women’s college. “They can hurt you”, Scott said.

The tie was over as a contest on the stroke of half-time when goalkeeper Kimika Forbes allowed a header from Carli Lloyd, the FIFA World Player of the Year, to slip through her grasp. The Americans have since compiled a 26-5 record against Canada.

Herdman, whose roster has been deepened by the addition of some talented youngsters, has rotated his roster throughout the tournament. FIFPro is the global soccer players’ association. They have won three straight Olympic titles and four of the five in women’s soccer.

At the 2008 Games in Beijing, the Canadian women lost 2-1 after extra time to the U.S. Mexico upset Canada 2-1 in the semifinals of the CONCACAF qualifying tournament in Costa Rica for the 2004 Games. With the USA aiming for its fourth straight Olympic gold medal in August, the Americans’ performance was such that anyone who follows this team has to feel optimistic, not just about the present but about the future as well.

Host Brazil, Colombia, France, Germany, New Zealand, South Africa and Zimbabwe have already qualified for Rio. The 12-team field will be completed by two teams from Asia and one of the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Switzerland.