Canada out of Olympic soccer tournament, but not without a fight

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MARSEILLE, France – Vanessa Gilles admits she cried a lot in the last week and a half with the Canadian women’s soccer team.

When one of Canada’s all-time craziest Olympic stories came to an abrupt end in a 0-0 (4-2) penalty kick quarterfinal loss to Germany Saturday at Orange Velodrome, her eyes were rather dry this time.

“I can’t quite find the tears,” the veteran centre-back said. “I think I’ve shed them all this past week. To have gotten this far is a testament to this group and to lose in PKs is always bittersweet.

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“Obviously, last Olympics (in Tokyo), we got the better end of that deal.”

After 120 scoreless minutes, the Germans went 4-for-5 from the spot while Ashley Lawrence and Adriana Leon missed for Canada. Germany keeper Ann-Katrin Berger took her team’s final shot to send the defending champs packing and set up a semifinal tilt with the United States.

The Canadians played the final 75 minutes without captain Jessie Fleming, who took a hard knock to the head on a late first-half foul. That left the team minus one of the clutch penalty-kick takers in program history.

“It’s never easy watching your friends and teammates,” the 26-year-old from London, Ont., said. “But we have so many great penalty kick takers on the team. It just didn’t go our way. I have all the trust and belief in my teammates.
“We were unlucky not to get a goal in the second half or extra time.”

After some early German chances, the Canadians brought on fresh legs in the second half and tilted the field. They generated a stunning 23 shots to the world No. 4 ranked team’s 11, but only five were on target.

“If you don’t put the ball in the back of the net, you’re not going to walk away from the game and usually have the right outcome,” veteran forward Janine Beckie said. “The way we played across 120 minutes was really great football – but at the end of the day, it wasn’t enough.”

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Gilles, a defender, led the team in goal-scoring here. There was no legendary finisher Christine Sinclair to turn to in times of trouble for a clutch tally.

“The hardest thing in football is scoring goals,” Gilles said. “That’s why the strikers get paid the big bucks and that’s why they get all the fame.”

The Canadians started the Olympics in infamy with a drone spying scandal even before the opening ceremonies. Head coach Bev Priestman was suspended and sent home along with two staffers. Canada Soccer has launched an investigation into the matter and it sure looks like it could be far-reaching in the organization.

FIFA hammered the team with a six-point deduction in the group stage, a penalty that should have buried them. But Canada won its first three games against a lot of hurdles and with little sleep or food.

“I think if we had been able to medal, that would have been – we said, ‘someone make a movie out of this’ because I don’t think it will ever happen again,” Beckie said. “I hope it doesn’t happen to anybody else because I would never want anyone to go through with what we have.

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“This is how our story ends. In my mind, we’ve already won. We got through what some people said was an impossible situation. To do that and put the kind of performance we did (against Germany) is pretty remarkable.”

Beckie called this experience like nothing she has ever faced in sport. The physical grind of playing in the heat every three days was nothing compared to the mental and emotional toll.

“It’s been a couple of weeks that felt like months,” she said. “It’s been really heavy and really emotional on a whole different level. Sometimes, it was anger. Sometimes, it was a lot of anger and confusion. It’s a really galvanizing experience. I’m closer to these 21 players than any teammates I’ve ever played with.

“This experience will no doubt make us stronger as players and in the midst of this, I think you’ve seen some of Canada’s best performances as a team.”

But not right now. The players are going to unplug and rest. At some point, their lingering questions about why on Earth some people thought this team had to spy against New Zealand in the first place will be answered.

“I’m just so proud of this team and there’s a lot of positives to take away from this tournament,” Fleming said. “I really felt like we had (Germany) on the ropes in the second half.

“It will definitely be a bit of a comedown after this tournament and I just need a break.”

rpyette@postmedia.com

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