MARSEILLE, France – Andy Spence pushed a lot of the right buttons in his four games as stand-in manager of the Canadian women’s soccer team at the Olympics.
But in this country, we do love second-guessing the skipper for a shootout gone wrong. That last bit is where the dissection of the quarter-final loss to Germany on Saturday must start.
There were some uncontrollable circumstances, of course. Obviously, current captain Jessie Fleming was critical in Tokyo, but she wasn’t available for the penalties because of a knock to the head that kept her out since halftime.
Ashley Lawrence and Adriana Leon were among the first four called in kicks and were stopped. The same thing happened to them in the gold-medal game against Sweden in 2021. Julia Grosso, whose winner against the Swedes highlighted the greatest moment in the program’s history, never did get another crack at it.
“It’s the hull of the previous Olympics,” Spence said. “That’s life, honestly. The players have the processes. We have one million per cent trust in the processes. That’s the game and how it can work out. There’s no concern for me (this) group of players won’t learn from this experience because they absolutely will.”
It’s still sour. Despite all the distractions and fallout from the drone spying scandal, Canada’s back line lived up to its billing. The team allowed two goals in four matches – none of those in the second half or beyond – and won’t play for a medal. They stared down world No. 4 Germany to a 120-minute draw and dominated the final 60 minutes in Marseille, but couldn’t coax the ball over the line.
In years past, they turned to legendary Christine Sinclair for the biggest tally. There isn’t anyone in the forward ranks yet that has assumed that responsibility on the grandest stages.
“I’m proud of the team in how we stuck together,” said defender Vanessa Gilles, who scored two game-winning goals this past week. “I felt we really gave it to Germany and I think we had our opportunities. We didn’t capitalize. We put ourselves in that penalty hole and we always know that can go either way.”
The Canadians had promising performances from younger players like defender Jade Rose and midfielder Simi Awujo in France. But the data shows the most successful women’s soccer rosters have an average age around 26-27 and that’s where the bulk of this team is right now.
The core group will largely be in their 30s in four years at Los Angeles. They are clearly resilient, but will need to trend younger at some point.
“All I could say to them was how immensely proud I was of them,” Spence said. “Ultimately, these moments can make you or break you. With this group, I absolutely think it’s going to make them.”
There is a lot of pride for a team put in difficult circumstances. The soccer staff started with six people and was cut in half by the time the tournament kicked off. Spence, Jen Herst and Neil Wood were forced to assume more responsibility on the fly and performed admirably.
But will they be back? It’s too early to tell and it’s impossible to predict where the program goes from here.
“I fear it’s probably going to get worse before it gets better,” veteran Janine Beckie said. “That’s coming from no evidence or conversations. That’s just my personal opinion on how these things can sometimes go. I hope that it doesn’t.”
She praised Canada Soccer CEO and general secretary Kevin Blue, just four months into the job, and new president Peter Augruso for their work in a short window.
“We were just getting back on track,” Beckie said. “Both the men’s and women’s teams are on the same page with Kevin and Peter. It’s really, really, really bad timing. From a player’s perspective, I hope we take over where we left off with how we’re playing on the pitch.
“After all the news came in (with head coach Bev Priestman’s suspension and departure before the New Zealand game), I don’t think we wanted to know any more. They (the remaining staff) were working 24 hours a day. I’m sure people will have questions moving forward and we’ll have to take it one step at a time and switch off, then regroup.”
What that looks like – and with who – won’t be answered until Canada Soccer’s external investigation into spying is done.
That could be a while.