Canada’s five points in Group A was enough to win Group A
By Ivan Yeo
Canada came into its Group A finale of the Women’s World Cup looking to win the group and ensure an easy path through the knockout rounds while the Netherlands came in looking to prolong its stay in the tournament.
When 90 minutes were up at Montreal’s Olympic stadium on Monday night, both teams got what they wanted. Canada ended topping the group while the the Dutch put themselves in position as one of the top third place teams in the tournament. Ashley Lawrence’s goal 10 minutes staked Canada to the lead, but Kirsten Van de Ven’s goal late in the second half enabled the Dutch to keep its tournament hopes alive in a 1-1 draw.
The result left the host nation with five points as they completed group play. Canada however was buoyed by China’s 2-2 draw with New Zealand, which ensured Canada’s five points were enough to win the group. Canada and China will advance as the Group A representatives while the Netherlands will be tuning into the matches on Tuesday and Wednesday to see if they have a chance to advance to the knockout rounds.
Canada got its moment in the 10th minute. Christine Sinclair fed a ball to Sophie Schmidt inside the box, Schmidt shot for the far post, Dutch defender Stefanie van der Gragt blocked the shot, but it stayed in the box, Lawrence charge in and fired the ball past keeper Loes Guerts at the near post to stake the Canadians to the lead.
The Netherlands had several chances to equalize following Canada’s goal. The first chance came later in the first half, as Melis crossed into the penalty area and Danielle Van de Donk had a point-blank shot right in front of keeper Erin McLeod. Van de Donk’s touch on the ball however was a bad one, and McLeond scooped the ball. The second great chance came in the 84th minute, as Sherida Spitse brought down a goal kick at midfield, sent a ball for Manon Melis, who broke for the penalty area and fired away, but McLeod came away with the save.
After several squandered chances, the Netherlands finally pushed across the equalizer in the 88th minute. Leike Melis threw herself into a clearence attempt by Carmelina Moscato, the ball deflected off Melis and continued forward for Melis to initiate a break for Canada’s goal. Melis switched a ball to Van de Ven, who took a touch and fired a ball past McLeod into the back net to tie the match. Neither team could muster another scoring chance in the final minute. In fact, the Dutch seemed content to take their four points and wait out the remaining matches.
