6/26/2011: Canada v. Germany

[mtlfan]

Parker Tancredi and Nault did not give good performances

Goal scored will help in a tie breaker

Red shorts yes that's our colour

[terpfan68]

Good effort against the best team in the world on their home field. I am sure that the German press will be critical of their teams play and that will fire them up for their next two group matches which will be good for Canada in the goal difference. I hope Germany beats Nigeria 4 - 0 and France 3 - 0. Then a win against France might be enough to advance.

[BearcatSA]

Germans are physical specimens for sure. They know how to use their size and strength very effectively.

Watching the last 75 minutes with the sound off, I found that was quite noticeable, glaringly at times.

[guppy]

I thought Schmidt's game stood out too ... Germany seemed to get behind the defense rather easily... the 2nd goal near the half obviously shook Canada up badly. I saw the France-Nigeria game. France has some skill definitely but played cautiously, and didn't really impose themselves as you would expect. So they may be better than they looked. Meanwhile Nigeria has very poor ball-handling skills.

[TFC07]

Our offside traps didn't work and we got lucky a few times, but Canada showed a lot of nice skills offensively. I like their movement and passing for most of the game which kind of surprised me about Canada.

Canada's backline (Like Jason DeVos pointed out) not marking their woman and busy watching the ball only cost us couple of goals today.

Good game overall for Canada. Just need to make some adjustments in the backline and hopefully we win the next 2 games.

BTW, I can't believe Germany isn't ranked number 1 in the world.

[Grizzly]

Played pretty well for the first half despite going down 2-0 which wasn't really indicative of the run of play. Absolutely terrible for the first 30 minutes of the second half though and Germany should have had three or four goals but were let down by their finishing. Then we scored on a set piece against the run of play. Hard to say what to make of a game in which we went toe to toe with the world's top team for 45 minutes and then were totally schooled for much of the 2nd half. I definitely would have liked to seen a bit more fight and spirit in the 2nd half. It is possible our fitness is not at par with that of the German's but if that was to blame we should have been better at the beginning of the half and dropped off in form as it went on instead of being terrible right at the start.

Anyone else find the similarity in appearance between the two coaches funny? Until the camera would zoom in closer it was hard to tell which coach they were showing. I think they must have both went to the same hairdresser in Berlin :-)

[Saviola7]

Played pretty well for the first half despite going down 2-0 which wasn't really indicative of the run of play. Absolutely terrible for the first 30 minutes of the second half though and Germany should have had three or four goals but were let down by their finishing. Then we scored on a set piece against the run of play. Hard to say what to make of a game in which we went toe to toe with the world's top team for 45 minutes and then were totally schooled for much of the 2nd half. I definitely would have liked to seen a bit more fight and spirit in the 2nd half. It is possible our fitness is not at par with that of the German's but if that was to blame we should have been better at the beginning of the half and dropped off in form as it went on instead of being terrible right at the start.

Anyone else find the similarity in appearance between the two coaches funny? Until the camera would zoom in closer it was hard to tell which coach they were showing. I think they must have both went to the same hairdresser in Berlin :-)

Agree with both points. I just had to remember that Morace had longer hair and a shirt with a few fewer buttons done up.

We were lucky that Germany didn't finish their chances better. On the other hand, on both goals we could have played better (not sure if we could've prevented them though). Our team had many more nice set plays than I normally see from the men's side, so that was cool too.

Still, I think the ladies should be proud of that result and as Sinclair said in a recent interview they seem to know how to get a good result when they're playing poorly.

[Vic]

Filigno was sublime. Active, tenacious, driving, great work rate, generated chances and smart for 90 minutes - and she was the youngest Canadian out there.

Scoreline may have been 1-2 but we were 2-3 quality players short of competing today. It's too bad because given all our breaks the Germans were ripe for the picking. Had we 11 players all executing at the level they're capable of and with a little better attacking plan we definitely walk away with points.

There's nothing wrong with having a bad day. With 11 players you will always have a couple off, a couple on, and most somewhere in the middle. Good teams absorb those performances and players stand up to compensate and deliver a result.

As Stephen Hart say's "football is a cruel mistress," but she's also a golden goddess some days and we saw that side of her today. Germany owned us and were extremely unlucky to not have potted a number more. Crossbars, near misses, couple of bad bounces in our box, couple of saves.

Between our luck today and France's failure to take advantage of Nigeria, we likely only have to tie the French now which is a massive, massive bonus.

[Grizzly]

One thing that is kind of depressing from a MNT point of view is that we have absolutely no male players who can take a freekick like Sinclair can, ie. she is our most talented setpiece taker regardless of gender. Obviously there is a big difference in the physique and level of play between the men and the women and I would definitely never suggest she should be a MNT player. However, if there was some special "pinch hitter" rule in soccer like in baseball and we could sub Sinclair on to take freekicks for the MNT I would do this.

[red card]

Making a fist of it, fritting some chances?

What freaking country is this guy broadcasting to?

John Helm is akin to Bob Cole for hockey in Canada. Great pedigree with broadcasting world cups for British networks since Espana 82 but he is close to 70. In South Africa, the altitude made him a bit breathless during the matches that you could hear him gasp for air. He's been working for FIFA since 2002.

So, I would ask more why CBC didn't bother to send their own crew to announce Canada's matches at least? I don't think it would have been an improvement as we would served up with a bunch of platitudes rather than sterotypes.

[terpfan68]

I have to disagree with Grizzly. If Sinclair took the exact same free kick against a male goalie of a top national squad it would have been saved. If it had gone in the commentators would be in agreement that the keeper gave up a soft goal. The ball did not have the pace or the positioning to be a top goal in men's competition. Still it was a great goal and could be critical for Canada's advancement to the next round.

[Gian-Luca]

Anyone know if Kyle was injured and that's why she was subbed? Because I felt her absense in the 2nd half really hurt us - we often got over-ran in midfield and Parker played know where near as effectivelyin either winning balls, keeping possession or offering much resistance and we were lucky that the Germans didn't score again (although the big chance they missed on the German player who somehow missed the net was actually offside, so justice was done by her miss as the lineswoman didn't flag it). If Kyle wasn't injured, it was a strange sub.

Can't complain about the result - hopefully Germany hammers the other teams, as losing only by one and scoring a goal will come in handy in any tie-breaker.

[garbuckle]

Had a great time at the game, and the site of 74,000 fellow spectators was awesome. I fee we did a good job to come away with a 2-1 loss, as it could have easily been 4-1... or even 2-2, for that matter. The German team obviously had the home support, which helps a great deal. Still, we had our chances, and I'm to come away with a goal... it was enough to silence the crowd (except the few dozen scattered Canadians).

Wound up in a biergarten after the game, with a few young German supporters as well. All in all, a great night, and I highly recommend people do something like that at least once. And yes, they were even selling Canadian gear... got two Canada scarves after the game for 15 Euro lol

[Grizzly]

I have to disagree with Grizzly. If Sinclair took the exact same free kick against a male goalie of a top national squad it would have been saved. If it had gone in the commentators would be in agreement that the keeper gave up a soft goal. The ball did not have the pace or the positioning to be a top goal in men's competition. Still it was a great goal and could be critical for Canada's advancement to the next round.

That was a well placed shot even if it was not hit with as much force as a male player would strike it. Male keepers obviously are taller and can jump faster/higher so yes a male keeper may have stopped the shot (in which case it would have been an excellent save) or may not have, I would say 50/50. Nevertheless, we have no one on the MNT who can consistently place the ball like Sinclair does. Good placement can score a lot of goals on freekicks even if the power is not outstanding. Seeing our male kick takers constantly hit the wall or fire the ball 10 feet over or wide of the net, I would rather go with good placement than hard kicks into the wall/out of play.

[ChrisB]

Anyone know if Kyle was injured and that's why she was subbed? Because I felt her absense in the 2nd half really hurt us - we often got over-ran in midfield and Parker played know where near as effectivelyin either winning balls, keeping possession or offering much resistance and we were lucky that the Germans didn't score again (although the big chance they missed on the German player who somehow missed the net was actually offside, so justice was done by her miss as the lineswoman didn't flag it). If Kyle wasn't injured, it was a strange sub.

Can't complain about the result - hopefully Germany hammers the other teams, as losing only by one and scoring a goal will come in handy in any tie-breaker.

I agree with this - I thought that the Canadian midfield was overrun in the second half, at least until they adjusted and seemed to drop Schmidt a little deeper. But Parker was continually caught in position or muscled off the ball, and without that ability to hold the ball, we got no service further up the field. This is something that I think they can fix in the next game, so not a big worry, and the German team is exceptionally big and physical, but it struck me that our central midfield was really in tough in the second half.

[paul-collins]

In no particular order, great games from Kyle, Sinclair, Zurrer, Chapman, McLeod and especially Schmidt. I worried about Filigno after that collision and she kinda disappeared after that, until the last 10 minutes (at which point I thought we really missed Belanger).

I hope Sincy does up her mask Cheever style.

[red card]

McLeod had a decent game but not great since she misjudged the flight of the ball on the first goal and put herself in a really bad position to make the save - which should have doable if she was in good position. Also, her move to go after the ball might have rooted Nault more to the ground than she would have - though she would have still been outjumped anyway.

Otherwise, she made one goal stopping save and was solid the rest of the time as should be expected of gk at this level for Canada. She would have been great if she had stopped the breakaway goal.

Zurrer had a really good match but her miss at the end was painful to watch - especially if they had trained for the set piece to come to her; then she should have at least forced the gk into some sort of goal stopping save.

I would say all had ratings 6 or above except for Nault, Wilkinson, Tancredi & Parker.

[elmateo]

I have to disagree with Grizzly. If Sinclair took the exact same free kick against a male goalie of a top national squad it would have been saved. If it had gone in the commentators would be in agreement that the keeper gave up a soft goal. The ball did not have the pace or the positioning to be a top goal in men's competition. Still it was a great goal and could be critical for Canada's advancement to the next round.

If she had been in a men's game she would have left the field with a broken nose. It was a great goal in any competition.

[The Beaver]

Very worried to see Kyle subbed for the second half. She covers a lot of ground, has terrific poise, is a great ball-winner, and knows how to lay off the ball with precise passing. The Germans would have not had all the chances they had in the second half had Kyle been on the pitch. Let's hope she's only picked up a little knock. In my view, our chances of success depend moslty on the performances of Kyle, Chapman, Mattheson and Sinclair. We need all four firing on all cylinders. This was not a bad match for one half. The Germans are good, but we are narrowing the gap for sure.

[gardencity]

My thoughts, if this was the men's WC in Brazil and we found a way to only lose 2 -1, I'd be delighted. We knew there was going to be a part of the game where the Germans would come at us in waves and that materialized as anticipated. Without referencing earlier parts of the thread, I'm sure someone has pointed out Nault's tough game and really, although Parker is a scrappy Terrier of a player, she was overmatched against the Germans and we need to think about using gals with size in a game such as this. What I saw of Germany is a team brimming with confidence and some really solid athletes who we couldn't knock off the ball. I thought Filigno (SP?) did great when she had even a small window of space in which to operate, but her young age, her "femininity".....for lack of a better (that sounds so crass but I'm trying to explain it as best I can) had her knocked down on many occasions and that won't happen as she becomes a more season player. All in all, a very good game and a wonderful anthem and Fifa experience to kick off the tournament.

[Vic]

There are two Kaylyn Kyle's. One is a physical presence and wins and maintains possession. The other runs random and ineffectively in the middle and is poor on the distribution, to the other team, to the wrong side of players, behind them, etc. That was who played in the first half. She's not Xavi or Iniesta - she's a terminator. Her job is to win the ball and give it to a playmaker. When she's on she can do that effectively.

Young players are rarely consistent. There are EPL and La Liga kids this age making millions and millions of dollars who are madly hot and cold.

She's young and has a long future in front of her, and it was her first World Cup game. It was also the worst opponent for a player of her style. Well, actually Nigeria isn't much better. But against teams without a physical presence she's quite effective, and her distribution will improve as she gets older.

The end result of 1-2 is quite remarkable given Chapman and Sinclair are likely the only two players who could have started for Germany. Everyone else would have been on the German bench.

[The Ref]

There are two Kaylyn Kyle's. One is a physical presence and wins and maintains possession. The other runs random and ineffectively in the middle and is poor on the distribution, to the other team, to the wrong side of players, behind them, etc. That was who played in the first half.

Young players are rarely consistent. There are EPL and La Liga kids this age making millions and millions of dollars who are madly hot and cold.

She's young and has a long future in front of her, and it was her first World Cup game. It was also the worst opponent for a player of her style. Well, actually Nigeria isn't much better. But against teams without a physical presence she's quite effective, and her distribution will improve as she gets older.

The end result of 1-2 is quite remarkable given Chapman and Sinclair are likely the only two players who could have started for Germany. Everyone else would have been on the German bench.

A strange choice of players by Morace. I agree when you say everyone else would have been on the German bench. I would add that maybe not even there.

[Grizzly]

McLeod had a decent game but not great since she misjudged the flight of the ball on the first goal and put herself in a really bad position to make the save - which should have doable if she was in good position. Also, her move to go after the ball might have rooted Nault more to the ground than she would have - though she would have still been outjumped anyway.

Otherwise, she made one goal stopping save and was solid the rest of the time as should be expected of gk at this level for Canada. She would have been great if she had stopped the breakaway goal.

Actually she seemed to regularly misjudge balls in the air but only paid the price for this once. I would agree that otherwise she was solid but I would definitely give some consideration to a keeper change if I were Morace. This is the World Cup and a keeper at this level should be expected to follow and position herself correctly on aerial balls, misjudging them could be costly.

[Vic]

[Vic]