Hosts Canada escaped with all three points against China with a 1-0 victory in the first game of the 2015 FIFA women’s World Cup in Edmonton.
A second half stoppage time penalty, converted coolly by star striker Christine Sinclair, was enough to give the Maple Leafs their first ever opening game win at a World Cup, following a vibrant opening ceremony.
In front of a record crowd for any soccer game in Canada, an opening half of few chances was punctuated by both sides hitting the woodwork.
Firstly, Chinese winger Wang Lisi nearly gave her team a shock lead with a brilliant free kick that hit the near post, flew across the goal, and hit the other upright, before being scrambled to safety.
At the other end, Josee Belanger then fired a rasping strike from just outside the box which cannoned off the crossbar.
After some initial excitement, the second half was a slow affair, which was perfectly understandable given the intense early evening heat, as the game kicked off at 4pm local time.
The pace and quality of the match was also not helped by the artificial surface, a controversial talking point in the lead up to the tournament. The over-firmness of the pitch did not lend itself to good passing and there were a number of occasions where passes were over or under hit by significant margins, as players became visibly wary of trusting the trueness of the surface.
For all of Canada’s dominance – having 64% possession over the 90 minutes – they were clearly out of ideas in the latter stages of the game, after throwing everything they had at their opponents in a bid to impress their home supporters.
China had admirably stood up to the challenge, while making little chances of their own, until Ukrainian referee Kateryna Monzul made a controversial decision that ultimately handed Canada the game.
As time was running out and it looked likely that China would get a thoroughly deserved point, the referee blew for a spot kick for what seemed like a trivial piece of contact in the penalty area.
Chinese defender Rong Zhao was adjudged to have fouled sub Adriana Leon, and although she did have an arm on the Canadian striker’s shoulder, it seemed a very soft decision to award.
China’s goalkeeper Wang Fei, who had performed excellently throughout the 90 minutes, went the right way from the spot kick but could not keep out captain Sinclair’s effort, which was just too accurate for her.
The crisply struck spot kick rolled into the bottom corner and sent a crowd of 58, 053 at the Commonwealth stadium into rapturous delight.
China can feel aggrieved at both the penalty award and the injustice of not getting a point which would have been a relatively fair outcome for both sides. Canada’s English manager John Herdman will know that his side got lucky and will have to play a lot better as the tournament progresses, if they are to fulfil the hopes of a nation.
