Olympic champion Canada is looking for a more balanced performance against third-ranked Germany on Sunday after an uneven showing in its opening 1-1 tie with England at the Arnold Clark Cup.
The sixth-ranked Canadian women were second-best in the first half against No. 8 England on Thursday in Middlesbrough before finding their feet in the second half with Janine Beckie's elegant 55th-minute strike securing the draw.
"That England game, it took us half a game to get into that. Then we started to open up and we started to bring what we really can and take more risks," said Canada coach Bev Priestman. "And that's what we need to do to really push on and hurt Tier 1 teams."
"Going into this next game it's about balancing across 90 minutes," she added.
While Germany hold a 15-1-0 career edge over the Canadians, Priestman believes her team has what it takes to win.
"For us, you actually see how you can hurt Germany," she said in a virtual availability Saturday. "If we bring who we are when we're at our best — second half of that England game, we looked a lot more (like) what I would like us to look like going forward. If we can bring that, there's a massive opportunity as well."
Germany rallied Thursday to tie No. 9 Spain 1-1 on Lea Schueller's 87th-minute goal.
"I'd be surprised, to be honest, if the Germans come out how they did the first game," said Priestman. "I do think we'll face a more aggressive Germany. … We have to be prepared for that."
England takes on Spain in the opening game of Sunday's doubleheader at Carrow Road in Norwich.
The lone Canadian victory over Germany was a 2-0 decision in group play at the 2016 Rio Olympics on the strength of two goals by Melissa Tancredi. Germany avenged that loss a week later with a 2-1 semifinal victory before defeating Sweden 2-1 to win gold. The Canadians claimed bronze after dispatching host Brazil 2-1.
"We're definitely going in to get the result, get a victory," said Canadian fullback Ashley Lawrence. "We know it's not going to be easy but we know that we have to play these teams in order to test ourselves, to test just different things that Bev and the staff are wanting us to work on, especially leading up to (July World Cup and Olympic) qualifiers and, of course, the (2023) World Cup."
Germany is not at full strength at the English tournament.
Star striker Alexandra Popp is recovering from a knee injury while Tabea Wasmuth, Kathrin Hendrich, Svenja Huth, Lena Lattwein and Almuth Schult are unavailable through illness or COVID-19 protocols.
"Obviously they've got some faces missing but just watching them, they're what Germany are," said Priestman. "They're a powerhouse. They've got athletes, they play quickly. So we're absolutely not underestimating them. I think it'll be a great matchup. They're a top team."
Canada is without captain Christine Sinclair and fellow forward Adriana Leon. Sinclair stayed at home following the recent death of her mother while Leon is recovering from injury.
Fullback Jayde Riviere, who limped off in the second half Thursday, is fine, said Priestman, who plans to freshen her starting lineup with three games in seven days.
Germany currently tops its UEFA World Cup qualifying group at 6-0-0, outscoring its opposition 31-2. The German women are unbeaten in seven games (6-0-1) since a 1-0 friendly loss to France last June and are 35-3-3 since March 2018 — with the lone losses to France, Sweden and the Netherlands.
Canada is 9-3-6 under Priestman, including two shootout wins at the Olympics. The losses were to the U.S., Brazil and Mexico.
The England tournament's title sponsor, Arnold Clark, is a family-run car dealer.
---
Follow @NeilMDavidson on Twitter
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 19, 2022
Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press
