PERTH, Australia — In need of points to keep its World Cup dream alive, Canada has to put it best foot forward Wednesday against Ireland after the frustration of a tournament-opening scoreless draw with Nigeria.
"We're looking to put on a dominant performance," said Canadian fullback Ashley Lawrence.
With only one point in the bank and No. 10 Australia awaiting in its final Group B game in Melbourne, the seventh-ranked Canadians need to get into high gear. With key players missing and others short on playing time after lengthy injury absences, Canada looked slightly out of sync against No. 40 Nigeria.
That result piled on the pressure for the game against No. 22 Ireland.
"We know we absolutely don't want to leave this pitch (Wednesday) without those three points," said Canada coach Bev Priestman.
"It's an unbelievable opportunity for us to take a step forward," she added.
The Irish won't make it easy. Australia needed a penalty to edge a stubborn and well-drilled Ireland side 1-0 in its opening match. And the Irish pressed hard as the clock wound down, using their prowess at set pieces to make for a tense finale.
"They're a team full of heart, spirit and passion," said Priestman.
"What I do know that is when we get tested by teams like that, you often see the best of this team," she added.
Priestman praised Ireland for what she called its "We'll do whatever it takes not to concede" mindset.
That fire was shown by Irish centre back Louise Quinn, who put her body on the line against the Matildas. The Birmingham City defender, who has 105 caps, emerged from the game sporting a black eye and wearing a walking boot.
It's a foot injury "that is not very straightforward," according to Ireland coach Vera Pauw
"We think that she can play … She's going to train and we'll see how far she gets," the former Dutch international added.
There was better news from Canada on Jessie Fleming, the influential Chelsea midfielder who missed the Nigeria game with a calf issue.
"Jessie fully trained (Monday). We've got one more session before (Wednesday) but expect Jessie to be available," said Priestman.
So does Pauw.
"Fleming will play (Wednesday)," she said.
With 115 caps to her credit, the 25-year-old Fleming offers composure and creativity in addition to being a reliable penalty-taker. Canada could have used her against Nigeria whose 'keeper, Paris FC's Chiamaka Nnadozie, made a world-class save early in the second half to stop Christine Sinclair's spot kick.
The Canadians already feel the absence of the versatile Janine Beckie, a difference-maker in attack who is back home recovering from knee surgery, and veteran defensive midfielder Desiree Scott, who lost her injury race against time.
Another question-mark arose at Canada's training session Tuesday when veteran centre back Kadeisha Buchanan did not take part in the portion open to the media. Buchanan had been slated to appear with Priestman at the earlier media availability but was replaced by Lawrence with Canada Soccer, in announcing the change earlier in the day, providing no explanation why.
Ireland will be just as motivated as Canada. A loss, coupled with Australia avoiding defeat against Nigeria on Thursday, and the Irish are eliminated from advancing in its debut World Cup.
"If you play a game like this against the Olympic champion, you have to stay realistic," said Pauw. "But it's clear that If we want to go through this group then we need a result. That's clear
"If we win, we have it in own hands. If we have a draw, we're dependent on other results even if we win against Nigeria (in final group game)."
While Wednesday marks the Canadian women's 29th career game at the tournament and only the second for Ireland, Priestman is looking beyond the numbers.
"We've got to respect Ireland. At the end of the day, you've seen top-10 teams, teams that have won a World Cup, go and only beat them 1-0," she said. "By no means are we going into this game thinking this is going to be an easy game. I've seen their level of passion and spirit.
"But we know exactly what we need to do and I hope our quality and experience can help us do that."
It appears she hoped a visual aid might also assist.
Lawrence confirmed that Priestman showed the team a photo of the Argentina men's team after it captured the World Cup in Qatar, noting that the South American side lost its tournament opener (2-1 to Saudi Arabia) but rebounded to win it all.
The pitch at Perth Rectangular Stadium was covered Tuesday as Monday's sunshine turned to rain in the capital of Western Australia. Wednesday's forecast calls for rain around the final whistle.
"For us we don't bother about what kind of weather it is, because we're used to it," Pauw said with a smile.
The Irish are expected to have a sizable cheering section in the stands at the venue better known as HBF Park, the 20,500-capacity home of soccer's Perth Glory and rugby union's Western Force.
Both Canada and Ireland came a long way to get here, with the Irish flying 3,600 kilometres from their training base in Brisbane and the Canadians 2,700 kilometres from Melbourne. Add in a two-hour time difference plus the fact that Wednesday's game is an 8 p.m. local time start (8 a.m. ET in Canada) as opposed to a 12:30 p.m. local kickoff for the Canada-Nigeria match.
Goals have been hard to find for both teams of late.
The Canadian women have been held scoreless in three of their five outings this year, outscored 7-3.
Given the positive contributions of forwards Cloe Lacasse and Evelyne Viens off the bench against Nigeria, Priestman has decisions to make with her strike force Wednesday.
"They asked some questions," she said.
While they hunt for goals, the Canadians look to maintain their stingy tournament record at the other end of the pitch. They have kept five clean sheets in their last seven group‑stage outings, including clean sheets in each of their first two matches in the last tournaments.
Ireland has scored in just one of its last six matches, outscored 9-3 over that period with the lone goals came in a 3-2 win over No. 77 Zambia last month in Dublin. And while the Irish outscored their opposition 26-4 over eight matches in its World Cup qualifying group, 20 of those goals came in two matches against No 126 Georgia.
Key Irish players are goalkeeper Courtney Brosnan (Everton) and midfielders Katie McCabe (Arsenal) and Denise O'Sullivan (North Carolina Courage), the last three winners of Ireland's Senior International Player of the Year Award.
Coincidentally it's the second straight game at the tournament that Canada has faced a team led by a former Houston Dash coach. Pauw and Nigeria's Randy Waldrum both coached the NWSL team that is currently home to Canadians Allysha Chapman, Nichelle Prince and Sophie Schmidt.
Pauw coached the Dash to a 9-10-5 record in 2018 before returning to her native Netherlands. Pauw, who has also coached the Netherlands, Russia, Scotland and South Africa, took charge of Ireland in September 2019.
She is well aware of her Irish team's fighting spirit. Pauw said her husband's comment after her first game at Ireland's helm was "What fighters."
Ireland booked its ticket to the tournament by beating No. 23 Scotland 1-0 in a playoff after finishing runner-up to No. 3 Sweden in its qualifying group with a 5-1-2 record.
Canada and Ireland have met just once before with Canada rallying for a 2-1 win in the fifth-place game at the 2014 Cyprus Cup thanks to a 90th-minute goal by Schmidt, one of five current members of the roster (Sinclair, Buchanan, Adriana Leon and Quinn, who goes by one name) who saw action that day.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 25, 2023
Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press
