MONTREAL – It has been over six years since Montreal hosted the National Women’s Soccer Team and Mother Nature did not present its warmest side to it. Never mind: the public largely compensated and the Canadian team members felt it.
In turn, a few minutes after Canada’s 1-0 victory over New Zealand in the “Celebration Tour”, head coach Bev Priestman and Quebecers Gabrielle Carle and Évelyne Viens saluted the presence and involvement of the 11,323 spectators who went to the Saputo stadium on Tuesday for a typical fall evening in Quebec.
After the game, the Canadian team players walked around the field to greet this audience, who cheered on their every action.
The atmosphere won over the players!
At times during the match, we even saw the spectators wave, despite some sections of the stadium that were deserted.
“After two minutes, the girls on the bench, we said ‘the crowd is there to cheer us on’,” said Viens, who was sent into the fray from the 47th minute, replacing Christine Sinclair.
“It was the fun, the wave, the engagement there was, the drum, the screams. I think we really felt it and it gave us energy, added Viens. We would have liked that to give more goals to the crowd. Of course, we are very grateful to have had a good crowd in Montreal. “
For Carle and Viens, two athletes from the Quebec region, the evening was particularly pleasant because of the presence of members of their respective families and several friends.
“Of course I had forgotten what it was like to play at home, to play in front of my family. See my brother, my friends, my family. It is very appreciated that they drove on a Tuesday evening. It’s a game that I will remember for a long time in my life, ”said Viens.
Carle spent the entire game on the pitch and said she was happy with her game.
“In the last few months, I haven’t played so much for the national team. Starting this match can mean a lot to me, because it’s at home, at home. I think I did a good performance. “
Better resistance
In a duel where the New Zealand women offered more vigorous opposition than in their 5-1 loss on Saturday to Ottawa, Adriana Leon scored the winning net in the 16th minute, jumping on the return of a Janine Beckie shot. .
Leon, who had scored Canada’s last two goals in Ottawa, came close to scoring another in the 55th minute. However, she was deprived of it by a nice save from goalkeeper Anna Leat.
Jordyn Huitema also had a great opportunity to find the back of the net in the 75th minute. His shot, however, rolled just off the wide-open goal after a hazardous exit from Leat.
Stephanie Labbé and Erin Mcleod, inserted in the match in the 47th minute, shared the work in front of the goal of the Canadians.
They faced two shots, both stopped by Labbé, one of which was acrobatic in the 26th minute.
Since losing 2-0 to Brazil in February, Team Canada is 6-0-6.
“I liked the shutout. We had made it clear that we did not want to concede goals, ”said Priestman, who also admitted that New Zealand had delivered better resistance than on Saturday.
“I don’t think it was a great performance. I expected, in part, she added. With the amount of change, you lose a bit of chemistry and rhythm. We had good streaks, but no sustained streaks. “
This first match in Montreal since the 2015 World Cup took place in front of an audience won in advance, who showed up at the stadium when the mercury barely reached the 10 Celsius mark and who were not cooled by the wind and the rain that raged on the Saputo stadium.
The rain, at times heavy, however stopped a few minutes before the start of the game and stayed away the rest of the evening.
One after another before the start of the game, the players of the Canadian team received a warm welcome.
Of course, the loudest applause went to the Sinclair, the Canadian captain with 188 goals and the last player to take the field.
