Josee Belanger played a key role in the stellar defense of the 2015 Canada Women's World Cup squad. Canadian coach John Herdman moved Belanger up on the field to try to generate some badly needed offense.
Belanger scored the only goal as Canada edged out Switzerland 1-0 in the Round of 16. #8 Canada now faces #6 England tomorrow in the quarterfinal at BC Place Stadium in Vancouver. England edged out #11 Norway 2-1 Monday in Ottawa.
Belanger was able to move up thanks to the return of Rhian Wilkinson to the starting lineup after a hamstring injury. Wilkinson and Christine Sinclair both assisted on Belanger's goal.
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Both countries share Queen Elizabeth II and that doesn't even factor in Australia in the other bracket. England just won its first World Cup game outside the initial group. Canada has been there before but not with this squad.
While each squad is different, the defeat of Switzerland was the first win for Canada over an European squad at the World Cup.
England lost to France 1-0 and beat Mexico 2-1, both in Moncton, and edged out Colombia 2-1 in Montréal in group play.
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Belanger nearly got a goal in the first half hitting the ball from long distance into the sun field. Swiss goalkeeper Gaelle Thalmann probably didn't see Belanger's early shot on goal that went off the post.
Canada had an advantage in the first half shooting into the sun. The configuration of the roof combined with the 4:30 pm local start time produced an intense sun field. I know that sun issue first hand having seen a BC Lions game that started at 4 pm local time. Saturday's starting time is the same time as the Round of 16 match.
The TV coverage has been good or definitely not bad. We didn't get a replay of that near miss; perhaps the replay wasn't great given the high sun concentration but that was a play that needed a better angle.
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Julie Stewart-Binks, a sideline reporter for Fox, measured the turf temperature at BC Place Stadium at 130 degrees. Unlike the previous outdoor scenarios, not all of BC Place was in the sun. We don't know whether her measurement was in the sun. Still, that is really extremely hot for the players.
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Hopefully, this won't be an issue but Kadeisha Buchanan, perhaps Canada's best defensive player, and Christine Sinclair both received yellow cards in the match against Switzerland. Canada can't afford to lose either player but also needs them to play at the level where they have been in the tournament.
We saw 2 U.S. players get a second yellow card in its last game in what were fouls in other games and not yellow-card worthy. Sadly, the pace of the game can be in the hands of the referees.
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The difference was 797 fans, but the Canadian women's team set a new attendance record to see a Canadian national team. The crowd of 53,855 in Vancouver surpassed the opening day crowd in Edmonton of 53,058.
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Moncton is done with the World Cup tournament. Friday's game in Ottawa is the last one in the nation's capital. Of course, Winnipeg was done after the Group of 16.
After this weekend, the only game east of Alberta will be the U.S.-China-France-Germany bracket final from Olympic Stadium in Montréal on Tuesday.
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The United States has played in Winnipeg, Vancouver, and Edmonton with a date in Ottawa today. If the U.S. beats China, the team will play in Montréal. The only Canadian city that the U.S. would definitely miss would be Moncton.
We can't expect the crowds would be as pro-U.S. as the Winnipeg crowds simply out of logistics. However, even the Edmonton crowd was pretty loud for the United States. The attendance definitely will get a jump in Ottawa and perhaps Montréal.
France gets another taste of French Canada in Montréal in the quarterfinal today. If France handles Germany, the U.S.-China winner is next up also in Montréal.
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CTV will carry 3 of the 4 games, leaving France and Germany for TSN on Friday afternoon. Fox will carry the Friday games, including the U.S. with Fox Sports 1 carrying the Saturday games.
Canada can only appear on Fox for a medal round game.
You might have heard from Fox that coverage on Saturday starts at 6 pm Eastern. Fox Sports 1 will run 90 minutes of coverage following the previous match and previewing the Canada-England match.
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