Defying odds, defending champs Canada stay alive

Kolkata: “Take six points from us? Fine, let’s go get nine,” former midfielder Diana Matheson exhorted on social media. So, Canada did. Wednesday’s 1-0 win against Colombia kept the Olympic women’s football champions alive in a campaign where little has gone right off the field.
Hours before kick-off, Canada learnt that their appeal against a six-point penalty by FIFA for spying on opponents had been rejected by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). It was the latest blow against a team whose Olympic gold medal winning head coach had been suspended for her role in this. The penalty meant that even after 2-1 wins against New Zealand and France, Canada had zero points. It also meant that their final group match against Colombia was a must-win.
In such situations in the 2024 Olympics, Canada have turned to defender Vanessa Giles. It was her goal in the 11th minute of second-half stoppage time that had fetched a come-from-behind victory against France. And it was Giles’ 62nd minute goal, from a free kick by skipper Jessie Fleming who had scored the equaliser against France, that turned out to be the winner in Nice.
“We haven’t eaten, we’ve been crying. I wouldn’t say they’re ideal performing situations but we’ve held each other through this and we have nothing to lose,” Giles told CBC Olympics after the win against France. “What’s given us energy is each other, is our determination, is our pride to represent this country.”
Team bonding has helped Canada, who beat USA in the semi-final and Sweden on penalties in the final in Tokyo, salvage a campaign which went askew even before they had kicked a ball. New Zealand accused them of using a drone to spy on a training session. Soon, reports emerged that Canada may have done this in the Tokyo Olympics, the women’s CONCACAF championships and even the Copa America where they made they had made the semi-final. Canada sports officials have accepted that it may be a “systemic ethical shortcoming” with the country’s sports minister Carla Qualtrough promising to get to the “bottom of this.”
And before the opening ceremony, the Games had been hit by a big scandal.
Horst Hrubesch, the former West Germany international who played in the 1982 men’s World Cup and is coaching the Germany women’s team in the Olympics, said it was “stupidity.” More anger came from home. Qualtrough said checking on a closed practice session amounted to “cheating.”
Qualtrough also said the whole thing was an “embarrassment” for Canadians. Canada are co-hosts of the 2026 men’s World Cup with USA and Mexcio. Former goalkeeper Stephanie Labbe, who helped Canada win gold in Tokyo, said on X that the team had been let down by their own people.
Coach Bev Priestman, in charge since 2020, and two of her assistants were banned for a year by FIFA and removed from the Games by Canada. Their salaries too have been stopped for the duration of the ban. Interim head coach Andy Spence was put in charge.
Still, Canada Soccer took a chance. On Monday, one day after they beat France, it moved CAS on the “disproportionality” of the punishment, which includes a fine of $226,000, and said the action penalises players who had no role in this. The punishment, “goes far beyond restoring fairness to the match against New Zealand,” Canada Soccer said. Eight hours before kick-off against Colombia, CAS rejected the appeal.
“Going into the match we wanted to win regardless of what that ruling was,” said Fleming. “It did not change our game plan or what we wanted to do.”
Given the wave of bad news that has hit Canada and the hurdles they had to clear, celebrations after the final whistle was understandable. The win put Canada in second place behind France in their group. The top two from each of the three groups and two best third sides qualified to the quarter-final in the 12-team competition. Up next for Canada are Hrubesch’s Germany, the 2016 gold medallists.