A win over Panama plus a little help from Costa Rica and Canada can book its ticket to the 2023 Women's World Cup on Friday.
That's Job 1 for the Olympic champion Canadians at the CONCACAF W Championship in Mexico, with the four semifinalists securing qualification to the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand.
So far so good for the sixth-ranked Canadian women, who opened the eight-team tournament Tuesday with a 6-0 win over No. 76 Trinidad and Tobago. Olympic qualification is also on the line in Mexico, with the CONCACAF champion securing the lone berth in the region for the Paris Games in 2024.
But first things first.
"I said it this morning when I named the team (for the Panama game), it's about qualifying for a World Cup. That's what we came here first and foremost to do," Canada coach Bev Priestman told a virtual availability Thursday. "And then our eyes are set on, once we get (over) that hurdle, qualifying for the Olympics.
"This group — they're humble, they're hard-working, they're focused — I don't worry about that overconfidence. If anything with this groups it's often an underconfidence."
The Canadian women have never lost to Panama, outscoring the 57th-ranked team 13-0 in their two previous meetings.
Captain Christine Sinclair scored twice the last time Canada faced Panama — a 7-0 win in October 2018 at the CONCACAF Women’s Championship that earned Canada a berth in the 2019 World Cup in France.
Adriana Leon also scored twice in Frisco, Texas, that day with Jessie Fleming, Janine Beckie and Quinn, who goes by one name, adding singles as Canada struck six times in the second half. Nichelle Prince had three assists.
The Canadians fired 25 shots (18 on target), connected for 487 of 538 pass attempts (91 percent) and has 71 per cent. possession. Panama did not put a shot on target.
Despite that history, Priestman is taking nothing for granted,
"Although I've brought some freshness into the lineup, I'm also respecting that anything can happen in CONCACAF," she said.
No. 57 Panama lost 3-0 to No. 37 Costa Rica in its opener Tuesday.
The top two teams in each of the two groups advance to the semifinals after group play and secure World Cup qualification. The third-placed team in each group moves on to a World Cup intercontinental playoff.
A win over Panama and Canada will have six points with one group match remaining. Combined with a Costa Rica win or tie against Trinidad in the earlier game Friday and Canada will be certain of a top-two finish in Group B.
The goal is to win the group to avoid a likely meeting with the top-ranked U.S. in the semifinals. But chances are Canada, if it keeps winning, will still face the Americans in the final.
Only the CONCACAF winner assures itself of an Olympic berth, as well as a ticket to the inaugural CONCACAF W Gold Cup, to be held in 2024. The runner-up and third-place teams will meet in a CONCACAF Olympic play-in series, scheduled for September 2023, with the winner also qualifying for the Paris Olympics and CONCACAF W Gold Cup.
The World Cup features a 32-team field, compared to just 12 for the Olympics.
After playing in the 53,500-capacity Estadio BBVA — home to CF Monterrey — in suburban Guadalupe on Tuesday, Canada and Panama switch to the Estadio Universitario on Friday. known as El Volcan (The Volcano), the 41,600-capacity stadium in Monterrey is home to Tigres UANL.
In its CONCACAF W opener, Canada had a frustrating start against Trinidad and only led 1-0 at halftime, despite dominating play. The fact that goals have been hard to come by in recent outings only added to the pressure.
Priestman told her team at the break to "take the handbrake off" and express themselves.
"Sometimes we stick to a script too much," she said after the match.
The team responded with five goals in the last 23 minutes, with substitute Julia Grosso scoring two of them. The 21-year-old midfielder from Vancouver, who plays her club football in Italy for Juventus, said the advice was welcome.
"I was really excited hearing that," she said. "It's always exciting, especially in the middle (of the field), because it kind of gave me more of a license to go forward and get in the (penalty) box, knowing she said 'Just go for it' to all of us."
The goals were Grosso's first for Canada.
----
Follow @NeilMDavidson on Twitter
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 7, 2022.
Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press
