Canada to use scoreless draw with Korea Republic as preparation for 2022 Concacaf W Championship

The Canadian Women’s National Team played Korea Republic in a friendly Sunday afternoon at BMO Field, resulting in a frustrating 0-0 draw.

The Canadians returned to BMO Field for the first time since winning their gold medal at the 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games. 15,000 fans gathered at BMO Field to show their support for Canada before Les Rouges head to Mexico to officially begin their 2023 FIFA World Cup Qualifying journey.

“Obviously, we didn’t get to celebrate the Olympics with this crowd, so there’s a little bit of that but mostly just prepping for Mexico,” said defender Vanessa Gilles prior to the match.

With the Canadians heading down to Mexico next week for their qualifiers, this game was an important start for their World Cup campaign. For head coach Bev Priestman, Sunday’s crowd will prepare the team for Mexico having full stadiums once again.

“I think they’ll be the 12th player for us but I think they’ll also prepare us well for what we are going to face in Mexico,” said Priestman. I would expect full stadiums, this group did Tokyo with an empty stadium, I think that’s going to prepare us well.”

Canada held possession with 70 per cent against Korea and had several chances to score but could not manage to find the back of the net. Jordyn Huitema, Vanessa Gilles and Janine Beckie all had opportunities, but they could not capitalize.

Korea, meanwhile, weren’t on the backfoot the entire game and had chances of their own to put one past the Canadians with number 10, Ji So-Yun, creating for her side, but like Canada, they failed to find the end-product.

After the game, Korea Republic Coach Colin Bell was very pleased with his side’s performance considering they were going up against the Olympic champions at home.

“At times, we played some really good football, it wasn’t as though we just hung on for dear life, we played some good football,” said Bell.

As for the Canadians, that same regard was not felt finishing this match nil-nil.

“Overall disappointed, but I think it was just one of those days and you’ve seen at the end, the ball wouldn’t go into the back of the net,” said Priestman post-match as Beckie nodded her head in agreement.

Priestman referenced the final play of the match – a chaotic sequence – when Beckie crossed a corner kick into the area connecting with Kadeisha Buchanan, whose header towards the goal was stopped by ‘keeper Yoon Young-Guel. The rebound fell to Deanne Rose, whose shot ricocheted to Gilles, but the defender’s effort was saved by Young-Guel.

Now, the Canadians will shift their attention to the CONCACAF W Championships. Winning this tournament not only guarantees a spot in the FIFA Women’s World Cup Australia & New Zealand 2023, but also in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

“We want to go and try and win this thing, not just qualify for a World Cup. We want to qualify for [the] Olympics early,” said Priestman.

Canada shares their group with Trinidad and Tobago, Panama and Costa Rica. Veteran Beckie knows the difficulty of tournament style football, especially in CONCACAF.

“Honestly in these qualifying tournaments, anything can happen,” said Beckie. “You give up an early goal, it’s a completely different game; you score a few early it’s a completely different game, so you know we just want to make sure we remain in control of those performances and if we can build on the first two and be successful in those, I think it’ll make the third game probably a lot more relaxed.”

It wasn’t the result Canada was looking for in this friendly, but the humbling may be beneficial heading into the upcoming tournament.

“I think the important thing will be what we learned from the game because now it’s about the rhythm and flow, cleaning up our partnerships and our play in the final third,” said Priestman after the match. “We are frustrated, but at the same time we can’t expect the world when we’re putting in the work now that will come to fruition in July. This was part of our learning curve going in the Concacaf W Championship by playing a very organized opponent.”

Cloe Lacasse believes that CANWNT need to be more dynamic up front and work on finishing their chances. Buchanan echoed her teammate’s thoughts, emphasizing that they need to capitalize on their chances in front of the net.

Canada will play Trinidad and Tobago on July 5, Panama on July 8 before wrapping up the group stage against Costa Rica on July 11. The semifinals are scheduled for July 14 with the Concacaf Final on July 18.