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Allysha Chapman celebrates her goal against Jamaica at the 2022 Concacaf W Championship (Photo: Canada Soccer)
Match Analysis: CanWNT 3-0 Jamaica — Concacaf W Championship
2022-07-15
by
Benedict Rhodes, CanPL.ca Contributor (@BTFR17)
News

Final Score: Canada 3-0 Jamaica
Goalscorers: Fleming 18′, Chapman 64′, Leon 76′
2022 Concacaf W Championship Semifinal

Match in a minute or less

Canada reached the final of the Concacaf W Championship on Thursday night, beating Jamaica 3-0. The win sets up a meeting in the final with the United States — their first meeting since Canada beat their neighbours to the south in the semifinal at the Tokyo 2020 Summer Olympics last summer.

Jessie Fleming again opened the scoring for Canada, getting onto the end of a deflected cross from Ashley Lawrence and heading it home to make it 1-0. She nearly had a second goal later in the half, cleanly striking a shot that seemed destined for the top left corner, but Becky Spencer made a fantastic diving stop to keep it at 1-0.

In the second half Canada continued to dominate the shot count, and added a second goal, again from a header. This time it was Adriana Leon firing in a cross — a perfect ball to the far post — that fellow second half substitute Allysha Chapman ran onto and headed into the top corner. Leon made it three with a tidy finish in the 76th minute, her cross-goal shot from a tight angle beating Spencer to put the game out of reach.

The remaining 15 minutes or so were played out without any more goals, and Canada held off the Jamaicans to secure a 3-0 victory, and a spot in the final.

Three Observations

Canada dominate the wide areas, score from three crosses

All three of Canada’s goals on Thursday night came from crosses from wide areas, a tactic that Canada has been trying to implement in this tournament, to varying levels of success.

Christine Sinclair and Jordyn Huitema both redirected crosses into the back of the net in Canada’s opening match against Trinidad and Tobago, but they weren’t able to take advantage of any of the crosses coming into the box against Panama or Costa Rica. The crosses were being attempted, especially by Janine Beckie on the right flank, but they were either not accurate enough, or the chances weren’t being finished off when they were on target.

Against Jamaica on Thursday, it was those balls in from the wings that again proved to be successful. On the opening goal it was a cross from Ashley Lawrence that entered the box after a deflection off a Jamaican defender, before Jessie Fleming jumped to win it in the air and head it into the back of the net to make it 1-0 eighteen minutes into the match.

Lawrence set up Sinclair’s goal in the opening match of the tournament from a similar play — bursting down the left flank before crossing it into a dangerous area.

Fleming would have scored a second goal later in the opening half, but Jamaican goalkeeper Becky Spencer made a remarkable save to keep the score at 1-0 and limit the damage.

While it was Nichelle Prince and Janine Beckie who started the match at left and right wing, respectively, Prince was replaced by Adriana Leon shortly after halftime. Leon was deployed on the right and Beckie switched over to the left, and Canada continued to prioritize the wide areas in the second half.

After nearly 50 minutes of knocking on the door but failing to extend their lead, a moment of magic from Leon and fellow substitute Allysha Chapman (who replaced Ashley Lawrence) doubled their advantage. On the run, Leon lofted a deep cross to the far post, which Chapman — who made a lung-busting run into the box — headed into the top corner from a few yards out.

Standing at just 5’3, and a left back, headed goals aren’t Chapman’s specialty, but this impressive effort resulted in her second international goal, and her first since March 9, 2015 in a match against Italy.

Leon got in on the scoring herself 12 minutes later, beating Spencer with a solid finish from a tight angle. Beckie floated a cross into Huitema, who flicked the ball on for Leon, who with her first touch calmly slotted the ball across goal and into the back of the net to put the game to bed.

“I think we knew for Jamaica especially that width was really important to be successful, I thought the players executed [the gameplan] brilliantly,” said Canada head coach Bev Priestman after the match. “I thought we struggled in the first half, we didn’t take care of direct play and transitions, so we fixed that at halftime and I thought it made a big difference.

“The finishers go and do what finishers do, that’s another position that’s scored, a fullback (Chapman). These goals are coming from different positions, which is exciting.”

Jamaica look to build on their performance, were missing star attacker Khadija Shaw

Playing the reigning Olympic champions is no small task for any team, and after this match Jamaica’s head coach Lorne Donaldson was realistic about his team’s chances against a very strong opponent

“We just played the Olympic champions, so give Canada some credit…they’re still the Olympic champions last time I turned around and seen, so they’re a very good team,” said Donaldson. “We’re just a growing team, we’re learning, we have been together for three weeks and that’s it.

“We gave it everything, and we got beat. Canada has an established program. Maybe one day, not too far away, we can be like Canada. We have the potential to be, we’re just trying to build.”

The Jamaicans were also dealing with a flu in their camp this week, and it impacted several players in the team, with a handful being unavailable for this match.

Khadija Shaw, who scores for fun for the national team and is already their record international goalscorer by a considerable margin at age 25, was among those who missed out. Shaw was named on the bench, but didn’t feature at all, when some expected her to at least make a cameo when Jamaica went down by a pair of goals in the second half.

Donaldson said after the match that with Shaw feeling the effects of what was troubling her, they opted to keep her on the sideline. With a third-place game against Costa Rica now coming up on Monday, they were also keeping an eye on that contest in the hopes that she’ll be available for that one.

“We decided not to chance it,” Donaldson offered. “You always have to look ahead, especially when you have players who are a little bit banged up, or have sickness and all that stuff. You always have to look ahead.”

Canada has delivered thus far, but biggest challenge awaits

The expectation entering the Concacaf W Championship was that both Canada and the United States would win their groups, would both win their semifinals, and would battle it out in the final.

Check, check, and check.

Both teams went 3-0-0 with a +9 goal difference in the group stage, and both won their semifinals fairly comfortably with 3-0 victories. The United States beat Costa Rica earlier on Thursday thanks to goals from Emily Sonnett, Mallory Pugh and Ashley Sanchez, while it was Jessie Fleming, Allysha Chapman and Adriana Leon that led Canada to their 3-0 victory over Jamaica.

Each side have been playing well, and were comfortably the two best teams before and during the competition, but both could be playing even better. Failing to complete chances has been a recurring theme for Canada, while the United States have also left a lot to be desired in their four matches.

Canada’s nervy match was their 1-0 win over Panama in the second match of the Group Stage, while for the Americans it was match number three against the hosts Mexico, which they won 1-0 on an 89th minute goal. Both teams knew that should they meet in the final, as they will now do, they’ll need to be much better to be crowned champions.

The tactical chess match between Bev Priestman and Vlatko Andonovski will be an exciting one. Canada know as well that despite being the Olympic champions, playing the back-to-back World Cup winners will be quite a challenge, but Priestman is happy with how her team has progressed as the tournament has gone on.

“I can’t overanalyse in these tournaments, because the styles are just so different,” said Priestman after Thursday’s match. “It’s not plain sailing, and teams are getting more and more difficult. They’ve set back fives, they’ve done different things — which is great for us because it pushes us to be better.

“To concede no goals, to get to this place unscathed in that sense… at the end of the day the team has delivered, which is what I know this team can do. I think there’s another level, I do think playing a team like the U.S. will bring out some of our strengths that maybe some other teams haven’t allowed us to do.”

If there wasn’t enough historical rivalry between the two countries, the last meeting between them will add fuel to the fire.

At the semifinal stage of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, Canada beat the United States for the first time in 20 years thanks to a penalty from Jessie Fleming. It officially “changed the colour of the medal” as Canada sought to do, and sent them through to their first Olympic final, which they would of course win over Sweden.

Beating the United States just wasn’t something Canada did in soccer, but in the past 12 months have beat them in both the women’s semifinal at the Olympics, and in men’s World Cup Qualifying. The rivalry has only continued to grow, and on Monday night, the two will square off again with a lot on the line.

The winner of the match earns an automatic trip back to the Olympics in 2024, while the second place team will face third place to earn a trip to Paris to compete in front of the world once again.

CanPL.ca Player of the Match

Adriana Leon, Canada

With a goal and an assist in the second half after coming off the bench, Adriana Leon helped put this match to bed.

What’s next?

With the win, Canada are off to the final, and will take on a familiar foe in the United States. That match will take place on Monday, July 18 at 10 pm ET. Jamaica will take on Costa Rica earlier in the day in the third place match. The winner of the final will qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympics, while the second and third place teams will square off for another spot.

Watch all matches live on OneSoccer. Replays of Canada’s Concacaf W Championship matches will also be available on CBC.

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