MENU
Match Analysis: CanWNT 6-0 Trinidad and Tobago — Concacaf W Championship
2022-07-06
by
Benedict Rhodes, CanPL.ca Contributor (@BTFR17)
News

Final Score: Canada 6-0 Trinidad and Tobago
Goalscorers: Sinclair 27′, Grosso 67′ + 79′, Fleming 84′, Beckie 86′, Huitema 90+1′
Concacaf W Championship Group Stage

Match in a minute or less

Canada opened their Concacaf W Championship schedule with a win on Tuesday night, beating Trinidad and Tobago 6-0 at Estadio BBVA in Guadalupe, Mexico — their biggest win in over two years.

Returning to action after missing some time with an injury, Christine Sinclair scored the opening goal for Canada, heading the ball home after a fantastic run and cross from Ashley Lawrence. Canada could have had a second in first half stoppage time, but instead of taking a shot herself, Sinclair passed it across to Janine Beckie for an easy tap in. Beckie was offside, and the goal was disallowed, so Canada took a 1-0 advantage into the break.

A few minutes after the hour mark Julia Grosso scored her first senior national team goal, beating Kimika Forbes with a strong low shot to double the lead. Grosso scored again twelve minutes later, this time with her other foot, firing the ball into the bottom left corner, with Forbes unable to get a strong hand to it. This began a late surge from Canada, and they dominated the rest of the match.

Redemption for Jessie Fleming would follow after a first half penalty miss, as would tidy finishes from Janine Beckie and Jordyn Huitema, and Canada’s late onslaught — five goals in 25 minutes — led to a dominant 6-0 victory. With the win, Canada move to the top of Group B, ahead of Costa Rica on goal difference.

Three Observations

Canada open their tournament with a win, climb to the top of Group B

The reigning Olympic champions Canada entered this tournament as one of the favourites, and were always expected to be the frontrunners in a group that doesn’t include the United States or the up-and-coming Mexican side that’s hosting this competition and has played well against Canada in recent meetings.

Against Trinidad and Tobago, who Canada have historically dominated and never conceded a goal to,  it was expected to be one-sided, and Canada lived up to that.

In the first half the Canadians were a bit shaky in the final third, often keeping the ball in Trinidad’s half of the pitch but struggling to do anything, something that was evident in their 0-0 draw with South Korea a few weeks ago as well. Christine Sinclair’s goal in the 27th minute, a header from an Ashley Lawrence cross, was the lone tally in the opening 45 minutes, but Canada should probably have had at least two or three goals.

A missed penalty from Jessie Fleming didn’t help in that regard, she had the goalkeeper beat but uncharacteristically fired it over the bar, although she would get redemption with a goal in the second half.

It was the Julia Grosso show in the second 45, as Canada’s hero from the Tokyo 2020 gold medal match penalty shootout put in a shift after replacing Desiree Scott in the 60th minute. Grosso would score a goal with each foot, her first two goals for her country at the senior level, giving Canada a 3-0 lead with ten minutes remaining in the match.

“More of what you’ve seen tonight” was Bev Priestman’s response when asked what Grosso needs to do to break into the starting lineup. The Canada boss added that Grosso has improved both offensively and defensively since stepping into the professional game with Juventus, and now the challenge for her is to do it consistently, and keep striving for even greater things.

“With Julia she’s just got to believe in herself, and join more, and play forward more. That’s exactly what she did tonight, and credit to her. I think her defensive part of the game, she’s working hard at that. Joining in the box and taking the handbrake off (is what she needs to improve) … everyone else did the work for her to make the runs in the box, she arrived late and she did fantastic at that.”

As the clock ticked toward the end of the 90 minutes, Fleming, Janine Beckie and Jordyn Huitema all added to Canada’s tally, capping what would end up being a dominant victory to open Canada’s time in Mexico.

With this tournament counting as qualification for the two biggest competitions on the horizon — the 2023 World Cup and Paris 2024 Olympics — it’s important that Canada build some momentum from match number one, and with five different goalscorers in this match, should have increased confidence heading into match number two against Panama on Friday.

Sinclair starts the match, scores 190th international goal

After missing Canada’s warmup game ahead of this tournament a few weeks ago, a 0-0 draw with South Korea at BMO Field, Christine Sinclair being in the starting lineup for Canada’s tournament opener in Mexico seemed somewhat unlikely.

Not only did Sinclair start in her 311th international match, she scored as well — goal number 190 as she continues to add to her record and inch toward being the first player ever to hit 200. It wasn’t on her first good opportunity of the match, however.

In the 16th minute, Sinclair took a step around a defender before managing to get a shot off from the top of the box. Her effort had the goalkeeper beat, but struck the outside of the far post and deflected away from danger for a goal kick.

With Canada pushing for a breakthrough, it would be Sinclair to open the scoring in the 27th minute.

Ashley Lawrence, starting this match at left back, beat her defender before curling a cross into the box, which found the head of Canada’s captain. Sinclair’s fantastic positioning is one of the reasons she’s scored so many goals, and knowing where to be to give her teammate the best chance to find her paid off well, as Canada took a 1-0 lead that they would take into halftime.

Interestingly, it wasn’t Sinclair who took the penalty that she won a few minutes later. Jessie Fleming stepped up, and after an awkward run up, put the ball over the bar. Fleming has been Canada’s go-to penalty taker since scoring three at the Olympics last summer, and shouldn’t let one miss faze her, but also don’t be surprised if it’s Sinclair tasked with taking the next one.

She played 60 minutes in this match before being replaced by Jordyn Huitema, seemingly a pre-planned substitution as Bev Priestman made four changes to her team at the same time. The move, which would result in Huitema scoring a goal and assisting another as well, allowed Sinclair to stay fresh ahead of Canada’s second match of the tournament on Friday.

Late onslaught from the four J’s a reward for constant high tempo

As the match went on, Kenwyne Jones’ side were unable to keep up with Canada’s tempo. Facing constant pressure from the two flanks, with the threat of Christine Sinclair down the middle, they couldn’t sustain the energy they started the match with, and would ultimately pay the price.

Julia Grosso’s goal to make it 2-0 was enough to realistically put the match to bed, as the Soca Warriors had lost all of their intensity. A strong quadruple substitution from Bev Priestman around the hour mark refreshed a Canada side that was losing some of its own energy, bringing Grosso, Allysha Chapman, Jordyn Huitema and Adriana Leon off the bench.

As mentioned, Grosso scored her first international goal seven minutes later, and in the 79th minute made it 3-0 with another good finish. From there the Trinidad and Tobago defence lost all of its shape and began to crumble. Defenders became a bit sloppy, and Canada exploited their woes to add another three goals in the final minutes.

Jessie Fleming made it four with a tidy finish from just outside the six-yard box, just two minutes before Janine Beckie did the same from a similar position — finishing off a chance created by a perfect pass from Grosso through the backline.

The icing on the cake was a sixth and final goal, a redirection from Huitema following another fantastic ball into the box from Beckie. Huitema stuck out her leg to meet it, and the ball again ended up in the bottom corner of Kimika Forbes’ net.

The squad of J’s — Jessie, Jordyn, Janine and Julia — combined for five goals and four assists in the match — a dominant end to a solid performance from Canada, and they could have had a few more. Four goals in 12 minutes is nothing to scoff at, and was a just reward for the previous 78+ minutes of wearing out Trinidad and Tobago until they reached their breaking point.

It was Canada’s biggest win since February 1, 2020 — a 9-0 destruction of Jamaica at the 2020 CONCACAF Women’s Olympic Qualifying Championship, in which Huitema and Beckie combined for eight goals. That game also came a few days after an 11-0 win over Saint Kitts and Nevis in that same tournament.

CanPL.ca Player of the Match

Julia Grosso, Canada

After coming off the bench in the 60th minute, Grosso ran the show. She scored her first two senior international goals and followed it up with an assist on Janine Beckie’s tally, playing an important role in Canada’s late surge.

What’s next?

Both teams are next in Group B action at Estadio Universitario on Friday, July 8th. Trinidad and Tobago will take on Costa Rica, before Canada face Panama.

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

© 2024
Canadian Premier League
Read our privacy policy.