With another day of FIFA Women’s World Cup action in the books, Group A’s standings just got a lot tighter. China eked out a narrow 1-0 victory over the Netherlands on Thursday, while Canada played to a scoreless draw against New Zealand later on that same day.
This coming Monday, both Canada and the Netherlands will square off for their final group stage match. Read on as we examine their upcoming matchup for a shot at advancing to the next stage of the World Cup. And over in Group B, Germany will be pitted against Thailand. Head on over here for the preview of that match.
By ending its match against New Zealand on Thursday in a draw, Canada failed to secure its spot in the round of 16 of the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
[sc:Soccer240banner ]Everything was already in the host country’s favor. John Herdman, Canada’s manager, previously coached New Zealand’s national team for six years and knew how the Kiwis will play on the field. New Zealand also entered Thursday’s game without a goal in its past four games, and is still winless in all 10 of its World Cup matches.
But Canada was once again undone by its own sputtering offense. The Canadians have only scored 12 goals in their last 11 international matches. Even their only goal in their first 2015 World Cup match against China was courtesy of a penalty kick in injury time.
Christine Sinclair, the player who converted on that winning goal against China, came close to getting a goal in Thursday’s match against New Zealand. Her best shot of the match was just hit off the crossbar for a narrow miss. Canada’s team captain must exert more effort in producing or helping the rest of the team in scoring. Sinclair has 224 caps and 154 career goals for the Canadian Women’s national soccer team.
Ball possession continues to be Canada’s strongest aspect of the game. They possessed the ball 59 percent of the time against the Kiwis, and 62 percent of the time in their previous match against China. The Canadians must stay aggressive in ball control, and jump on the right opportunity to turn their possessions into goals.
Everything will be at stake for the Netherlands this coming Monday when it faces off against Canada. The Dutch only trail the Canadians by one point in the standings. China, tied with the Netherlands at three points apiece, also has a great shot at moving ahead in the standings as it will take on lowly New Zealand.
And if the World No. 12 team can take away anything from its heartbreaking last-minute 1-0 loss to China, is that it may have found the right goaltender for the job. Sari Van Veenendaal started in place of injured starting goalie Loes Geurts, and was fantastic at manning the goalposts.
Van Veenendaal saw China take 27 shots toward her goal, and made eight quality saves before surrendering the decisive goal in the 91st minute of the match. It was Van Veenendaal’s first ever World Cup start.
What the Netherlands has to work on though is its scoring opportunities and ball control. Through the past two matches, the Dutch have been outshot by their opponents 38-14 and 15-6 on shots on goal. They also allowed China to have possession of the ball 60 percent of the time in Thursday’s game.
If there’s one player from the Netherlands who should be able to provide firepower for the offense, it’s forward Vivianne Miedema. Miedema has 16 goals in the Netherlands’ seven 2015 World Cup qualifying matches. Fellow forward Manon Melis could also provide some of her experience. She leads the Oranje with 55 goals, and is second in the team with 123 caps.
