Canada WNT fall to Brazil in opening match of China Four Nations Tournament

Canada lost 4:0 to Brazil in the opening match of the International Women’s Football Tournament in Yongchuan, China PR with goals scored by Chú, Formiga and Bia Zaneratto (2). With just one match left on the FIFA international calendar this year, Canada featured 17 different players in order to assess potential selections for the Concacaf Women’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament in January 2020.
 
Canada will play that last match against New Zealand in the tournament’s match for third place on Sunday 10 November at 16.00 local (3.00 ET / 0.00 PT). The match will again be played at Yongchuan’s Olympic Sports Center, with China PR and Brazil to feature in the final at 19.00. Canadian fans can get updates on the match on Canada Soccer’s digital channels including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube. Fans are also encouraged to follow Canada Soccer’s Women’s National Team on and off the pitch by using the social media handle #CANWNT.
 
Sabrina D’Angelo, Lindsay Agnew, Shannon Woeller, Gabrielle Carle and Adriana Leon were all given their first starts of 2019 while Deanne Rose was given just her second start. Substitutes Maegan Kelly and Olivia Smith made their first appearances of the year while Nichelle Prince returned to action from injury. Debutant Smith became Canada’s youngest Women’s National Team player at 15 years and three months.
 
MATCH CENTRE, QUOTES & PHOTOS: https://canadasoccer.com/?gid=1564&t=match
 
“We are going through some adversity with our results and while we didn’t have a bad performance, we definitely made some mistakes that we shouldn’t be making,” said Kenneth Heiner-Møller, Canada Soccer’s Women’s National Team Head Coach. “We need to get back on track, but we will make sure we get there. This match was important for us to assess players ahead of the Concacaf Women’s Olympic Qualifying Tournament, so it was good to see some of our players up against a team with some of the best players in the world.”
 
Chú gave Brazil the 1-0 lead early in the first half. Brazil then doubled the score twelve minutes later when Formiga scored on a header from a Marta cross. Bia Zaneratto made it 3-0 just before halftime and then she scored Brazil’s fourth goal in the second half on a pass from Tamires.
 
Adriana Leon had Canada’s best chance when her shot hit the post in the 54th minute. A few minutes later, it was Gabrielle Carle’s turn to shoot towards the goal after a nice run on the left side of the field, but her shot hit the outside of the netting.
 
Canada started Sabrina D’Angelo in goal, Lindsay Agnew at right back, Shannon Woeller and Shelina Zadorsky at centre back, Gabrielle Carle at left back, and Rebecca Quinn, Sophie Schmidt, Jordyn Huitema, Adriana Leon, Deanne Rose and Captain Christine Sinclair from the midfield up through to the attack. In the second half, coach Kenneth Heiner-Møller replaced Quinn with Kadeisha Buchanan (46’), Sinclair with Janine Beckie (46’), Woeller with Ashley Lawrence (46’), Deanne Rose with Nichelle Prince (59’), Adriana Leon with Maegan Kelly (76’) and Jordyn Huitema with Olivia Smith (86’).
 
The Thursday match was played in front of 4,823 fans at the Olympic Sports Center.
So far this year, Canada have posted a record of seven wins, three draws and four losses in 14 international matches. Reaching back to September 2018, Canada’s record is 12-3-5, with three of those losses against the top three nations from the FIFA Women’s World Cup France 2019™ (USA, Netherlands and Sweden). Earlier this year, Canada posted a 10-match unbeaten streak, the second longest in program history.
OLYMPIC MEDAL WINNERS & CONCACAF CHAMPIONS
Canada are two-time Olympic bronze medal winners (2012 and 2016) and two-time Concacaf champions (1998 and 2010). In all, Canada have participated in seven consecutive editions of the FIFA Women’s World Cup™ (1995 to 2019) and three consecutive editions of the Women’s Olympic Football Tournament (2008 to 2016). At Rio 2016, Canada Soccer’s Women’s National Team were the first Canadian Olympic team to win back-to-back medals at a summer Olympic Games in more than a century.
WOMEN’S NATIONAL TEAM: https://canadasoccer.com/women-s-national-team-p144312
Canada Soccer’s Women’s National Youth Teams, meanwhile, have won four Concacaf youth titles: the 2004 and 2008 Concacaf Women’s Under-20 Championship, the 2010 Concacaf Women’s Under-17 Championship, and the 2014 Concacaf Girls’ Under-15 Championship. Canada have qualified for seven editions of the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup (including a silver medal at Canada 2002) and all six editions of the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup (including a fourth-place finish at Uruguay 2018).