Canada gets first win of 2021 with 1:0 victory over Argentina

Canada Soccer’s Women’s National Team pulled off a late 1:0 win over Argentina on the second match day at the 2021 SheBelieves Cup in Orlando, FL, USA. Sarah Stratigakis scored the 92nd-minute winner, Stephanie Labbé posted the clean sheet, and Head Coach Bev Priestman earned her first victory in charge of the Women’s National Team.

The match featured the debut of three players with Samantha Chang, Jordyn Listro and Jade Rose all making their international “A” debuts. Evelyne Viens made her second appearance while Stratigakis made her third appearance. For Head Coach Priestman, these valuable international minutes will be key to players’ development and the future of the Women’s National Team in 2021 and beyond.

“It wasn’t our prettiest game, but I think as a group we found a way to win and that’s what the best teams do,” said Bev Priestman, Canada Soccer’s Women’s National Team Head Coach. “We got to see more young players in the lineup and for the group we got to see them face some adversity and some frustration through playing a tough opponent. That happens in tournament football, but we knew the goal would come through the group being patient and believing in themselves.”

Canada will play their third and final match at the SheBelieves Cup against Brazil on Wednesday 24 February (16.00 local) in a fight for second place in the group. The Canada-Brazil match will be broadcast live on One Soccer (16.00 ET / 13.00 PT) and special presentation on CBC (Saturday at 16.00 ET / 13.00 PT). Fans will find extended coverage across Canada Soccer’s digital channels on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube featuring the hashtag #CANWNT.

On the Stratigakis winner, the play started with a Janine Beckie free kick from distance and the ball bounced into the box. Jessie Fleming eventually played it into the path of a sliding Stratigakis who then beat goalkeeper Laurinia Oliveros to the ball and knocked it in for the 1-0 win.

Canada nearly scored again two minutes later on a chance created by Deanne Rose’s speed to the touchline. Rose stayed on her feet and played it into the middle, with the ball hitting Viens before Janine Beckie chipped it back to Viens in the middle who headed the big chance just wide.

From the first half, Argentina’s Oliveros made a big save in the 23rd minute after a pair of touches nearly opened the door for Jessie Fleming. Clarisa Huber played it back to Aldana Cometti whose attempted clearance bounced into Fleming’s path, but the Fleming header was saved by Oliveros.

In the 37th minute, Leon was wide with her free kick opportunity from just outside the box. A couple minutes later, a Leon cross bounced into the path of Fleming, but her shot was wide of the target.

Into the second half, Canada created several early chances through crosses into the box. On one sequence in the 50th minute, Canada had the ball bouncing around in the box before Oliveros jumped on the ball.

Argentina’s first big chance was in the 65th minute on a cross that Soledad James headed off the crossbar, although the play went out for an Argentina corner kick.

As played continued in the second half with Canada’s substitutes in action, Deanne Rose created a good chance in the 70th minute with her speed to the touchline while Viens had a chance in the box in the 80th minute on a shot that went out for a corner kick.

Into the dying minutes, Stratigakis scored the winning goal in the 92nd minute.

“The team was playing really well and we were creating chances so I just wanted to make an impact,” said goalscorer Stratigakis who came in as a substitute in the 73^rd minute. “It was a surreal feeling scoring the winner and honestly the best part was just jumping into my teammates and sharing the moment.”

CANADA LINEUP

Canada’s starting XI featured Stephanie Labbé in goal, Gabrielle Carle at right back, Jade Rose and Shelina Zadorsky at centre back, Allysha Chapman at left back, and Jordyn Listro, Sophie Schmidt, Jessie Fleming, Janine Beckie, Adriana Leon and Nichelle Prince from the midfield up through to the attack. In the second half, coach Priestman replaced Chapman with Jayde Riviere (46’), Prince with Evelyne Viens (53’), Leon with Deanne Rose (58’), Listro with Samantha Chang (61’), and Jade Rose with Sarah Stratigakis (73’).

SHEBELIVES CUP STANDINGS

USA 6 points (2-0-0 / 3 goals, 0 conceded)
Brazil 3 points (1-0-1 / 4 goals, 3 conceded)
Canada 3 points (1-0-1 / 1 goal, 1 conceded)
Argentina 0 points (0-0-2 / 1 goal, 5 conceded)

NEW 2021 NIKE HOME KIT

Canada Soccer’s Women’s National Team again wore their new 2021 Nike home jersey in Sunday’s match against Argentina. The jersey draws its inspiration from the maple leaf, an important and iconic symbol in Canadian culture. The new home jersey features a distinctive mix of red colours – Challenge Red, Sport Red and University Red – across a geometric design of maple leaves. In addition to the new kits, Canada Soccer also debuted its new custom ‘Power Lines’ font which will be used for all National Team jersey numbering and nameplates. The distinctive font typeface was also inspired by the maple leaf, built from the dynamic angles and lines of Canada’s iconic and beloved symbol.

The new Canada Soccer Women’s National Team red jersey is available now in women’s and men’s sizing at Nike.ca.

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.

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).