A last-play goal by Kaylyn Kyle drew Canada and France even in a Women's International Friendly match played in Nice, France. Yet while the Kyle equaliser was reminiscent of the last-minute heroics served by Canada in their recent encounter at the London 2012 Olympic Games, this match ended in a 1:1 draw with both teams at different moments in their preparations towards bigger matches to come.

France in truth is preparing for the upcoming 2013 European Championship in Sweden, which precedes the European group phase of FIFA Women's World Cup Qualifiers later this year. Canada, on the other hand, have but another friendly this weekend before what is expected to be an emotional home international return against USA in June.

Élodie Thomis and Kaylyn Kyle were the two goal scorers in the Thursday 4 April 2013 match at the Stade Municpal du Ray, with 5,783 in attendance on a rainy evening in southern France. Thomis scored her goal at the end of the first half while Kyle scored her goal just moments before the final whistle.

France surely had the better of the play in the first 45 minutes, although the slick grass nullified a few runs on either side. Midway through the first half, France thought it had the opener on a fine shot from midfielder Louisa Necib. Her shot in the 20th minute from outside the box, however, struck the crossbar and stayed out.

On another opportunity, a fine Necib pass sent Eugénie Le Sommer in for a chance on goal, but her shot was wide right of the target. Then a Gaëtane Thiney pass put Thomis through, but a diving Erin McLeod got her hand on the ball before Thomis could take a final touch towards goal.

At the end of the first half, it was Le Sommer down the left side who centered the ball for Thomis, who herself stood marked outside the box. Thomis took a few steps in one direction before turning on the ball, giving herself one more touch and then firing a right-footed blast over the outstretched reach of McLeod.

So France marched into the break with a 1-0 lead.

In the second half, Canada slowly grew in confidence, with at last in the final 30 minutes several opportunities created on goal. On one free kick, a Kyle header was stopped by French goalkeeper Sarah Bouhaddi. Kadeisha Buchanan nearly got the rebound, but there was simply not enough room on the left side of target.

Then after Jodi-Ann Robinson won a corner down the right side, a Diana Matheson cross was headed on target again by Kyle - only to be stopped again off the line, this time by the perfectly-placed Necib who helped guard the French goal.

Another Kyle chance in the 83rd minute - after French defender Wendie Renard slipped on the grass - was just wide of the target on the right side.

Finally in added time, with an injured Renard now on the bench and no substitute provided for the shorthanded hosts, Kyle hit the mark on the final play of the game. On the attack, Canadian captain Christine Sinclair played it to substitute Ashley Lawrence, who then played it to Robyn Gayle who put the ball forward into the box. The ball deflected off a defender to Sinclair who then passed it through a set of legs to Kyle... after which Kyle coolly hit the back of the net for a 1-1 equaliser.

For Kyle, it marked the fifth goal of her international career. She is the seventh different Canadian to score in eight international matches this season (four wins, two draws and two losses). Goalkeeper Erin McLeod, meanwhile, was selected Canada's player of the match.

In the second half, coach John Herdman replaced Leon with Tiffany Cameron (46'), Filigno with Jodi-Ann Robinson (58'), Schmidt with Kaylyn Kyle (65'), Wilkinson with Robyn Gayle (70'), Sesselmann with Emily Zurrer (7'), and Scott with Ashley Lawrence (88').

France's starting XI featured Sarah Bouhaddi in goal, Julie Soyer at right back, Laura Georges and Wendie Renard at centre back, Laure Boulleau at left back, Camille Abily and Louisa Necib in front of the back four, Eugénie Le Sommer, captain Gaëtane Thiney and Élodie Thomis as attacking midfielders, and Marie-Laure Delie at the top of the attack.

In the second half, coach Bruno Bini replaced Georges with debutant Anaïg Butel (65'), Thomis with Camille Catala (75'), Delite with Laëtitia Tonazzi (83'), and Le Sommer with Sandrine Soubeyrand (89').

Canada milestones:
Centre back Carmelina Moscato became the 18th footballer to make her 75th appearances for Canada.

Sophie Schmidt extended her national-record streak of 54 consecutive appearances, while Kaylyn Kyle extended her streak to 43 games (tied for fourth best with Amy Walsh).

Robyn Gayle made her 42nd career appearance as a substitute, which tied her with Brittany Timko (also still active) for the all-time Canadian record.

The road to Canada 2015 begins:
As it so happened, the Canada-France match on 4 April coincided with the start of FIFA Women's World Cup Canada 2015 Qualifiers in Lithuania and Malta. The first eight teams to begin the long road to Canada 2015 were Faroe Islands, Montenegro, Georgia, Lithuania, Albania, Malta, Luxembourg and Latvia. With Canada already qualified as host, there are 23 open spots to the FIFA Women's World Cup Canada 2015, which will be played in Vancouver, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Ottawa, Montréal and Moncton.