Canada was made to sweat a little bit, but a pair of Christine Sinclair goals in the second half gave the Canadians some breathing room as they got their first win at London 2012. Canada won 3:0 over South Africa in the Saturday 28 July match at the City of Coventry Stadium.

"We knew the quality would come through," said Canadian head coach John Herdman. 

Melissa Tancredi’s early goal seemed to indicate that it would be an easy day for the Canadians but South Africa caused some trouble for Canada and the game was still in doubt into the second half.

Tancredi opened the scoring in the seventh minute with her second goal in as many games. Tancredi was set up on a nice cut-back pass from Diana Matheson who was on the right side. Tancredi got to it first and put the ball home at the far post.

The South Africans started brighter in the second half but Canada settled. In the 58th minute, Lauren Sesselmann crossed the ball from the left side and Sinclair rose to win the header. Her original header went off the crossbar and looked like it bounced over the line. While that goal wasn’t given originally, Sinclair smartly followed the ball in and emphatically smashed it over the goal line.

Sinclair added her second goal in the 86th minute. She was played in through the South African defenders and sped past them before placing her low shot past the onrushing South African goalkeeper Thokozile Mndaweni and inside the right post.

Also of note in the match, Matheson hit the post once in the second half.

Canada's starting XI featured Karina LeBlanc in goal, Rhian Wilkinson at right back, Carmelina Moscato and Robyn Gayle at centre back, Lauren Sesselmann at left back, and Kaylyn Kyle, Diana Matheson, Desiree Scott, Christine Sinclair, Sophie Schmidt and Melissa Tancredi from the midfield up through to the attack.

In the second half, Canadian coach John Herdman replaced Gayle with Chelsea Stewart (68’), Kyle with Jonelle Filigno (74’) and Tancredi with Brittany Timo (87’).

South Africa's starting XI featured Thokozile Mndaweni in goal, Amanda Sister, Janine van Wyk, Zamandosi Cele and Refiloe Jane at defence, Kylie Louw, Amanda Dlamini, Gabisile Hlumbane and Mpumi Nyandeni at midfield, and Portia Modise and Andisiwe Mgcoyi up front.

In the second half, South African head coach Joseph Mkhonza replaced Mgcoyi with Sanah Mollo (69’) and Modise with Noko Matlou (83').

For the second match in a row, no Canadian player was booked. Opponent Portia Modise, however, was shown a yellow card in the 83rd minute.

Of note, Sinclair's goals were the 138th and 139th of her international career. Tancredi's goal was the 20th goal of her career, also a (tied) personal-best sixth of the calendar year. For goalkeeper LeBlanc, it was the 44th clean sheet of her career.

As for coach Herdman, it marked his first win at a FIFA women's "A" tournament (FIFA Women's World Cup or Women's Olympic Football Tournament). In 18 international matches this 2012 season, Canada has a record of 12 wins and six losses.

The Saturday 31 July match was played in front of 14,753 fans.