Phil Neville's reaction
Louise Taylor's match report
That’s all from me. England played pretty well, especially in the second half, but didn’t create much. Canada defended well and dominated long parts of the first half, and then pilfered a goal against the run of play in the second. Bye!
“Sinclair has been an incredible servant and posterwoman for Canadian soccer, but I worry about where our goals will come from when she eventually retires,” says Gabriel Piller. “We’ve relied so heavily on her for so many years I expect to see a real fallow period post-Sinclair.”
Time will tell. I don’t see a lot of Canadian women’s football, but there did seem to be some very decent young players on the field today.
Here’s Steph Houghton’s reaction:
It’s frustrating in terms of, I thought we played well, we created chances but didn’t get them in the back of the net. Their goal was one of their only shots on target. We are a little bit disappointed. For us, I think we’re developing as a team and you’ve got to give credit to Canada, they’re a really good team. Sometimes it didn’t click, but not for the want of trying.
England are having a team meeting on the pitch, with Phil Neville leading the autopsy. It may have been a friendly, but Canada are celebrating like it meant something.
Final score: England 0-1 Canada!
90+6 mins: And that’s the last of the action! Canada have snaffled victory, Christine Sinclair doing what she does.
90+6 mins: England win a throw-in. They take it quickly, sending the ball down the right wing, but the referee blows her whistle! It was a foul throw!
90+5 mins: Scott crosses from the right, and Labbe collects. England are rapping at the door, but almost out of time.
90+4 mins: White is played in! She sprints beyond the defence but is held back by Buchanan, allowing the defender to catch up. White eventually goes down a while after the offence was committed, and the referee waves away her appeal for a penalty!
Updated
90+3 mins: Canada use up a few seconds by bringing Woeller on, and taking Beckie off.
90+1 mins: Into stoppage time, and there’ll be at least five minutes of it. England start it by winning a corner.
89 mins: Nearly a second! Beckie’s long-range effort flicks off Walsh, wrongfoots Bardsley but goes wide. Here’s the goal:
Christine Sinclair doing what Christine Sinclair does best...#ENGCAN live: https://t.co/PIwLGMuQmc pic.twitter.com/4eTmYTeiu5
— Match of the Day (@BBCMOTD) April 5, 2019
86 mins: Riviere, who has only recently (well, in January) turned 18, has been excellent since coming on. She takes the ball off Mead for the second time in as many minutes.
84 mins: England are pushing for an equaliser. White and Parris get in each other’s way inside the area, and the latter is offside.
GOAL! England 0-1 Canada (Sinclair, 81 mins)
Canada take the lead! It’s a cross from the right which Prince gets a foot to. The ball loops up and Prince reacts first before viciously volleying it goalwards. Bardsley tips it onto the bar but it rebounds to Sinclair, who has time to control and turn it in!
Updated
77 mins: Great ball! Great run! Great tackle! Riviere is played through on the right and looks set to sprint clear on goal, but Stokes turns on the afterburners, overtakes her and snaffles the ball!
77 mins: Bardsley’s injury, following by a load of substitutions, has stopped England’s momentum a bit.
75 mins: Canada bring Grosso on for Schmidt.
72 mins: More substitutions. Jill Scott and Ellen White are on, Daly and Taylor are off.
71 mins: Bardsley goes down, and is now receiving treatment to a knee.
69 mins: Having edged the first half, Canada are probably the third best team in this half after England and the brass band. But they’re enjoying a bit of pressure at the moment. Beckie’s shot was just charged down.
Updated
65 mins: Another England shot. Bronze blasts the ball way over the bar from 25 yards.
63 mins: England make their first substitution. Carney comes off, and Beth Mead comes on.
59 mins: Parris’s cross falls for Duggan, who can’t quite dig out a shot so passes to Taylor, whose left-footed effort is weak and wide.
56 mins: There has been considerably more goalmouth action in the first 10 minutes of this half than the whole of the last one. Schmidt heads a corner towards goal, but there’s little power on it and Bardsley gets hold of it.
55 mins: A couple of minutes ago she might have been booked, but now Chapman is hooked. Riviere comes on instead.
54 mins: Canada try to play out of defence and can’t, England win the ball and Carney has a 25-yard shot that’s easily saved.
53 mins: Close again! Carney attempts to clip the ball over Labbe and in at the far corner, but it drops onto the roof of the net.
52 mins: Parris is brought down on the right wing again, and Chapman, booked in the first half for a similar offence, could have got a second booking there (though it was a pretty feeble challenge, not really caution-worthy).
50 mins: Now Canada nearly score! Sinclair wins the ball back deep into the final third, and Beckie’s firm, well-directed shot is well saved by Bardsley!
47 mins: England have made a very bright start to the second half. They win the ball back from Canada deep into the final third, but Duggan’s shot curls high and wide.
Updated
46 mins: Peeep! Canada get half two under way.
Phil Neville says this, as the players come back out:
Tactically they pressed us and I wanted us to be really brave on the ball and first 15 minutes we didn’t show the composure we wanted to. But then as we got to 15-20 minutes I thoughts we started to play. I want us to be a little bit more composed in the final third but we’re getting a bit excitable with the crowd and everything.
Not a great half for England. Canada have been strong and solid in defence, and though their attack hasn’t been at the same level, they have still threatened. England’s Nikita Parris is the most likely to magic something up for England, but not yet.
Half time: England 0-0 Canada
45 mins: The referee can’t be bothered with stoppage time, and blows her whistle on the dot of 45 minutes.
44 mins: Save! England work the ball to Parris again, and this time she hits a low shot from just outside the area that might have just crept inside the post had Labbe not palmed it wide.
42 mins: For the second time, England were one fabulous first touch away from a clear goalscoring opportunity. This time it was Duggan who couldn’t quite pull it off.
42 mins: Bronze bursts through midfield, nearly losing the ball twice but somehow failing to do so, before boshing it over the Canada defence to Parris. Lawrence gets in the way.
38 mins: Canada continue to look more likely. Beckie gets down the right, but her low cross is poor and Bardsley claims it.
36 mins: From the free kick, Carney crosses and Canada clear.
34 mins: Parris takes on Chapman and is hauled down, winning England a free-kick just outside the area and Chapman a booking.
32 mins: Canada go straight up the other end, and Sinclair shoots into the hands of Bardsley from 20 yards.
31 mins: An excellent sliding interception from Buchanan stops Carney’s pass reaching its target, inside the area.
29 mins: Another chance for Canada. Lawrence crosses low from the right and had anyone anticipated it and burst into the box they would have had themselves a tap-in. Instead it’s hastily and poorly cleared, and Fleming shoots over the bar from the edge of the area.
25 mins: A hint of a fraction of a chance for England! Carney’s cross is lovely and finds Parris on the right side of the area, but she either had to volley it first time or control it perfectly, and her first touch wasn’t the best. Chapman steps in, takes control and then wins a free kick.
22 mins: Another Canada attack ends with Prince’s shot being blocked by Houghton. England have so far got nowhere against the Canadian defence, and are occasionally creaking at the back themselves.
17 mins: Schmidt should have set up Chapman for a great shooting chance there, but it was a poor pass, making it very hard for Chapman to control it, and the opportunity is lost.
14 mins: England are not having this all their own way by any means. They have looked lively in attack but have not spent a lot of time doing it. Canada have probably spent more time in possession.
13 mins: Duggan beautifully takes the ball between two opponents in midfield, but then overhits her chipped pass to Taylor, allowing Labbe to come and claim.
Updated
11 mins: The Netherlands are playing Mexico tonight. You’ll never guess who’s scored for them. Oh, alright, you probably will.
GOOAALLL! Vivianne Miedema! pic.twitter.com/w21dHSOK0T
— OranjeLeeuwinnen (@oranjevrouwen) April 5, 2019
9 mins: Canada attack down the left again, but Chapman’s cross is headed clear.
5 mins: This time Bronze heads goalwards, and Taylor tries to turn the ball in but a) doesn’t and b) is offside.
5 mins: England break, and Parris goes on a nice run down the right before crossing. She doesn’t find a team-mate but it does lead to a corner, and then another.
4 mins: Canada push forward, but Schmidt eventually prods a blind pass into England’ penalty area, which nobody anticipates.
2 mins: England’s brass band is in attendance, which is great/terrible news, depending on your opinion of loud bashing and parping.
1 min: And they’re off!
Ready to go. England will kick off in a moment.
And they’re out! Kick off is but a few moments away.
The players are gathering in the tunnel.
England’s three remaining pre-World Cup fixtures are as follows:
9 April: England v Spain (Derby)
25 May: England v Denmark (Walsall)
1 June: England v New Zealand (Brighton)
And then their World Cup campaign starts on 9 June against Scotland in Nice.
Phil Neville says:
It probably is [their hardest pre-World Cup match]. We went to SheBelieves and played Japan, Brazil and the USA. Tonight’s more like the USA because of their physicality. Tonight is about us playing after winning something. It’s always harder to play after winning something because of the expectation.
If you live in Canada (and possibly in other non-British locations) you can watch the game, and the warm-ups and stuff, here.
This, from Phil Neville, is fighting talk:
[We were] talking about objectives. I wanted them to say ‘win the World Cup’ but they went bigger. I was like, ‘Wow, they’re thinking bigger than I thought they were.’ I had to readjust my own objectives. They want to be talked about like the All Blacks, leave legacies that the young kids of today will always remember.
I mean, why aim low?
There are six Manchester City players in the England team, and another in the Canada line-up: Janine Beckie, a forward. She says the Canadians have revenge in their pockets:
I don’t think that anyone views it as a friendly. I think it’s a must-win for both teams in their respective minds. I think there’s a little bit of revenge on the line for a lot of girls on this roster. I don’t think that’s a bad thing to have in your pocket.
And here’s Canada’s team:
Starting XI 🍁
— Canada Soccer (@CanadaSoccerEN) April 5, 2019
Watch #CANWNT face England LIVE on https://t.co/QAm3Fwds6b and https://t.co/JLB8VolSx7 at 14.00 ET / 11.00 PT or catch the match later on TSN3 at 16.30 ET / 13.30 PT! pic.twitter.com/64KZVcZf6B
Here’s tonight’s England team:
1 HOUR WARNING 🚨
— Lionesses (@Lionesses) April 5, 2019
Your starting XI! pic.twitter.com/OZZqwbesL1
Hello world!
Four years after England knocked Canada out of their own World Cup in the quarter-finals, the teams meet again in an entirely-incomparable friendly at Manchester City’s Academy Stadium. England are ranked third in the world and Canada fifth, and the visitors will be led by the excellent Christine Sinclair. The Canadian coach, Kenneth Heiner-Moller, says he is “focused on improving ourselves, our processes and tactics, to peak in June”, illustrating the fact that this match isn’t exactly anybody’s focus, but it should all the same be a hotly-contested game, and gives England the chance to lay down another marker on the road to World Cup glory*.
So, in short, hello.
* World Cup glory not guaranteed.
