Well, it's not quite the top-two finish Canada is accustomed to at the Cyprus Cup, but fifth place is ... well, better than nothing! So, huzzah for something! (If you need some sort of consolation, consider that the Americans had to settle for seventh (!) at the Algarve Cup, and fifth is better than seventh!)
It was (apparently) a dramatic, last-minute 2-1 victory over Ireland that sealed the result. I say "apparently" because, as is customary, it was impossible to watch the game short of actually being in Cyprus. Given that there is zero visibility out the window as I type this, due to the seventh consecutive hour of blustering snow, I can assure you I am not in Cyprus.
So, here's a half-hearted synopsis, cobbled together from the live tweets provided by the Canadian Soccer Association. No fanciful stories about dragons or talking cheese sandwiches today, unfortunately; I somehow find myself unable to muster the mental energy to put together a fabricated synopsis, and I'm not sure why oh for the love of, it's snowing UPWARDS now! It's March 12, for crap's sake! Come on!
[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
Ireland got the jump early, scoring the opener in the 13th minute. But thankfully Big Red was bailed out by its attacking powerhouses... Diana Matheson and Sophie Schmidt. Wait, what? Matheson equalized after the break and Schmidt, with her third of the tournament, scored the winner off of a goalmouth scramble in the 90th minute.
The record will ultimately show Canada finished a second-tier tournament in fifth place, which doesn't seem to bode very well ahead of next year's World Cup. But ultimately, they won three of four games (beating the three teams they'd be expected to beat) and lost to a team (England) that's similar in many ways and is always a toss-up result. If Canada were to meet England in a game that really mattered, there's no reason Canada couldn't prevail (though, of course, it's equally likely that England would emerge with the win).
Frankly, the most significant news coming out of the 2014 Cyprus Cup is the pre-tournament knee injury suffered by Lauren Sesselmann. She's become a crucial part of the Canadian set-up since coming on board a few years ago, and her availability could make a notable difference in Canada's World Cup hopes.
Sure, there are young defenders coming through the system (Kadeisha Buchanan and Sura Yekka have shown promise, while Rebecca Quinn earned her first CanWNT caps in Cyprus), while the recent addition of Rachel Quon (who also made her CanWNT debut in Cyprus) also provides some depth. So ultimately, it's possible that the ongoing development of Buchanan and Quon will compensate during the absence of Sesselmann, who's shown herself adept at both centreback and fullback.
But the reality is that Canada doesn't yet have the depth to fully and immediately absorb the loss of any critical player.
Canada scored eight goals in four games at the Cyprus Cup, and only two of them came from strikers (one from Christine Sinclair, one from Adriana Leon). This could be the function of any number of things (we're left guessing, since the games weren't televised) -- was the scoring outburst from midfielders the outcome of a tactical shift by John Herdman? Did those tactics also lead to Sinclair's one-goal-in-four-games output (not great, by her lofty standards) or is it a sign of a lack in production on her part? Is Josee Belanger truly ready to step back into the picture and provide what the team needs?
Again, it's impossible to really come up with answers based on a sporadic collection of 140-character messages from the national governing body.
The real answers will come later this year, as Canada tests itself against the world's best on home soil. Those will provide fans with a clearer perspective on what can realistically be expected from next summer's World Cup.
Yes, they're just friendlies, and ostensibly any tournament is more "meaningful" than an exhibition match.
All the same, those are the games upon which we can all really form judgments about where this team sits. Fifth place at the Cyprus Cup? Meh.
Besides, fifth is still better than seventh.
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