On the last two occasions the USA women's national team visited Canada, prior to Sunday night, they left with convincing 4-0 victories. So by that standard, the three-goal margin in Sunday's much-hyped "Rematch" could actually be considered progress.
In reality, though, it was a reminder of why the USA sits where it sits, as the #1-ranked team in the world -- they've got skill, they've got depth, and when they get scoring chances, they are clinical.
The final result may have been a bit of a shock to those who were watching the second women's soccer game of their lives (after last summer's Olympic semifinal, of course), but this "rematch" was actually the Americans' 45th victory in 53 all-time meetings with Canada.
That being said, the raucous, sold-out (and we're talking a legit BMO Field sellout, not one of those "announced" sellouts) crowd, and even some of the players, were clearly buying into the rivalry/"rematch" narrative, which helped make the game compelling even when the final result wasn't in question.
So, where do we go from here?
[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
The actual answer is "right back into the thick of things", with a friendly against the #2-ranked Germans later this month. But that's not what you meant, is it? You want to know what lessons we can take from this game. Of course.
Well, clearly the biggest revelation on the Canadian side was teenage centreback Kadeisha Buchanan. Not even a part of the senior team set-up until this year (though she featured at the U17 Women's World Cup in 2012), she's shown the sort of instincts and composure that earned her not just a spot in this game, but a starting role. And while she showed her age and relative inexperience at times, she also did plenty of work to shore up the backline and keep the always-dangerous Abby Wambach at bay on multiple occasions.
There's your big Canadian story of the day. You want something to take away from the game, take that.
Beyond Buchanan, there weren't any especially big surprises from the Canadian side. Desiree Scott put in another invaluable shift of work. A couple of other Canadian youngsters (Tiffany Cameron, Danica Wu) got a run-out. Christine Sinclair and Kaylyn Kyle sent the squeals in the stands into overdrive every time they touched the ball. Melissa Tancredi, though her heart was surely in it, often looked like a player who hasn't been in a competitive match (or training session) in 10 months.
But yeah, Canada is who we thought they were. A team that put together a remarkable performance in the Olympic semi-final last summer but who, on most days, are not quite at the same level as the Americans. That's not meant as an insult, by any means -- as I said, the USA is #1 in the world for a reason.
But it's a reminder of what head coach John Herdman has said on multiple occasions: While the bronze medal was a great achievement and a deserved reward for an amazing tournament, it's a not a laurel that can be rested upon indefinitely. With the Women's World Cup on our soil in just two years' time, Canada needs to show that it has the ability to stay strong and retain its relevance in an ever-expanding and ever-evolving global landscape of women's soccer.
Anyway, yeah, that's my synopsis of the game. Nothing of any great interest happened beyond that, right? I'm not missing any controversial moments or incidents that could drum up strong opinions on both sides of the... oh, right, that.
Or should I say... oh, right, her.
Sigh. Alright, let's limber up a bit here before getting this one. *cracks knuckles*
What you first have to understand about the core of the south end at BMO Field on Sunday night is that it comprises a group of long-suffering Canadian soccer fans. They're not only fans of the women's national team, they're fans of the men's team. A men's national team that has been burned time and time and time again by players defecting to the greener pastures of other international opportunities.
Never, prior to Sunday night, did those Toronto-based fans have an opportunity to see one of those defectors play for their adopted country, against Canada, on Canadian soil. So you can understand that a certain amount of pent-up frustration and anger -- frustration and anger that extended far beyond the individual actions and decisions of one Ms. Sydney Leroux -- was set to be unleashed.
Now, if you thought Canadian fans would do anything other than boo a Canadian-born player who chose to play for the United States, sorry, but you're either naive or an idiot. And if you believe that female professional athletes are intrinsically immune from the sort of criticism or fan reaction that a male athlete would encounter in the same circumstances -- well then, you and I see "gender equality" in much different ways.
International soccer is international soccer. Actions have consequences. And anyone who would automatically begrudge sports fans for booing an athlete who they perceive as a turncoat clearly doesn't understand the passion involved in sports fandom, and therefore forfeits their right to have their opinion considered in this context. (Thankfully, the fact you're reading CSN in the first place is a good indicator that you don't fall into this group, so by all means, read on.)
That being said...
Were some of the chants being directed at Leroux over the line? That's a matter of personal opinion, of course, and I'm not entirely sure what the TV microphones did or didn't pick up. But suffice to say that I consciously chose not to participate in some of them. If you've followed my writing or tweeting for any amount of time, you've just gotten a decent idea of what levels of inappropriateness are at play.
Of course, Canadian fans were always poking a sleeping bear with that one. It's as if the folks in the south end -- probably still literally and figuratively hungover from another catastrophic last-minute collapse by Toronto FC at BMO Field the previous day -- had forgotten that hubris is a dangerous thing for a constituency with a record as checkered as that of Canadian soccer fans. So, of course, of course Leroux was always going to spit in our eye with a goal. Would the soccer gods let it be any other way?
And then, in what some are characterizing as a shocking, tasteless, classless, unprecedented show of disrespect, she... put her finger to her mouth to "shush" the crowd, and showed off the crest on her jersey.
Oh. Really. That's it?
For some of the moral outrage being expressed on social media, you'd have thought she flipped the crowd off, or swore at the ball kids, or maybe literally spat in our eyes.
No, she did something that we've seen players do countless times before. Heck, I still get giddy thinking about Christine Sinclair shushing the crowd in Mexico a few years back during World Cup qualifying.
"But, but, but," people have said on social media, though not in these exact words, "Sinclair wasn't born in Mexico, and didn't play for the Mexican youth team. So this is different!"
Well, sure. Every case is different. Every player is different. Sydney Leroux isn't Owen Hargreaves, or Jonathan de Guzman, or Teal Bunbury, or that Bosnian goalkeeper, but I'm pretty sure a lot of the vitriol that went into the chants directed her way on Sunday night was -- at least a little bit -- an attempt by Canadian fans to finally put a real-life name and face to the sense of loss and disappointment they've felt about all of the deserters over the years.
So with the weight of the accumulated hostility toward a half-dozen players lumped on her shoulders, is giving the crowd a "shushing" sign really the worst thing Leroux could have done?
Look, if she wants to live in a manufactured universe where she was born in Los Angeles, California, and where her story is a marvelous fairy tale that only "haters" could possibly take umbrage with, then no amount of booing or crude chanting is going to shake her from it.
Doesn't mean we shouldn't do it, though. Because THAT is what rivalries are really all about. Those visceral crowd reactions. Those unscripted moments. Those heroes and villains that rile up legitimate passions within the audience, whether they're long-time devotees or complete newcomers.
For what it's worth, the south-end crowd at BMO Field also unleashed a couple of rather sophisticated rounds of "fuck you Wambach!" aimed at, of course, the soon-to-be all-time leading scorer in women's soccer history. And Wambach, for her part, looked up at the supporters with an incredulous "are you guys serious?" snicker and a sarcastic round of applause.
In the end, what we witnessed was, indisputably, the largest pro-Canada crowd ever assembled for a soccer game at BMO Field, and surely among the largest ever for a men's or women's match. And while the unique mix of drunken hardcores, youth players, soccer-loving families and general sports fans didn't get the fairy-tale ending (or even a goal) that we so desperately wanted, we got an experience... and the chance to say a ridiculously-belated thanks to the women's national team for the scintillating ride they took us on last summer.
And to those attending their first Canadian national-team game... well, they got a good idea of what it's like to be a day-in, day-out supporter of Canadian soccer. It's rarely glamorous, and not especially rewarding -- which is what makes the Olympic bronze all the more special.
But as that victory recedes further into the background, we're still left with the question: Where do we go from here?
The answer, still: To Germany. The sentimentality is done. The anti-Leroux catharsis is done (for now). The celebration tour (such as it is) is done. Now time for Herdman and the troops to get back to the hard work of ensuring that the success in London wasn't a one-off anomaly.
And, hey, it was only 3-0 against the Americans this time. So, like I said... progress, right?
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