It’s never easy to sit on the sidelines and watch as your team plays in the FIFA Women’s World Cup without you—especially on home soil.
Just ask veteran defender Rhian Wilkinson, who was hurt and didn’t make an appearance for Canada until the third match, where she saw some minutes late in the game.
Last Sunday, she made her first start of the tournament against Switzerland in the Round of 16. The right fullback made an immediate impact and was a key contributor to Canada’s game-winning goal, crossing the ball in to captain Christine Sinclair, who made the nifty flick pass to goal scorer Josee Belanger.
Coincidentally, Belanger had been playing in Wilkinson’s spot on the back line while she nursed a leg injury.
Sportsnet caught up with Wilkinson for a one-on-one chat.
How did your first start of the tournament go?
I was just really excited to be back on the field. To be honest, I didn’t have too many nerves. I was just really looking forward to getting out there and playing again with these women. It’s a pleasure to be able to play with them.
It was a roller coaster against the Swiss. Canada really pushed hard early in the second half.
I don’t think we were really pleased with our first half, but it happens. I think World Cups are so interesting because of that. Every single team is giving every ounce of what they have for pride for their countries and to show what they’ve been working on, so rankings get thrown away. It’s just really incredible soccer being played. It’s gritty and it’s tough. The games are close and that’s what that was. It was a good, strong, swift team and we really had to battle to get that win, for sure.
Do you remember how the goal played out, with the ball landing on your foot first?
I think it came from the other side actually. It was sort of like a half cleared ball and then I just saw someone was at the top of the box, so I just tried to get it in there. You get the ball to the forwards and they do good things. I’m glad it worked out!
How great was it to see Josee Belanger score that goal?
Josee is a perfect story for me, who has been just such an incredible teammate this tournament. Obviously, being thrown into the fullback position as a forward is a terrifying thing. I used to be a forward. I know what it feels like and it’s very scary. You go from being the hero who gets the goals to someone who is the last player back. It’s quite a mindset shift. She did it with a smile on her face and played so, so well. Me coming on had nothing to do with anything other than getting that woman closer to the net. As you can see, that’s what we need to do.
I have to ask, did you guys practise that celebration?
[Laughter] No, I think we both laugh because I’m not very good at celebrations. Usually the forwards run past me, so I was celebrating on my own. Then I realized it was coming to me, so I’m like “Oh cool!” With this team, we all celebrate together. It’s a very tight unit and whether you’re a starter, a finisher or medical staff, coaching staff, this is a family here. We haven’t talked about it. It’s just always happened that every time we score, we all end up together and I love it. I love that happens.
What kind of advice did you share with Josee during the period she was filling in for you on that right side?
We had discussions, but she’s a player that plays by instinct. I think less was more at that point. Little things I thought were going to be a big help to her, or potentially, I gave her, but we kept it very simple for her role back there. As you can see, that’s all she needed. She’s got the pace to make up for any potentially positional slight errors, but you couldn’t even tell because she was so quick at recovering and getting the ball back. She played very well.
As a back line, along with Erin McLeod, you have only let in one this tournament. What do you attribute to the team’s low goals against?
I think we do pride ourselves on our defensive work. From, of course Erin, but our forwards put in a huge amount of work defensively. We’re annoyed if we let one in. It doesn’t matter if we win 5-1, I think we’ll be annoyed by the one. Our job is to stop the shots. Erin is obviously incredible and we know she’ll pull out a huge save if we need her, but our job is to make sure there are no shots on her. We’re all personally offended if she has to make a save and then doubly if it goes in.
How has the 12th person in the stadiums helped the team?
It’s been huge. I know it’s so cool to see the passion and love for the game and for this team in the stands. There have been lulls in games where we’ve needed that roar from the crowd. It’s been so, so cool. In Montreal and in Edmonton and now in Vancouver, just so many people coming out to just cheer us on. And they’re cheering us on. They’re not there to bring negative energy or to complain that they haven’t seen more goals. They’re there to seriously cheer, scream and encourage us all the way to the end. We love it. We want to thank everyone so much for that.
The quarterfinal is coming up on Saturday against England, a familiar foe. You played them in a friendly last month. What are your expectations? Have you looked at your past record against them?
We don’t think about it at all. Honestly, a World Cup is completely different than all of our preparation games. We played them in May and that’s not the team that’s here. We’re not the team they played in May. It’s just completely different now. There’s no more hiding corner plays or set pieces. This is it. Everything is out there and lineups will be different, formations different. The preparation games have been good to recognize individual players, but that’s all you can get from it. They don’t mean anything. This is it. This is all it comes down to.