And then there were eight.
The Round of 16 didn’t disappoint at the FIFA Women’s World Cup. There was a major upset that saw some fans tearing up their brackets, the host country advanced, and there were touching closing words by a coach that captured the true essence of the tournament.
Here are my standout moments
Australia upsets Brazil
Australia was considered the underdog in their meeting against Brazil, with many pundits writing them off since they were facing uber-skilled Marta and company. Going into the match, Brazil was the only side not to concede a goal in group stage play. But as they say, expect the unexpected.
It looked like we were headed to extra time on a very soggy afternoon in Moncton, but Australia had different ideas in the 80th minute. Captain Lisa De Vanna barrelled down the right side and hit a well-placed shot on Luciana. The goalkeeper fumbled the rebound, giving Kyah Simon plenty of time to neatly put away the winner.
That goal was the culmination of a performance that featured gritty, hard work from the Australians, who were organized and tenacious in their attack from the opening whistle.
Luciana was inconsolable after the loss and sobbed into the arms of her teammates. Coach Vadao, meanwhile, stated “tactically we’re good, the only thing that went wrong was that we didn’t score a goal.” True enough. The Brazilians certainly do play a lovely brand of soccer and of course, Marta is a five-time World Player of the Year, but on this day, it just wasn’t good enough.
As for Australia, being part of the so-called “Group of Death” actually worked in its favour. It forced the Matildas to play strong opposition (USA, Sweden, Nigeria) very early in the tournament, rather than coming across a top-ranked team for the first time in the knockout stages.
According to their coach Alen Stajcic, the best is yet to come.
“I just think we’re a dangerous team,” he said. “We’re probably one of the most dangerous teams at the World Cup, if not the most dangerous team, going forward.”
A Canadian hero named Belanger
Few are more deserving of scoring for Canada than Josee Belanger. The striker, who spent time at fullback to start the World Cup, brought fans across the country to their feet when she netted the game-winner versus Switzerland in Vancouver.
The 29-year-old spent many years away from the national program after an injury in 2010. Coach John Herdman lobbied hard for her to give the team another chance and after much pleading, she returned to the fold.
Since then, she’s been a consummate professional. There were no complaints when she was asked to convert to a defender. She performed admirably in the absence of regular right fullback Rhian Wilkinson and tucked away any nerves of making her World Cup debut in an unfamiliar position.
It’s only fitting her first goal in five years was scored in the match she reverted to her natural attacking role. The look of utter joy on her face seeing that ball in the back of the net showed just how much this experience means to her.
France continues upward trend
Falling 2-0 to Colombia in group play was a wakeup call for the French. Since that loss, they’ve looked like a different team, putting everyone else on notice.
They netted five versus Mexico in the last of their Group F games and then soundly defeated South Korea 3-0 in their Round of 16 meeting in Montreal. The fascinating part of both of those victories is how easy France made it look. They came flying out of the gates versus the Koreans and led by two less than 10 minutes into the match. Marie Delie had the brace in the victory and looked dangerous any time she was in her opponent’s third.
Post-match, France had coach Philippe Bergeroo was pleased with the momentum they had built up and told the media: “This result, on the back of the Mexico victory, is a real confidence boost.”
It’s a shame that France could be eliminated in their quarterfinal, which is a date against the top-ranked Germans. Neither side should be out of the tournament so early.
Bronze goal is golden
Lucy Bronze netted a stunning, long-range goal versus Norway in Ottawa to lift England to a 2-1 victory over their European rivals and secured a spot in the final eight.
There was very little Ingrid Hjelmseth could do to corral the powerful shot, even though the Norwegian goalkeeper did get her fingers on the ball.
The wonder-strike marked Bronze’s first of the tournament.
Swiss kindness
One of the most poignant moments from the Round of 16 didn’t occur on the pitch. It happened at the end of Martina Voss-Tecklenburg’s media conference after Switzerland’s 1-0 loss to Canada in Vancouver. She took a moment to thank the host nation, and then simply said, “You’re an amazing country.”
As she left the podium, the media gave her a round of applause.
In a tournament of such magnitude, it’s easy to get caught up in results and statistics, but Voss-Tecklenburg’s kind words show us all it’s not always about wins and losses.