WINNIPEG – Abby Wambach will have seen Kadeisha Buchanan in her dreams on Thursday night—or nightmares, to be more accurate.
The American forward fought a pitched battle with the 18-year-old Canadian defender at Winnipeg’s Investors Group Field during Thursday’s 1-1 draw between the two women’s soccer powers. But try as she might, Wambach could neither shake Buchanan nor get the best of her.
In fact, by the end of the first half the 2012 FIFA World Player of the Year was drifting to the flanks—doing anything, it seemed, to escape the much-touted centre-back.
Of course, Buchanan’s breakout performance wasn’t just about defending.
In the 36th minute she rose to elegantly head Diana Matheson’s corner past United States goalkeeper Hope Solo, sending a crowd of more than 28,000 into raptures as Canada took the lead.
Then, nine minutes later, she clattered into Wambach near the halfway line, and as the U.S. women’s team’s record goal-scorer rolled about on the ground the taunts rained down from the stands.
Not that Buchanan was playing dirty. On the contrary, she simply overpowered Wambach, Lauren Holiday and whichever opponent she came up against with such ease that it sometimes looked unfair.
Her defensive partner put in a good display as well.
Granted, it was Rebecca Quinn whose poor defensive header allowed Sidney Leroux to equalize in the 77th minute, but in only her fourth appearance for the senior team she established enough of a partnership with Buchanan to excite Canadian soccer fans.
And like Buchanan, she will only be turning 19 later this year. Both are eligible to play in the upcoming FIFA U-20 World Cup; neither—and this is telling—have a Wikipedia page.
That will soon change.
Incredibly, Buchanan’s instincts only improved as the game wore on and the Canadians found themselves under increasing pressure.
Midway through the second half she crucially poked the ball off the feet of Holiday, who was impressing in a support role to Wambach, and less than 60 seconds after Wambach was withdrawn she again repelled an American attack.
In the 72nd minute she turned Ali Krieger’s cross away with ease, and late into stoppage time she still had the energy and lung power to burst into shooting space and test Solo with a shot.
By then, legendary American defender Christie Rampone had come on as a substitute and fended off a rare Canadian attack.
Long viewed as one of the best defenders in women’s soccer—if not the best—she may just have been sharing the field with the sport’s up-and-coming centre-back over the course of her eight-minute cameo.
In Kadeisha Buchanan, the Canadian women’s national team has its defensive pillar for the foreseeable future.
More observations
• Winnipeg is a host city for the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup, and its Investors Group Field accommodated the pitch dimensions nicely. Soccer looks a natural fit in the University of Manitoba ground.
• The matchday attendance of 28,255 represented the second-highest gate for a women’s match in Canadian soccer history.
• Diana Matheson and Josee Belanger did well to aid full-backs Rhian Wilkinson and Sura Yekka throughout the match. Much of the American attack in the opening period came down Wilkinson’s flank, but Matheson ensured her teammates had the necessary support to contain Sidney Leroux in open play.
• Winnipeg-born midfielder Desiree Scott played a superb match and enjoyed her best moment of the night in the 81st minute when she made a vital, double-tackle on a pair of American attackers to turn play back downfield.