TORONTO – Sunday’s international friendly between the Canadian and American women’s teams at BMO Field has been a long time in coming.
It will mark the first encounter between these two sides since one of the most exciting games in Olympic history — a 4-3 win in extra time at Old Trafford that sent the Americans into the gold medal contest at the 2012 London Olympics. The U.S. went on to win gold, while Canada beat France for the bronze medal.
Sunday programming alert: Watch Canada v United States in an international friendly from Toronto live on all four main Sportsnet channels. Coverage begins at 4:30 pm ET/1:30 pm PT.
A sellout crowd in Toronto on Sunday is already guaranteed, and the U.S. side is expecting a hostile environment following the controversy that surrounded the Olympic match.
The U.S. erased three deficits in the semifinal, but the game will forever be remembered for a delay-of-game call made by Norwegian referee Christiana Pedersen on Canadian goalkeeper Erin McLeod. Reports surfaced after the game that American forward Abby Wambach was counting out the seconds as McLeod held the ball, thus influencing Pedersen in making the call.
“I think I blacked out in that moment (when the call was made),” Wambach told Sportsnet this week as the American team trained in Alliston, Ont.
“Did I think the referee was going to make that call? No, I just wanted her to hurry the goalkeeper up, you know what I mean?”
Teammate Alex Morgan believes too much was made of it in Canadian circles, and that not enough credit was given to the U.S. team for the way it fought back against Canada.
“I think that there was obviously a controversial call, but at the same time, we came back three or four times,” Morgan said. “I think we showed heart and determination, (and) it’s not like the call came and it was a 1-0 game. It was 4-3 and it was an amazing game.”
“Controversy sometimes is good for the sport. It’s not an objective game. It’s not black and white, it’s very grey… and that’s why this game is so great, because we’re able to come back on the field and continue the business we started at the Olympics.”
Wambach, though, admitted the U.S. was somewhat fortunate to win the tightly contested game.
“There were a lot of great takeaways from that game, and the biggest thing for me was that we got a little bit lucky I think at the end,” Wambach stated. “They earned their bronze medal, and I think got very unlucky not to get into the gold medal game.”
“Unfortunately, that’s the way sports goes sometimes.”
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