Canadian head coach Bev Priestman and the Canadian women’s national team will be in high spirits after defeating Argentina 0-1 on Sunday. They now face Brazil, who is coming off a 2-0 loss against the U.S.
Both teams have one win and loss each. However, Brazil does have a better goal differential than Canada. This means a win is needed for Canada to leapfrog past Brazil in the 2021 SheBelieves Cup.
The Canadians and Bev Priestman will close their 2021 SheBelieves Cup Debut against Brazil
Brazil
Brazil won their first game against Argentina 4-1. In that game, Brazil had four different goal-scorers. This includes Marta, who scored a penalty in the 30-minute. As a result of this big victory, Brazil has scored the most goals of the four teams in the SheBelieves Cup after two games.
Vem rever os gols da goleada da #SeleçãoFeminina contra a Argentina na estreia do Torneio She Believes! Domingo tem mais, hein?
🇧🇷 4 x 1 🇦🇷 pic.twitter.com/wbCeXKUTdd
— CBF Futebol (@CBF_Futebol) February 19, 2021
In this game, Brazil was very efficient, scoring four goals with six shots on target and eight shots overall. They also had 57 percent of the possession and dominated the game against Argentina. However, they had trouble against the top-ranked team in women’s soccer. As expected, the USA had more shots and shots on goal than Brazil. The U.S. had 17 shots with five on target while Brazil had 10 shots, but only two on target. Both teams were not efficient with their shots-to-shots-on-goal ratio.
If Brazil was more efficient in front of the goal, they may have been able to make the game more difficult for the U.S. However, it’s easier said than done when facing the two-time defending World Cup champions. However, Brazil looked dangerous throughout the game. For example, in the first half, Debinha and Ludmila had a great chance to score, but Crystal Dunn made a terrific sliding blocked shot.
Canada
SheBelieves Cup Summary and Bev Priestman
Canada is missing a lot of their players in the SheBelieves Cup. This includes Christine Sinclair, Diana Matheson and Erin McLeod. Furthermore, there were players like Kadeisha Buchanan (Lyon), Ashley Lawrence (Paris Saint-Germain) and Jordyn Huitema (Paris Saint-Germain) who were denied release by their French clubs.
As a result, many of the main Canadian players on the roster did not play in the SheBelieves Cup. However, current Canada head coach Bev Priestman is unfazed.
“We have to prepare for life without Christine, whenever that might be, and its time for someone else to step up and put the ball in the back of the net, or to lead in a certain way or all the qualities of Christine, Diana, some of the veterans that aren’t here,” Priestman said.
To Canada’s credit, some of the young players have stepped up. Nichelle Prince’s impressive speed and Stephanie Labbé’s goalkeeping skills were shown in full display against the Americans. Evelyne Viens also made her CANWNT debut against the U.S. Then there was the first-ever goal from Sarah Stratigakis against Argentina. This goal came late in the game in the 90’+2-minute of the game.
Relive #CanWNT's game-winning goal, as recapped by Sophie Schmidt 👇 pic.twitter.com/5cAwwijiI9
— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) February 22, 2021
Canada: strengths and weaknesses
The great thing about Canada is its ability to create chances and defend. They have shown that against both the U.S. and Argentina. This is shown by Canada only allowing one goal in two games, which is the second-fewest of the four teams in the tournament (the United States of America has the fewest with no goals given up in two games).
However, the one thing Canada needs to improve on is execution. In both the U.S. and the Argentina game, Canada has had trouble scoring goals, despite having some great scoring chances. For example, against the U.S., Canada had nine shots, but only three on target.
This became more apparent against Argentina, where Canada had 17 shots, but only five on target. As a consequence, Canada has only scored one goal in the SheBelieves Cup. Canada is tied with Argentina for scoring the fewest goals so far in the tournament.
Canada vs. Brazil Game Preview Overview
This game is really a toss-up between Brazil and Canada. Yes, Canada is better defensively, but Brazil has shown an ability to score more goals than Canada. Both teams have looked dangerous against both the U.S. and Argentina. Furthermore, the fact that both teams are ranked eighth in the FIFA rankings shows how similar the skill level of both teams is.
Both teams also have a slight chance of winning the SheBelieves Cup. However, that is only if the Americans falter against Argentina. Furthermore, the U.S. has a +3-goal differential, which is higher than both Brazil’s (+1) and Canada’s (0) goal differential. Goal differential is the second tiebreaker after points in determining the seedings of the teams in the 2021 SheBelieves Cup.
Next match: 🇨🇦🇧🇷
Wednesday, watch the #CANWNT v Brazil match LIVE on @onesoccer at 16.00 ET / 13.00 PT and as a special presentation on CBC on 27 February! pic.twitter.com/KeIPuF12Nk
— Canada Soccer (@CanadaSoccerEN) February 22, 2021
The prediction is a 1-1 tie. Canada will be the better team but will have trouble putting the ball in the back of the net. It will also be hard for Brazil to score goals against the Canadian goalkeeper and defense. The game will take place at Exploria Stadium in Orlando. The time of the game will be 4 p.m. EST and the game will be shown on OneSoccer, which is a subscription-based streaming service in Canada.
