Canadian dreams of glory at home came to an end in the quarterfinal stage at Edmonton’s Commonwealth Stadium. Germany beat Canada 2-0 and will go on to play France in the semifinals.
Canada made a real contest of the quarterfinal game—had Emma Fletcher’s crossbar-ringing shot in the 9th minute dipped an inch or two lower, it could have been a very different result. But when it came down to it, the Germans proved they were fitter, faster, and able to put away more chances.
The all-red hosts were riding the momentum of their 1-0 group stage victory over Korea DPR, a team that advanced to the semifinals after beating out defending champion USA just moments before Canada kicked off against Germany. That was, until Pauline Bremer added to the German’s impressive tournament goal count in the 24th minute.
Canadian central defenders Kadeisha Buchanan and Rebecca Quinn went in for the same header off a German goal kick and neither won the challenge. The ball was flicked on by Lena Petermann to Bremer for a breakaway and despite Kailen Sheridan’s best effort to close down the rogue forward and Buchanan’s ability to recover to the goal line, Bremer’s shot opened up scoring in the game.
Upon replaying the goal footage Bremer was a clear yard offside—a tragedy for the host nation and their crowd of 22,421 supporters (the biggest attendance of Canada 2014 so far). While there may be questions around the Germans’ first goal, there was no denying their second in the 82nd minute when a clinical corner kick by Sara Daebritz was headed in by Rebecca Knaak, confirming their entrance into the next round.
This was the first time since 2004 that Canada had advanced out of the group stage. Head Coach Andrew Olivieri stated before the tournament that his goal was to make it to the semifinals, but he has every reason to be proud of how far his Canucks did go in the end. Many of his U-20 players have a good chance to play next year in the Women’s World Cup, which will also take place in Canada.
Germany plays next on August 20 at Montreal’s Olympic Stadium against France. The two-time winners have proven to be fierce opponents this year and are sure to be in the running for the trophy.
Scoring Summary
GER – Pauline Bremer – 24’
GER – Rebecca Knaak – 82’
Misconduct Summary
GER – Lena Petermann (caution, 68’)
GER – Wibke Meister (caution, 74’)
GER – Felicitas Rauch (caution, 89’)
Lineups
CAN: 1-Kailen Sheridan, 2-Sura Yekka, 3-Kinley McNicoll (capt.), 5-Kadeisha Buchanan, 6-Rebecca Quinn, 8-Jessie Fleming, 9-Nichelle Prince (7-Ashley Campbell, 16’) (17-Amandine Pierre-Louis, 72’), 10-Ashley Lawrence, 11-Janine Beckie, 19-Valerie Sanderson, 20-Emma Fletcher (13-Lindsay Agnew, 82’)
Subs Not Used: 4-Kylie Davis, 12-Victoria Pickett, 14-Vanessa Gregoire, 15-Jordane Carvery, 16-Sarah Kinzner, 18-Marie-Joelle Vandal, 21-Rylee Foster
Head Coach: Andrew Olivieri
GER: 1-Meike Kaemper; 2-Manjou Wilde, 4-Margarita Gidion, 6-Lina Magull (capt.) (10-Linda Dallmann, 72′), 8-Rebecca Knaak, 9-Pauline Bremer, 11-Theresa Panfil, 13-Sara Daebritz, 15-Wibke Meister (3-Felicitas Rauch, 87’) 18-Lena Petermann,19-Rieke Dieckmann (7-Kathrin Schermuly, 46’)
Subs Not Used: 5-Franziska Jaser, 12-Merle Frohms, 14-Marie Becker, 16-Joelle Wedemeyer, 17-Jennifer Gaugigl, 20-Madeline Gier, 21-Anna Klink
Head Coach: Maren Meinert