Complete a performance you could ask for, with Canada dominating possession, dictating the pace of the match and looking far more dangerous than its opponent.
But for all of their domination, the Canadians only managed to score one goal against Trinidad and Tobago.
They'll have to do much better than that when they take on Guyana in the CONACAF Women's World Cup qualifying tournament on Sunday (CBC Bold, CBCSports.ca, 7 pm ET) in Cancun, Mexico.
Mexico faces Trinidad and Tobago in the other Group A match on Sunday.
Canada should have inflicted greater damage on Trinidad on Friday in a game that marked the team's tournament debut. But some wasteful finishing in front of net - not to mention having two goals incorrectly negated on offside calls - meant Canada could only muster a 1-0 victory.
Not good enough, says coach Carolina Morace.
"It's true that the first match is always the toughest, but we missed too many chances to score," said Morace. "We created four or five clear chances, chances [on which] we have to score."
Melissa Tancredi scored the winner against Trinidad and Tobago in the 63rd minute, after having two goals called back in the first half.
"I've always felt that Melissa Tancredi is a bit of an underrated player. She has excellent feet, excellent skills, and she's a great finisher," said CBC Sports soccer commentator Clare Rustad.
While Tancredi was effective in leading the attack for Canada, Christine Sinclair failed to make an impression. The Canadian captain was hounded by the Trinidadian defence the entire game, and was unable to add to her national team record of 102 goals.
"She's the [biggest] threat going forward to score goals, and every time she got the ball, she had one or two players in her face," explained Jason de Vos, former captain of the Canadian men's team.
"It was difficult for her to find that space and she never really had an opportunity on goal. ... But I expect big things from her in this tournament."
Canada and Mexico are tied atop Group A with three points apiece, but the Mexicans are in first place by virtue of a better goal difference (+5 compared to +1) thanks to a 7-2 win over Guyana in their opening game.
If Canada is to finish first in Group A - and thus likely avoid the top-ranked United States in the semifinals - it will have not only beat Guyana, but score plenty of goals in order to close the goal-differential gap with Mexico.
Rustad believes Canada "just needs to relax" against Guyana, and not "look ahead to the Mexico game."
The Canadians are attempting to qualify for their fifth consecutive Women's World Cup, scheduled for next summer in Germany.
Canada's final match of the group stage is Tuesday against host Mexico (CBC Bold, CBCSports.ca, 9:30 pm ET).
(source:cbc.ca)
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