FIFA Women’s World Cup 2011: Canada Vs. France, Germany Vs. Nigeria, Group A

In the first round of fixtures in Group A of the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup, Canada almost mounted an improbable comeback against Germany, while France struggled to turn their superiority into goals against Nigeria. While France have 10 players from the club champions of Europe and a side with a lot of technical quality, Canada have Christine Sinclair and very physical team. This was predicted to be one of the best games of the group stages, but it was anything but. Les Bleues absolutely demolished a disorganized and soft-looking Canada side, winning by a final score of 4-0.

Canada actually looked excellent in the opening minutes of the match, but when Gaetane Thiney scored on a header in the 24th minute, it effectively ended the match. From that point on, Canada looked flat and completely lost their edge. They were billed as a side that had the physical strength and determination to challenge a France side that appeared to lack a killer instinct in their opening game against Nigeria, but the game was a demonstration in the absolute opposite. Not only were France the better technical side, they out-muscled the Canadians for much more than half of the 50-50 balls, as they dominated every facet of the game.

Coming into their crucial 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup match, both Canada and France had some question marks surrounding their team selections. Canada didn’t know if they were going to have their star Christine Sinclair, who broke her nose in the match against Germany, while some speculated that France would make personnel changes by choice. They looked better against Nigeria when Eugenie Le Sommer came in as a substitute, but she will start this game on the bench, just like the first game. Here are the lineups.

Canada lineup: McLeod; Zurrer, Kyle, Wilkinson, Matheson, Chapman, Schmidt, Julien, Timko, Sinclair, Filigno