

Posted by

Sam Gregory ,

August 18, 2014 Email

Sam Gregory

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If gamblers never won no one would gamble. If gamblers won more than they lost there would be no casinos. So what we get are casinos where the house wins more often than the gambler, but the gambler still wins enough to think that coming back the next night is a good idea. Change around some of the words and I’ve just described the reality of following Canada’s national soccer teams. Canada doesn’t win very often or even make us happy watching them very often, but it’s the little moments when they do give us something to cheer for that gives us hope and keeps us coming back. Canada’s run at the U-20 Women’s World Cup on home soil over the past two weeks was one of these moments that gives us a little bit of hope and will surely draw us back next summer for the Women’s World Cup. The team was expected to struggle, but just make it out of their group. This is about what happened, after an opening loss to Ghana the team beat Finland and North Korea on the way to a quarterfinal loss to Germany. It was a solid, if not wildly successful tournament for Canada. However what did come as a bit of a surprise was how much fun it was to be in the stands watching these games and watching this exciting team. I went to Toronto to watch the opening two matches of the tournament not knowing a whole lot about the team and not really knowing what to expect. That being said I knew a 1-0 loss against a Ghana team that looked incapable of producing anything without the aid of Canadian errors was not the way anyone expected the tournament to start. Like all irrational soccer supporters in this country I decided that this one game was representative of every problem with Canadian soccer right down to youth development. Despite the poor result it was hard to give anything but support to the team out on the pitch who were gracious in defeat even as the girls came to applaud the Voyageurs section after the match. A loss, a frustrating loss, but in the end just a loss. A loss to Ghana may be a set back, but there was no doubt in any of our minds that Canada shouldn’t have too much trouble with Finland in the next match. At half time of the Finland game this hope had all but evaporated. The team was down 2-0 at halftime. I cannot remember a halftime in the Voyageurs section with such negativity in my lifetime. On a personal level had Canada failed to scored in the second half it would have been my fifth straight Canada match at any age level or gender without seeing Canada score a goal. Never mind five game without a win, but five games without a goal! This is the point where a casino would almost be forced to let the gambler win some cash, just to ensure he knew the game wasn’t rigged against him and to maintain that glimmer of hope, however small. Of course the casino came good and gave Canadian supporters one of the best second half performances ever by a Canadian team at BMO Field (or the “National Soccer Stadium”). The two quick goals to start the second half evened things up within five minutes. The Voyageurs section went ballistic and continued with some of the loudest support I’ve been a part of watching Canada. The decibel level went up again when Nichelle Prince scored the late winner to give Canada a 3-2 win. If our reaction in the stands was jubilant, it was nothing compared to the girls on the field when the final whistle blew. The girls stormed the pitch their celebrations echoing the performance of a team that had just pulled off a two goal comeback at home in a World Cup. The hope was back, the optimism was back and really the fun was back. The team also has to be credited for going around to what seemed like every single section after the game signing autographs, thanking the supporters and hopefully inspiring the next generation of girls playing soccer in this country. It wasn’t just a team that was fun to watch, but one that clearly understood their role as ambassadors of the game. Now attention shifted to Montreal and a do-or-die game (the only acceptable time to use this cliche) against North Korea, the best team in the group. This is the point where the casino has the gambler hooked in after a big win, now with the confidence to lay everything on the table the casino can come and steal that hope right back away. The Voyageurs section was smaller in Montreal (and only made possible by some great work by CSA who deserve lots of credit), but with an air of confidence and maybe even a swagger that wasn’t there in the first two matches. Why couldn’t Canada beat the favoured North Koreans at home? That’s exactly what they did, on the back of Janine Beckie’s second goal of the tournament Canada won 1-0 to advance to the knockout stages. Once again the celebrations amongst the Voyageurs were only matched by the players themselves. This was more than just hope, this was a tangible result. After losing their opening match of the tournament Canada did not follow in the footsteps of the last Canadian U-20 team to host a World Cup instead they scored four goals in their next two matches to advance. In their final game of the tournament Canada lost 2-0 to one of the tournament favourites Germany in Edmonton. The crowd in Edmonton was the largest of Canada’s four matches, and according to many who were there the support was similarly encouraging and loud. Supporting Canada usually ends with frustration at the team and pessimism about the future. After watching Canada in Toronto and Montreal I really came to like this Canadian U-20 Women’s Team and I’m now much more optimistic about the future. Contrary to popular belief watching Canadians kick a soccer ball around for ninety minutes can actually be fun, and the casino doesn’t always have to win, we can win sometimes too.