It was a tale of two halves on Sunday for Canada, who clinched a World Cup berth for a seventh straight time thanks to an emphatic semifinal win at the Concacaf Women’s Championship.

“I’m very happy for this team. For us, qualifying that’s the only thing we talked about getting here, that was for us to qualify,” Canadian coach Kenneth Heiner-Moller said.

“Right now, everyone needs to decompress a little bit. We’ve qualified so now we need to set a new goal.”

Here are my observations from Canada’s 7-0 victory over Panama in Frisco, Texas:

Panama keeps it simple early on

How does Panama, No. 66 in the current FIFA world rankings, go about defending against Canada, ranked No. 5? Panama’s coaching staff clearly did a lot of homework because the Panamanian players marked the Canadians tightly in the first half. There was little to no room for Canada to create anything through the first 45 minutes, with Panama putting pressure on the Canadian fullbacks. As we’ve seen throughout the tournament, both Ashley Lawrence and Allysha Chapman have ventured deep into the opposition’s third to provide Canada with attacking width and deliver balls into the box. They had few opportunities do so early on in this contest.

Aside from blocking nearly every shot and shutting down most passing lanes, Panama effectively used the offside trap. Holding your line isn’t always the prettiest scheme in soccer, but when used correctly it gets the job done.

Canada’s body language was telling for much of the first half, with a lot of exasperated looks. But captain Christine Sinclair’s finish off Janine Beckie’s lovely cross in the closing moments of the half came at the perfect time. No doubt it would have been a tense atmosphere in the Canadian locker room with a 0-0 score line at the halftime break.

“The first half was nervy. We expected our possession on the ball would have created more chances,” Heiner-Moller admitted.

Calm down, carry on

After halftime, Canada simplified things and quality finishing prevailed. Two quick goals, including Sinclair’s second of the afternoon, brought a wave of calmness to the Canadians.

And it just reaffirmed the value of Nichelle Prince. Her pace and vision took the pressure off Sinclair and Beckie up top. It’s no coincidence Canada looked re-energized when she was subbed in at the half. She’s more than proven her worth over the duration of the tournament.

The Canadians will be understandably disappointed with their overall performance in the first half, but the team regrouped and turned a page in the closing 45 minutes.

“The first half wasn’t really what we wanted it to be, but we went into the locker room and said that we needed to get a bit more pace getting into the box, a bit more aggression getting into the box and people wanting to get on the end of crosses,” midfielder Jessie Fleming said.

With a five-goal lead, coach Heiner-Moller made some smart subs late on, taking off Kadeisha Buchanan for Shelina Zadorsky and giving more minutes to Adriana Leon (who scored a pair), while subbing out Sinclair (who now has 177 goals, just seven behind international record-holder Abby Wambach).

Panamanian phenom on bench

Initially, I was puzzled looking at Panama’s starting lineup and not seeing teen phenom Yenith Bailey in net.

The 17-year-old has been turning heads with her stellar performances throughout the competition. In his media availability before the semifinal, Panama’s coach Victor Suarez explained his starting 11 versus Canada would make sense for his squad not only on Sunday, but also for Wednesday’s third-place match, should Panama have to play in it.

Suarez went in with a proactive mindset against Canada, and his reasoning makes a lot of sense. The Central American country had never beaten Canada before Sunday, so why not save his star for Wednesday’s crucial tilt when Panama would have a much better chance of clinching a World Cup berth? It would’ve been fun seeing the youngster square off against Sinclair, but I understand the coach’s strategic reasoning.

Notes: Adriana Leon leads Canada in scoring at this tournament with six goals… Congratulations are in order for Diana Matheson, as the veteran midfielder earned her 200th cap on Sunday. Her influence on the program and the next generation of players cannot be overstated. She ranks second all-time in caps for Canada, trailing only Christine Sinclair, she sits tied for eighth in goals (18) and tied for third in assists (20)… Who else has qualified for next year’s World Cup in France so far? The hosts, the United States, England, Germany, Italy, Norway, Scotland, Spain, Sweden, Australia, China, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Brazil and Chile… The 2019 FIFA World Cup will feature 24 teams. The draw takes place in Paris in early December.