Canada is off to a roaring start at the 2018 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in Montevideo, Uruguay.

The Reds overcame a laboured start by scoring a trio of goals late in the second half to earn a 3-0 win over Columbia in Group D action on Wednesday. Jordyn Huitema, Andersen Williams and substitute Jessica De Filippo scored for the Reds.

Here are my three thoughts on Canada’s opening game of the competition.

A slow start, and a furious finish

Canada was fully deserving of the three points, and in some ways, the 3-0 score flattered Colombia. The Canadians dictated the pace of the match from start to finish, they dominated possession (64 per cent), and they never looked to be in danger of letting the game slip away from their control.

But the Reds were made to work against a well-organized Colombian side that thwarted and frustrated them in the first half. The South Americans allowed the Canadians to slowly and patiently build out from the back and keep hold of the ball, before closing them down in the final third.

Canada’s attack picked up the pace at the start of the second half thanks to a tactical switch that saw coach Rhian Wilkinson move Jordyn Huitema from the wing to a more central role. Still, the Canadians looked a bit uncomfortable at times. It nearly turned disastrous for them when defender Maya Antoine committed a comical turnover at the edge of the box, and then was called for a penalty as she tried to recover. Thankfully for her, goalkeeper Anna Karpenko came up with a big save to deny Colombia’s penalty attempt.

The game turned massively in Canada’s favour in the 69th minute when Andrea Perez picked up her second yellow of the game, and Colombia was reduced to 10 players. Shortly after, Canada opened the scoring via Huitema. The Canadians were off to the races at that point, with Andersen Williams scoring late in regulation, and substitute Jessica De Filippo adding a third deep into injury time.

“Any World Cup match, a first one specifically, you’re going to see some nerves and some anxiety just to get the tournament going. We definitely started slower than we’d like, but [the team] built into the game and the confidence kept growing. I was really proud of the girls,” Wilkinson said.

Huitema comes through for Canada

Huitema can expect a lot of scrutiny during this tournament.

The 17-year-old forward from Chilliwack, B.C. is one of Canada’s brightest prospects, having become a somewhat regular for the senior team since making her debut last March. Since then, she’s earned 15 caps and scored six goals. She also played for Canada at the 2016 FIFA U-17 World Cup held in Jordan, so she is easily the most experienced player on this Canadian side.

Wilkinson deployed a 4-3-3 formation on Wednesday, using Huitema out wide on both flanks in the first half. It seemed an odd tactic to play Canada’s best goal-scorer out on the wing, rather than up top and closer to goal. As such, Huitema was pretty quiet in the first 45 minutes, only getting her first clean look on goal late in the half when she curled a shot from outside the box just wide of the post.

But Wilkinson made a change in the second half, playing Huitema more centrally as the focal point of Canada’s attack. Teammates had an easier time picking out Huitema, and she was far more involved in the final third of the pitch, forcing a smart save from Colombia goalkeeper Michell Lugo in the 69th minute.

The breakthrough finally came in the 77th minute when midfielder Caitlin Shaw’s in-swinging corner kick found Huitema deep inside the box and she headed it home. It was a perfect delivery to the back post by Shaw, but an even better play by Huitema to perfectly time her run to get on the end of it.

“The build-up was incredible, and the corner was drawn from an amazing play and an opportunity. It was just the desire to get on the end of it. [Shaw] put in a great ball and I couldn’t have asked for anything better,” Huitema said.

Canada put the game away in the 88th minute on a play started by Huitema, whose brilliant and deft one-touch pass sent fellow forward Kaila Novak clear on goal. The Colombian goalkeeper did well to make the save, but Andersen Williams was there to pounce on the rebound and tap it into an empty net. Although Huitema wasn’t credited with an assist, it was her initial pass for Novak that started the play.

Sparse crowds are disappointing

The most disheartening aspect of Wednesday’s contest came in the second half when they announced the attendance over the public-address system: 259.

Estadio Charrua looked like a ghost town as the players sweated it out before a sparse crowd, with vast swatches of the stadium remaining stone silent and completely desolate.

Thus far the overwhelming majority of the games at this tournament since it kicked off this week have been played out in front of a few hundred spectators – Uruguay’s opening match drew over 9000, and New Zealand vs. Finland broke 1300.

It’s great that FIFA is committed to bringing international tournaments such as this one to places like Uruguay in order to heighten its appreciation for the women’s game. But the attendance numbers thus far are a stark reminder that soccer’s world governing body has a bit of an uphill battle.

NOTES: Canada’s next game is Saturday against South Korea in Montevideo… In Wednesday’s other Group D match, Spain rolled to a 4-0 win over the South Koreans… Canada is one of six nations to have competed at all five previous tournaments, reaching the quarter-finals in 2008, 2012 and 2014… North Korea is the defending champion… The 16 teams at this tournament are divided into four round-robin groups, with the top two nations in each advancing to the quarter-finals.