Canada shows us mental toughness with two-goal fightback against Sweden

After Canada fell behind 2-0 to Sweden after just 15 minutes of their final Olympic group-stage match, you could feel a collective national groan. Despite all of coach John Herdman’s positive reinforcement, was this team still not mentally tough enough? Would we see another monumental collapse, like we saw in that infamous 4-0 Women’s World Cup loss to France? Did we have to accept that this Canadian team simply isn’t good enough when it faces one of the top five women’s soccer nations? But, Canada did something that it wasn’t able to do under former coach Carolina Morace. Instead of folding the tent, the Canadians fought back. And, the resulting 2-2 draw with the Swedes guarantees Big Red a spot in the quarterfinals. Yes, the draw means that Canada finishes third in its group and will earn a date against, gulp, other group’s winner in the quarters. There’s a good chance that the opponent could be the Americans. But, in a 12-team tournament, you know that you don’t have many minnows in the crowd. You have to get hot in a series of games against world powers. Canada’s tying the goal, which came late in the second half, was a mix of precision and determination. Melissa Tancredi, whose legend has only grown since the tournament began, made a darting run, through the Swedish backline to throw herself at a perfect cross from Christine Sinclair. Tancredi exemplified Canada’s effort. She was gritty and created a series of scoring chances. She got Canada to 2-1 right before the stroke of halftime after finishing a cross from Rhian Wilkinson. And, had it not been for some good goalkeeping from Sweden’s Hedvig Lindahl, Tancredi would have had more. Canada came out with intent to score, and held a wide margin in possession. Sinclair saw a golden chance to open the scoring cleared off the line. With Lauren Sesselmann forced to play as an emergency centre back, and Marie-Eve Nault promoted from taxi squad to left back, going forward was the best strategy. The injury crisis which has claimed Emily Zurrer, Candace Chapman and Robyn Gayle left the team very thin at the back. But, despite Canada being able to press forward, you knew question would soon be asked of a decimated back line. And, in the 14th minute, on Sweden’s first real attack of the match, it got the lead. Marie Hammarstrom was left unmarked in the box to tap home a cross from Lina Nilsson, the same woman who had just cleared Sinclair’s attempt off the line. You had to wonder what giving up a goal on the suckerpunch would do to Canada, a team that struggled with its confidence at the World Cup. And, two minutes later, we all thought the worst, as keeper Erin McLeod, for the second time in as many starts, misplayed a cross. The ball caromed off Sofia Jakobsson’s leg and into the open goal. But this time, Canada was able to pick itself up. Yes, there was luck involved; right before Tancredi’s equalizer, Sweden’s Johanna Almgren side-footed a shot wide when she had an open goal begging for her. And, there will be concerns ahead of the quarter-final; Nault hobbled out of the game, favouring her right leg, late in the second half. Canada will go into the most important game of Herdman’s tenure as coach with a backline that could be put together with Scotch tape and Band-Aids. RELATED: Canada beats South Africa, but shorthanded side still has plenty to do (CLICK) After Olympic loss to Japan, we will now see if mental preparations paid off for the Canadian women (CLICK)