Canada’s Yongchuan Cup win over China ain’t pretty, it just looks that way

National women’s-team coach John Herdman warned that the bronze-medal-winning program would take some steps back as new blood needed to be worked into the system. For 74 minutes into the opening match of the Yongchuan cup, his warnings looked to be bang on. Canada and the hosts were locked at 0-0. But Canada hadn’t threatened the Chinese goal — and the hosts had a couple of golden chances to take the full three points. China dominated possession, while the Canadian struggled to get across half. But then a moment of individual brilliance from Adriana Leon gave Canada a 1-0 lead — and an eventual victory by that same scoreline. Leon, who scored a hat trick against Argentina at last year’s U-20 Women’s World Cup, walked to the top of the Chinese penalty area, was able to shuffle the ball to get past a defender and then hit a low drive inside the far post to give Canada the goal that no one saw coming. In a game that saw Herdman start a youthful lineup, including 17-year-old Kadeisha Buchanan and Christabel Oduro, who was Leon’s teammate at the U-20 World Cup in 2012, it was the Canadian veterans who stuck out, for the wrong reasons. Defender Lauren Sesselmann, used as a centre back, endured a difficult first half. Chinese striker Zhang Rui blasted over the bar after she eluded Sesselmann’s mark. Before the game was 20 minutes old, Rui forced Canadian keeper Erin McLeod into a diving save after Rui got her foot to a cross into the box. Again, Rui had shrugged off te mark of Sesselmann, who was neither goal side nor ball side of the striker. Sesselmann, who did have the only thing that resembled a shot on goal for Canada in the first half, a header off a Sophie Schmidt corner that went tamely wide of the Chinese goal, had one more misadventure. Late in the first half, Sesselmann came to the top pf the box to challenge Li Ying; Ying skipped inside of Sesselmann, but her shot was palmed away by McLeod. Sesselmann wasn’t the only returnee from the Olympic team to struggle. Neither Desiree Scott, working in the back of the midfield, or Diana Matheson, named team captain as captain Christine Sinclair begins her four-game suspension, could get any kind of hold in the game. Scott went off just after the one-hour mark. In the second half, Oduro did have a golden chance to help Canada steal three points it didn’t deserve. She got in behind the backline, running on to a through ball. But instead of shooting from the right channel, she hesitated and tried to square the ball — but ended up giving the ball away cheaply. She was trigger shy in a position where she had to shoot the ball. But Leon took her off the hook with her goal — and, after a sluggish 74 minutes, Canada roared to life, spraying the ball around the park — when, for most of the match, it struggled to put three passes together. Nichelle Prince, who won’t be 20 till 2015, the year the Women’s World Cup comes to Canada, had a great chance to make it 2-0, but was denied by a great save. RELATED: Herdman names experimental women’s roster for Yongchuan Cup (CLICK) Herdman: Tough times ahead for women’s soccer in Canada (CLICK)