More than a game

Hockey. At times, it's just a game. Men's hockey is a somewhat odd inclusion in the Winter Olympics, given that its athletes are by and large (Tore Vikingstads excluded) internationally-renowned millionaires. That's in sharp contrast to the rest of the athletes, who generally aren't living the lifestyle of the rich and famous. At the same time, the sport is the marquee event of the Winter Olympics, and the most accessible event for many; most people have at least a passing familiarity with the game and the rules, unlike sports like curling or figure skating. It deserves to be here, and it deserves to be the final event.

The problem with that, though, is that the men's hockey final takes on so much significance that it can overshadow the rest of the Games. This is especially true in Canada, where our national identity is so bound up with hockey. As I wrote earlier, that's a somewhat superficial comparison, because we are much, much more than that. It still is an accurate one, though; despite our differences and our other interests, by and large, we still have such an incredible overriding concern for hockey.

That's why I was a bit concerned before this game about a potential excess of Canadian pride. Often, our passion for hockey enters unrealistic territory; we take a page from Don Cherry's playbook and start to think that Canadians are the only ones who can play and the natural superpower. That's not the case anymore. Before the tournament, I did predict that Canada would win, but I figured that any of four teams (Canada, Russia, the U.S. and Sweden) had a good shot at the top spot, and Slovakia and Finland provided surprisingly good as well.

Hockey may be a Canadian game in origin, but it's moved well beyond the bounds of Canada and there are great players from all over the world. Jingoistic types like Cherry still fail to realize that, and in doing so, they put such pressure on Canada to win every tournament that it becomes unrealistic. The Canadians may have the best and the deepest lineup, but there's a lot of parity out there, and upsets are to be expected (as happened against the U.S. in the round-robin).

Still, if Canada had come up short here, as they very nearly did, it would have spoiled the Olympics for many. All the success the country had acheived, even tying for the most golds ever won in a Winter Olympics, would have been overlooked because of a less-than-expected performance in men's hockey. The celebrations would have gone on, but they would have been muted rather than exuberant. There would have been a lengthy post-mortem, complete with endless dissections of the roster selection and the coaches' decisions. In short, it would have cast a pall [Barry Petchesky, Deadspin] over everything else that had been acheived. Instead, this victory just puts a cap on the celebration [Greg Wyshynski, Puck Daddy]. That it came in such dramatic fashion, in such an outstanding game [Andy Hutchins, The Sporting Blog], is just the icing on the cake, and made the hockey tournament the perfect conclusion to the games.

Are there still issues to be addressed with Olympic hockey? Of course there are. For one thing, I've argued all tournament that the smaller NHL-size ice gave physical teams like Canada, the U.S. and Finland (who earned the bronze last night) a big advantage as opposed to the more wide-open style of play on the Olympic-size ice used in Turin in 2006. Timo Seppa, a Finnish-born hockey writer at Puck Prospectus who also runs Ice Hockey Metrics, made the same point in a preview of the Olympic tournament over at the SportsJudge Blog. That doesn't mean these teams would necessarily have failed on bigger ice, but it does raise an intriguing question as to how they'll perform in Russia in 2014. After all, Canadians may have some scoring talent these days, but we all know that a farmboy from Canada has to hit somebody.



First off, though, the NHL has to let their players go to those Olympics. As Phil Catelinet wrote, the Olympics are a tremendous promotional venue for the NHL. It's basically like two weeks of all-star games where the players actually care, and throwing nationalism into the equation gets many non-hockey fans and casual fans into the sport. The Olympics are like a gateway drug in that respect; some will get excited about them and then return to ignoring hockey, but others will become hooked. Unlike drug addiction itself, getting sports fans hooked on hockey is a good thing, particularly for the growth of the game in the U.S. That's why Gary Bettman has to realize how important the Olympics are to his league before 2014. Sure, it's a two-week break and it comes with injury issues and the like, but in the end, those are minor concerns compared to the promotion the NHL receives in return.

Still, in the end, the future can be worried about at a later date. This was the perfect conclusion to an imperfect, but highly exciting Games. In the grand scheme of things, it may be just one little victory in a simple game, but right now, it feels like so much more.

Hockeypocalypse: Can Canada keep its pride under control?

"A modern-day warrior, mean, mean stride/Today's Tom Sawyer, mean, mean pride" - Rush, "Tom Sawyer"

Today's gold-medal hockey game between Canada and the U.S. is pretty much a perfect way to end the Olympics. The U.S. leads the medal count, while Canada leads all countries in gold medals. Moreover, hockey's "Canada's sport", but one the Americans have taken up in ever-increasing numbers, and the talent gap between the two countries has increasingly diminished in recent years. It should be a fantastic display of hockey.

One of the questions is if Canada can keep its pride under control, though. For so long, there's been the attitude that all the Canadians need to do to win is just show up. That doesn't cut it anymore. Canada might still have the best roster on paper, but it's very close at the top, as their loss to the Americans in the round-robin and their close match against Slovakia in the semifinal proved. Anyone can win.

I think Canada will wind up taking today's game, but it's going to be close. The Americans are perhaps even more physical than the Canadian side, and they have a superb goaltender in Ryan Miller. They don't have quite the depth up front, but they do have some very skilled offensive players. To win, Canada will have to play with every ounce of effort they possess and not take anything for granted. I think they can do it, though, so if I had to pick a score, I'd say Canada 3, U.S. 2.

Win or lose, though, this game shouldn't provide a national crisis. If Canada wins, fantastic; that would be a great way to cap off the Games on home soil. If not, silver medals are still very good in a stacked international tournament like this. Many won't see it this way, but there's enough parity now that the "Any Given Sunday" cliche fully applies to today's hockey match.

I'm not generally a big nationalist or a fan of jingoism, but I would really like to see the Canadians win this, though. The U.S. already has had a tremendously successful Olympics, and a silver here would be better than many expected them to do. A loss won't overshadow their other accomplishments the way it likely would in Canada. For today, and today alone, I'll put on my hoserism toque and tell the Americans to take off!

Toronto FC - New York Red Bulls live blog, and US-Spain analysis

Toronto FC takes on the New York Red Bulls tonight at 7:30 at BMO Field. It should be a good game, as TFC look to translate their recent Voyageurs Cup success into MLS play. I'll be live-blogging the match here and at The 24th Minute; come stop by then!

Also,if you're looking for a soccer fix in the meantime, I have some thoughts on the U.S. - Spain Confederations Cup match from earlier today over at The Phoenix Pub, Adam has a good piece for tonight's Last Call at Avoiding The Drop, Jason Davis of Match Fit USA has reversed his stance on Bob Bradley and Andy Hutchins, my colleague at The Rookies, has a nice take over at The Big Lead. Hope to see you for the live blog!

Canada - USA women's soccer live blog

It's going to be an epic clash of countries at Toronto's BMO Field tonight as the Canadian women take on the top-ranked Americans in head coach Carolina Morace's home debut. It's the 44th match between the sides (the U.S. is 37-3-4 against Canada), but only the fifth match between them on Canadian soil. Canada has never beaten the American senior team at home, losing three times and pulling off one draw. We'll find out if that will change tonight. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. Eastern, and the game will be televised live on all four regions of Rogers Sportsnet. Come join me here then for the live blog! You can also check out my full match preview here.

Canada set to face American giants

Tomorrow's going to be a big day for Canadian women's soccer; it's new head coach Carolina Morace's first home match in charge of the team against the most feared side in the world, the top-ranked Americans. The U.S. is 37-3-4 against Canada all time, but recent results between the sides have been close, so it should be a good match. I have a full match preview posted over at Out of Left Field and will be live-blogging the match here and at The 24th Minute tomorrow night. The game is at BMO Field and will be broadcast live on Rogers Sportsnet. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. Eastern time; come by for the live blog then!

There is no joy in Canada, for Stubby has flied out

What a way to go. The Canadians came so close to beating the U.S. in today's Olympic baseball game, and held a 4-0 lead at one point. In the end, they lose 5-4 after some bad pitching and a couple of poor fielding plays. The brutal thing was how it ended, though, with Canadian legend Stubby Clapp at the plate. Clapp, the man who had to fight the Astros just to get here, the veteran whose key hitting and fielding inspired many Canadian baseball fans, playing in possibly one of the last games of his career. Once more, Canada was counting on him to get the job done after the rest of their bats came up short, and this time, he couldn't come through to save the day. You know his spirit was willing, but sometimes the aging bodies just can't do what you need them to.

It was so close to being a tremendous comeback, though. Matt Rogelsted flied out on the first at-bat of the night, but catcher Chris Robinson singled to right, and Brett Lawrie was brought in as a quicker pinch-runner. Jimmy VanOstrand pinch-hit for Adam Stern and struck out, though, bringing up Clapp with two out. Clapp battled hard, taking two balls and a strike before cranking a massive drive to right field. For a moment, it looked like Canada would pull out a miraculous victory, as Lawrie got a great jump and looked sure to score. However, the ball hooked just foul. Clapp fouled off one more pitch, but then hit an easy pop-up fly to short. It certainly wasn't his fault that Canada lost, as he had a decent game (he hit 1 for 5 with a run, and recorded two put-outs and four assists in the field). Just, this time around, Canada couldn't count on Clapp to bail them out.

This loss doesn't completely knock the Canadians out, but they're now 1-3, and they're going to have a tough time getting back in it. It's too bad, especially considering how close most of the games have been. Still, miracles do sometimes happen. For Richard (Stubby) Clapp and all the Canadians who admire him, it would have been nicer if the miracle had happened today. Our world clearly needs more narrativium, as this time around, harsh reality ruined what would have been a great storybook ending.

Related: Rob Pettapiece has all the game details in a great live blog over at Out of Left Field.

The GBU: Canada - United States soccer

Photo: Natasha Kai celebrates her game-winning goal against Canada with teammate Amy Rodriguez (left). [Photo from the New York Daily News].

I've already posted a more thorough recap of this morning's Canada-U.S. Olympic soccer match over at Out of Left Field, but I figured I'd do a quick GBU breakdown here.

The Score: United States 2, Canada 1 in extra time.

How I Saw It: On the tube.

The Good:

-Karina LeBlanc: LeBlanc has been the backup keeper to Erin McLeod for quite some time now, but she showed no rust when called upon after McLeod was injured early on. LeBlanc made several tremendous saves for Canada, including at least two on breakaways and one diving one-handed stop right in front of the goal line. Given the amount of quality chances the Americans had, LeBlanc was a huge reason that the Canadians were even able to take the game to extra time. She only allowed one goal, which came on a six-yard Natasha Kai header that was unstoppable by any mortal keeper.

-Christine Sinclair: Canada's captain showed her considerable leadership skills, single-handedly pulling the red-and-white squad back into the game by manufacturing a stunning goal out of an empty void larger than my stomach when I haven't eaten in a couple days. Her goal came off the first shot and the first chance Canada had, and there really wasn't anything there: she had a live-ball shot at the net from about 25 yards out, but nine times out of 10 those amount to nothing. Sinclair got all of it including the remainder, though, and unleashed an absolute rocket that U.S. goalkeeper Hope Solo could only wave goodbye at. Without her goal, this wouldn't have been much of a contest.

The Bad:

-Natasha Kai: Note that this is not bad from an objective standpoint, but bad from a Canadian fan's perspective. As such, Kai belongs here for her amazing play. She came off the bench at the start of the extra time, and promptly displayed some blinding speed to sneak through the Canadian defence and head home the winning goal. That's a more sudden impact than anything Dirty Harry appeared in. Besides, the dance [New York Daily News] she performed as a goal celebration was also pretty impressive (and according to the awesome Dan Steinberg, it's just one of her many choreographed celebrations [DC Sports Bog, or Beijing Sports Smog as it's known these days]). Now I know what Tunison sees in her...

-Amy Rodriguez: Similar to Kai, Rodriguez turned in a performance that was good from every standpoint except a Canadian one. Playing as the lone American striker for most of the match, Rodriguez was a constant threat. Particularly impressive was where she got trapped deep in the Canadian zone, but raced back to steal the ball from a lackadaisical Candace Chapman before Chapman even knew she was there, creating a quality American scoring chance.

The Ugly:

-The thunderstorm: The stupid storm not only soaked the pitch and postponed the match for over an hour, it also may have cost the Canadians the match. The humidity it created was likely a primary factor in why the Canadians appeared so out of gas at the end of the match. Sure, humidity affects both sides, but the Americans scored right at the start of extra time off a great play by a sub: from there on in, they only had to defend, which takes far less energy. This combined with the next entry to really hurt the Canadians.

-The Canadian injuries: Losing Erin McLeod early on was a big blow. As previously mentioned, Karina LeBlanc did a fantastic job in relief and McLeod couldn't have stopped Kai's goal, but that forced Even Pellerud to spend one of his three substitutions early on on a player who didn't have to do a lot of running. Things got worse later on, when he had to bring off Melissa Tancredi in favour of Brittany Timko at halftime (I'm assuming that she re-aggravated her earlier injury and wasn't pulled due to performance), and then had to bring Timko off after she got injured towards the end of the game. Thus, all three of his subs had to be used to cover injuries, which makes it difficult to adjust tactics that aren't working or bring in fresh legs to try and generate some offense. At the end, all but one Canadian outfield player (the spot filled by Tancredi/Timko/Jonelle Filigno) had played a full 120 minutes. In the heat and humidity just after a thunderstorm, plus the natural smog and pollution levels in China, it's no wonder that the Canadians ran out of energy at the end.

-The Canadian tactics: All of the above entries in the last two categories were problems, but not as significant as Pellerud's refusal to adapt his system when it was clear that it wasn't working. Canada spent most of the match sending long balls forward up the middle, losing the aerial battles for said long balls to the American central defenders, and then chasing back to try and regroup. There wasn't enough lateral support between the three strikers or enough vertical support between the forwards and the midfielders. It would have made much more sense to test the American defence on the ground or at the flanks after the long balls failed, but both areas were only lightly probed. In the second half, Pellerud switched from a 3-4-3 to a 3-5-2 with the addition of Timko, but he refused to attack on the wings and had both strikers (Sinclair and Kara Lang) play in a straight line in the middle of the park. If you run into a brick wall, don't keep bashing your head against it.

Angela Hucles' finishing: This entry is actually a positive for the Canadians, but it fits better under "Ugly" than "Good". Hucles did score the first goal of the game for the Americans, but she missed at least three other wide-open chances. I'm guessing there's a good reason that she's a midfielder and not a striker. As the CBC's Jason de Vos said, "Hucles has had four glorious opportunities today and has only managed to score on one of them."

Scott Russell's knowledge of Canadian soccer history:
I don't want to bash Russell too hard, because it must be incredibly difficult to serve as a multi-sport studio host and be expected to know everything about every sport. With that said, one of his halftime comments was just embarrassing for the state of Canadian women's soccer knowledge in this country. The good part was that he found a cool stat: today's match was apparently Christine Sinclair's 131th cap, which tied her for the all-time lead. The bad part was that he said it tied her with "Charmaine Cooper." That's Charmaine Hooper, Scott, and you really should know who she is if you're talking about Canadian women's soccer.

Related:
- My recap of the game [Out of Left Field].
- Jeff Blair's terrific game story, which includes the revelation that Kai's dance was supposedly based on an Eddie Murphy sketch about an ice-cream truck [The Globe and Mail].
- Lindsey Dolich has a good piece on the match, complete with ratings for the American players [ESPN Soccernet].

Canada - U.S. Olympic soccer live blog

Well, here we are with the promised Canada – U.S. quarterfinal liveblog. Apologies for the late posting of the first few entries: the technical gremlins from last time returned to eat my Internet connection, so I had to write the first 20 minutes or so offline and post it once I got the connection working.

First half:

0: It looks like a miserable day out in Shanghai: the rain is pouring down and the pitch appears rather a bloody mess. Some notes on formations from the official start list: it looks like the U.S. has opted to play defensive with a 4-5-1, while Canada counters with a 3-4-3. The lone American striker is Amy Rodriguez, who's just 21. Here's the starting lineups:

U.S.: Hope Solo in goal, Heather Mitts, Christie Rampone (wearing the captain's armband), Kate Markgraf and Lori Chalupny on defence, Lindsay Tarpley, Shannon Boxx, Heather O'Reilly, Carli Lloyd and Angela Hucles in midfield, and Amy Rodriguez up front.

Canada: Erin McLeod in the net, with Emily Zurrer, Candace Chapman and Martina Franko starting on defence, Claire Rustad, Sophie Schmidt, Rhian Wilkinson and Diana Matheson in midfield, and Christine Sinclair, Kara Lang and Melissa Tancredi up front.

3: Not a great start for Canada: the U.S. has them under pressure right off the bat. It looks like the Americans are determined to control possession the way the Swedes did, and the Canadians are letting them win the midfield battle so far.

7: A tremendous chance for American midfielder Angela Hucles from 12 yards out, but she fires over the net. A good slide to get in the way by Canadian defender Emily Zurrer perhaps forced the error.

10: The U.S. continues to dominate both the possession and the scoring chances. Not a great start from Canada so far.

12: Goal, U.S. And the Americans are rewarded for their offensive pressure with the first goal of the match. Hucles makes up for her earlier miss and notches this one from close range. Perhaps even more worrying for the Canadians than falling behind is what looks like a bad injury to goalkeeper Erin McLeod, who seems to have collided with Hucles and gotten the worst of it.

19: The rain is really pouring down now, and it probably matches the mood of the Canadians. McLeod is taken off and replaced by Karina LeBlanc. LeBlanc is a good keeper, but McLeod had an outstanding tournament to this point and has been one of the key core group of Canadian stars for quite some time: losing her will hurt.

21: And the thunder and lightning starts, so Swedish referee Jenny Palmqvist calls the players off the pitch. Looks like it will probably be a considerable delay. That's the funny thing about these widely spread venues: CBC's flashed back to their main studio in Bejing, where it looks like an absolutely gorgeous day: quite a contrast from the thunderstorm in Shanghai. In any case, the game's delayed, and that's probably a good call by the referee: the pitch conditions look atrocious, and you don't ever want to play a match around lightning. CBC's gone over to baseball coverage for the moment, but it sounds like they'll return when the soccer match begins again. The internet gremlins seem to be hibernating for the moment, so I'll keep things updated whenever anything happens in the soccer match.

Rain delay update #1: It's now 4:10 a.m. PT (7:10 a.m. ET), so the game's been delayed for almost an hour now, and there's no signs of anything changing yet. CBC's shifted over to track, while TSN's taken the baseball broadcast.

In a weird way, this delay might actually prove a blessing for the Canadians. They looked outclassed in the first 20 minutes: now's an ideal time for them to regroup, figure out what went wrong and get motivated to right it when the game resumes. The other thing is playing from a goal down might motivate them to employ a more possession-oriented offensive style, which many Canadian observers have been calling for (as I pointed out in my Out of Left Field preview), instead of waiting for counterattack opportunities. A long delay probably isn't as good for Canada, though: it's hard to keep that motivation and fire over a longer stretch of time. Let's hope things get going again soon.

Rain delay update #2: CBC anchor Scott Russell just announced that they've heard that the match is supposed to resume at 8:00 a.m. ET (5:00 a.m. PT). Let's hope so. It sounds like CBC's planning to return to soccer coverage: what will be interesting to watch is if they show the whole game, as their regular Olympic morning show ends at 9 a.m. ET and there's no way this match will be done by then. Let's hope they don't pull a Heidi or a Preakness pre-race on this country's soccer fans. In the meanwhile, there's a pretty good baseball game going on on TSN: Canada's trailing South Korea 1-0 in the seventh. I'm just waiting for Langley product Brett Lawrie to save the day with a trademark mammoth home run.

Rain delay update #3: And we're back, right at 5 a.m. PT as promised. Looks like the rain has largely stopped, but CBC announcer Nigel Reed has some concerns about the pitch. Commentator Jason de Vos thinks it will be all right though due to the advanced drainage system, saying, "You can hardly tell that it's wet."

23: Martina Franko makes a great run forward into the American 18-yard box, but some skillful defending from Markgraf sees a free kick for the Americans.

24: Update on McLeod: She's apparently sustained a knee injury, which is never good. Reed has an interesting piece of trivia, though: LeBlanc is one of only four players still on the Canadian team who were there for the last win over the U.S. back in 2001. I'm guessing the others are Randee Hermus, Martina Franko and possibly Amy Walsh.

25: Another good chance for the Americans after they break into the box, but Franko defends well and gives LeBlanc enough time to make the save.

27: Goal, Canada. Team captain Christine Sinclair scores with a long-range blast from 20 yards out. Now that's leading by example! That's her 95th goal for Canada, and as Reed commented, "Has she ever scored a more important one?" Sinclair got absolutely all of that one: that's one of the few long goals that you can't blame a keeper for allowing. It's the Canadians' first shot of the game and off their first real chance. The U.S. has dominated the play, but at the end of the day, only the scoreboard matters, and that's all level again.

33: A great ball through for Angela Huclus, who's wide open in the Canadian box, but can only manage to send a weak effort wide. Huclus hasn't had much of a finishing touch today despite her goal: as de Vos commented, "She should have had a hat trick by now."

36: The lone American striker, Amy Rodriguez, makes her presence felt with a long run into the Canadian 18-yard box and a determined battle for the ball. Franko shows the benefits of veteran experience, though, defending well and forcing Rodriguez to concede a free kick.

40: It's a little concerning that the main Canadian attack still seems to be the long-ball strategy: that doesn't often work against a team like the U.S. I'd like to see more of a midfield buildup to each attack and better use of the flanks: the main offensive thrust seeems to be through the middle at the moment, and the American central defenders are handling that well.

45: Canada's still trying to go up the middle through the air, and the American central defenders are more than up to stopping them. Wide strikers Kara Lang and Christine Sinclair aren't close enough to Melissa Tancredi in the middle, so most of the time, it's one against two, which the offence doesn't often win.

47: And, after two-and-a-half hours, we're finally at the half. It's a good match so far, made much better by that out-of-nowhere blast from Sinclair to equalize. For halftime reading, I recommend Globe writer Jeff Blair's blog post about his trip to the stadium, the epic nature of this rainstorm and the difficulties involved in translating baseball pitches.

Halftime: Well, Canadian women's soccer obviously isn't Scott Russell's first sport: he said that Sinclair's 130th cap tied her with Charmaine Cooper for the all-time Canadian lead. Uh, that would be Charmaine Hooper, only one of the most famous and controversial Canadian women's athletes. Not to bash Russell too much: he usually does a good job of covering a variety of different sports, and that was an interesting piece of trivia that I didn't know. It just would have been better if he'd gotten the name right.

Second half:

45: An interesting halftime substitution from Canadian manager Even Pellerud. He brings Brittany Timko on for Melissa Tancredi. Timko has excelled as a forward before, winning the Golden Boot at the 2004 U-19 World Championships, but she's been used as a midfielder more frequently lately. If she's coming into the midfield, that gives Canada a 3-5-2 formation, which suggests that they might be trying for more of a possession game.

50: Sinclair makes a good run, but is felled by a tackle 25 yards out. No free kick awarded, though. Reed and de Vos say Timko's playing wide left in the midfield, while Kara Lang has moved up to the lone striker role and Sinclair's playing right behind her, making this actually more of a 3-5-1-1.

52: The U.S. is again putting on some pressure. Good defending by the Canadians, especially Zurrer, who does well to clear a dangerous ball from the area. At the other end, Sinclair makes a run and lets fly from about 25 yards out, the distance at which she scored last time, but her shot is blocked by a sliding defender.

55: Canada seems to be utilizing the flanks more effectively now. Timko made a great run wide left to sneak behind the defence and Sinclair found her with a beautiful chip. It came to nothing in the end, but it's a promising side.

57: Rhian Wilkinson concedes a free kick to the Americans just outside the left side of the Canadian 18-yard box. Hucles takes it short and sets up Carli Lloyd, who fires wide from a sharp angle.

59: A great American cross finds midfielder Lindsay Tarpley in the Canadian box, right near the far post, but she's in too close to get a shot off. Tarpley finds Rodriguez in front, and her shot deflects high off Candace Chapman for an American corner. Sinclair makes a great play to head the resulting corner clear, though.

61: Another solid point from de Vos, as he points out that the pressure is now on the U.S. with the game still tied this late. A loss for Canada is expected: a loss for the Americans would be catastrophic.

62: Martina Franko concedes another corner to the U.S. after sliding to block a cross. The corner's cleared, but the Canadians will have to be careful: the U.S. can be deadly from set pieces.

63: Amy Rodriguez shows her speed, racing back to steal a ball from Candace Chapman deep in the Canadian end. The Canadian defence can't afford to be casual with the ball when she's around. That almost was catastrophic, as the Americans created a good chance off the steal.

64: The U.S. is really putting the pressure on now, and Canada's creating few chances of their own. Rodriguez is making things very difficult for the Canadian defenders. Franko made a crucial tackle on her from behind, but conceded another corner.

65: A great ball in from Hucles to Shannon Boxx off the corner, but Boxx heads wide of the far post from six yards out. That easily could have been a goal. Canada is really on the defensive now.

67: One really impressive thing about this American attack is how much pressure they're putting on with only a few players. They only have the one striker on the field in Rodriguez, and only a couple of midfielders are going all the way forward to support her. The defence is hanging back to guard against the possibilities of counter-attacks. Canada won't be able to catch them napping, so they may need to rely on a possession approach instead of just the long ball.

69: Boxx finds Rodriguez in the 18-yard-box, and she makes a great play to set up Tarpley, who is undefended about eight yards out from the right Canadian post. However, Tarpley foolishly decides to pass instead of going for goal, and the Canadians clear.

70: Yellow card to Franko after a poorly-timed challenge. Franko's been making a lot of sliding tackles today, so this was perhaps inevitable. Her experience means she usually gets them right, but she doesn't really seem to have the foot speed anymore.

71: Hucles breaks through and is in alone on LeBlanc, who bravely comes out to challenge. However, Hucles hangs on for too long and then drills a shot right at LeBlanc, who is able to parry it and then collect the rebound with some help from the defence. Hucles really should have had a couple of goals by now: as de Vos commented, "Hucles has had four glorious opportunities today and has only managed to score on one of them." Poor finishing on her part.

74: Interestingly, that same strategy of going through the middle that's currently failing Canada is working well for the U.S., as most of their attacks are coming from the centre. Part of that is Canada's formation, which only features one central defender, but another part is the great job Rodriguez and her supporting midfielders are doing. They're working brilliantly in tandem, drawing the Canadian defenders in and then finding the open player. Due to the limited players the Americans are bringing forward, Canada usually has the superior numbers on defence, but the clever skill and trickery the U.S. players are displaying make up for that.

78: The first Canadian chance in a long time, as Matheson steals the ball in the American half. Her through ball lacks quality, though, and is recovered by the U.S. Sinclair then lets fly from 30 yards out, and forces American goalkeeper Hope Solo into a diving save. She didn't get all of that one, though: if she'd hit it as hard as the first one, she probably would have had another goal.

79: Nigel Reed on how the prolonged match is causing pressure to build on the favoured Americans, who have dominated much of the game but have little to show for it: "They should have put this one to bed by now. They've had the opportunities, but they only have one in the goal column." Indeed, but at the end of the day, the goal column is the only one that matters.

82: Dangerous ball in from the Americans, and LeBlanc decides to punch it out instead of knocking it over the bar or hanging on to it. A bad decision, as the ball goes right to an American attacker. Fortunately, she can't control it, Carli Lloyd goes offside, and the Canadians recover.

82: Substitution, U.S. Tobin Heath on, Lindsay Tarpley off. Tarpley had squandered several vital chances throughout the game.

84: Kara Lang is booked for a challenge on Lori Chalupny. The game's starting to get a bit physical now, as the rivalry between the two sides heats up.

85: A great play by Rodriguez, who outwits two Canadian defenders with some moves down the left-hand side. Her cross in is over the head of Heather O'Reilly, though.

86: O'Reilly gets another good chance off a cross, but heads it wide.

87: Lang sends a great ball through for Timko, who almost knocks it in for Canada. However, Solo makes a great play to come out and grab the ball. Timko gets tripped up by Christie Rampone and crashes into Solo. Timko's now down on the pitch getting some treatment: hopefully, she'll be okay. If she needs to be replaced, that will be Canada's final substitution.

88: Reed thinks Solo may have inadvertently caught Timko in the ribcage with a knee, which seems quite possible. Timko's still on the ground wincing in pain. Good for her for going in hard, but those are the risks you take.

90: Timko's up now and limping off. She looks like she may be able to continue: perhaps she just got the wind knocked out of her.

91: As action resumes, Franko almost makes a critical error, giving the ball away to Rodriguez just outside the Canadian box. However, she recovers quickly with a great sliding tackle and clears the ball. It's been announced that there will be three minutes of stoppage time. If no one scores, we go to extra time, and we'll have to play a full 30 minutes.

92: Substitution, Canada: 17-year-old midfielder Jonelle Filigno comes on for Timko. The Americans then get a great chance, but LeBlanc makes a brilliant play, coming outside of her box to clear from Rodriguez.

93: Sinclair then gets a great chance for Canada at the other end, but the Americans respond with an almost-breakaway for the dangerous Rodriguez. Karina LeBlanc makes a sprawling fingertip save on the goal line, pushing the ball wide for a corner. The corner is long and high, and we're going to extra time.

Extra time, first half:

90: Substitution, U.S.: Natasha Kai comes on. She scored a hat-trick against Canada in a friendly back in May this year (which earned her Deadspin immortality). As she's a striker, it looks like they're going to a 4-4-2, which makes sense: the U.S. won't want to risk the unpredictable nature of penalties, so they'll probably go for goal a bit more. That might give Canada more of a counter-attack chance.

92: Canada creates a few decent chances early, but nothing too notable.

94: A great run from the U.S., but Zurrer makes a tremendous tackle from behind in the box to knock the ball out for a corner. That was risky: she could have conceded a penalty if she mistimed it. Still, a good piece of defending in the end. The corner falls to Kai, who volleys high from six yards out.

97: Rodriguez gets a good shot off, but fires it wide.

100: Canadian midfielder Rustad lets fly from long range, but it's wide. Her shot appeared to hit a U.S. player's foot, but no corner is given.

101: Goal, U.S. A superb cross in from the left finds Kai unmarked in the box, and she makes no mistake with a header from six yards out. I think it was Zurrer who was marking her and was caught just a step behind. That's the way to have an impact as a substitute. Canada will really have to go for goal now, but there's still plenty of time.

103: Another blast from the U.S., and LeBlanc makes another great save. She's done a tremendous job coming in off the bench, and the lone goal she conceded certainly wasn't her fault.

Extra time, second half:

106: Kai gets another great chance right off the bat, but doesn't get enough on the shot.

107: Rodriguez sets up Lloyd, but Sophie Schmidt does a great job of sliding in to block her shot.

108: Lloyd lets fly from 25 yards, but it's straight at LeBlanc, who makes the save. The Americans clearly aren't content with a one-goal lead, and that's probably wise: after all, the best defence is a good offence.

109: Rodriguez is again creating chances deep in the Canadian end, but she's called for offside.

109: Substitution, U.S. Rodriguez comes off, Lauren Cheney comes on. Rodriguez had a great game and was one of the Americans' most dangerous players, so taking her off is a somewhat unusal move.

110: Cheney sends Kai through alone on goal with a great ball, but she's called back for offside.

110: Canada's starting to use the flanks more effectively now, but they aren't getting a good final cross in. Franko made a terrific run forward on the left flank, but her cross soared wide of the net for a goal kick.

112: Cheney goes in hard on Wilkinson and gets booked for her trouble.

113: Kai's showcasing some great speed here, making a tremendous run in behind the Canadian defence. She then finds Cheney with a terrific drop-pass, but Cheney fires wide from 20 yards out.

114: A long free kick from the Canadians is cleared to Sophie Schmidt, who fires back in. The ball deflects off an American defender and goes out for a corner.

114: A great chance for Schmidt off the corner. She can't get a shot off, but loops a volley pass in. Solo goes for the ball but can't get it, leaving a loose ball in the goalmouth and a frantic scramble, but Lloyd clears the danger.

115: Kai gets a breakaway on the counterattack, but is stopped by LeBlanc. Lang almost gets a breakaway herself at the other end, but a tremendous tackle from behind by Heather Mitts cleanly strips her of the ball. Five minutes left, and both sides are going for it now.

116: Cheney breaks in and lets fly from 16 yards, but only finds the side netting.

118: Canada's creating a few chances, but a crucial pass always seems to go astray at the last minute. They're losing the aerial battles, but they keep trying the long ball anyway.

119: Mitts makes a long run forward from the defence and gets in alone on LeBlanc, but fires wide. Not much time left now. One minute will be added on.

121: And the final whistle blows. Tough luck for Team Canada, but certainly a deserved win for the Americans, given their tremendous advantage in chances and possession.

Canada - U.S. soccer liveblog coming up

A quick note that I'll be live-blogging the women's soccer Olympic quarterfinal between Canada and the U.S tomorrow morning. Kick-off is at 5:49 a.m. Eastern (2:49 a.m. Pacific). My preview of the game is up over at Out of Left Field. Hope to see you here then!

Stephen Hart: Canada's new technical director?

Interestingly enough, it seems Stephen Hart has been hired as the Canadian Soccer Association's new technical director, according to Sportsnet's Gerry Dobson. Surprisingly though, Dobson talks about this as if the story's already come out, but I couldn't find it reported anywhere else. Even the CSA's website has nothing on this, and still lists Technical Director as "TBD" in their staff directory. I don't dispute Dobson on this: he's one of the most connected people in Canadian soccer, and it sounds like he's already talked with Hart. If he had planned to break the news, I think he might have actually explained more about the hiring, though: at the moment, his post seems like a commentary targeted at those who already know the story. Did the CSA decide to hold off on the announcement to avoid diverting attention from tonight's crucial Canada-U.S. U-23 match for an Olympic berth, and forget to send Dobson the memo? One can only speculate. It doesn't seem that out of character for an organization with their recent struggles, though.

Hart is a good choice for the post, presuming Dobson's information is accurate. He's been involved with the CSA for 17 years, and thus is fully aware of the tremendous roles regional politics and infighting have played in the organization. He's also got considerable coaching experience, including leading the senior team on a strong run at last year's Gold Cup before their hopes were dashed by questionable officiating.

Additionally, as Dobson writes, his personality is well-suited to the job.
"I've known Stephen for a while and figure he's a guy with the right temperament for a position that would have most people pulling out their hair or chewing a finger off," he wrote. "The frustration level will be that severe. But Hart is always on an even keel, never too high, never too low," he wrote. He's a thoughtful sort who we all hope finds a way to help dig the CSA out of the hole in which they find themselves."

Hopefully, Hart will be able to navigate the murky waters of Canadian soccer and convince regional associations to buy into a national player development plan, which Canada desperately needs. A systematic way of evaluating, recruiting and nuturing talent is crucial to maintaining and building on the country's recent international successes: young players like Owen Hargreaves and Jonathan de Guzman need to be identified and supported at an early age. De Guzman left Canada for the Netherlands at 12, while Hargreaves moved to Germany when he was 16: if they had had the chance to develop their talent in Canada instead of abroad, they might be wearing our national colours now. It's good to see that we (might?) finally have a technical director: hopefully, he'll be able to continue the long, hard process of advancing Canadian soccer out of its current turmoil.

Originally posted at 3:30 P.M. ET.

Update, 6:40 P.M. So, the CSA finally got around to posting Hart's appointment on their website, and The Canadian Press picked it up (link via TSN). The CP story's quite good, actually: it features detailed interviews with Hart and acting president Dominic Maestracci. Maestracci had some interesting comments, particularly that 15 people applied for the job (six from outside Canada), which surprised me given the CSA's current infamous reputation. Also, the decision to choose Hart was apparently unanimous: that's impressive, given the frequently fractured nature of the CSA board, and is more evidence that he's the right man for the job. Also, Hart's comments are promising: it sounds like he wants to move towards a national structure for player development, but slowly enough to keep the almighty provincial associations on board.