Canada Needs Less Errors, More Sinclair to Keep World Cup Dreams Alive

This story originally appeared on VICE Sports Canada.

The prevailing thought before the World Cup started was that if Canada was to run deep into playoff territory, Christine Sinclair would have to be—yet again—the hero to propel the world's No. 8 ranked team to great heights. Canadian coach John Herdman hinted that she'd get more support this time around through Sophie Schmidt and others, and that the Sinclair focus was a thing of the past. It's not.

Canada's play during the group stage wasn't pretty, but, somehow, it managed to squeeze out a win and two draws to qualify for the round of 16. The tournament now enters a do-or-die format, and up next for Canada is a Sunday match against Switzerland at BC Place in Vancouver.

The group stage was an interesting ride. Against China, there were nerves. China choked and strangled Canada and defended extremely well, playing for the draw and only offering five shot attempts throughout the game. Perhaps the players were adjusting to the newly-laid turf, but players from both sides made ill-timed passes or failed to kick the ball hard enough to reach their intended player, as we saw multiple times with Canadian defender Lauren Sesselmann. Canada got lucky with the Sinclair penalty in junk time and kicked off its World Cup campaign with a scratchy win.

In its following match against New Zealand, perhaps Canada underestimated the world's No. 17 ranked team. Herdman's former squad made Canada earn every touch, kick, pass and back heel—as a result, 34 fouls were given in total for the match. In the 33rd minute, New Zealand's Amber Hearn hit the crossbar from a penalty kick, which would have sunk Canada. While Canada controlled the game, like it did against China, it failed to put scoreboard pressure on and capitalize up front—Sinclair and Schmidt both had opportunities to score and either just missed or the ball landed directly on the woodwork.

Even though Canada's final group match against the Netherlands ended in a 1-1 draw, the team set a far greater tone than in its previous sluggish efforts against China and New Zealand. Canada played quick and aggressive, created a lot more chances and looked like a different outfit. Scoring in the fifth minute helped arrange that upbeat tone, but scoring early can lead to a false sense of security. Canada's second half, largely the final 15 minutes, resulted in tired errors and a late goal from the Dutch team. It appeared the team got complacent, and it was frustrating to watch its inability to close out the match with a win.

So where to from here?

Canada has a few things working in its favour ahead of the match against Switzerland. On paper, Canada is better than the No. 19 ranked Swiss team and also has room to improve, as we have yet to see even close to the host nation's best game. Switzerland will be hard-pressed to topple the Canadians if the offense is clicking and Sinclair has a breakout match.

If successful against the Swiss, Canada would play either Norway or England. If it advances beyond that, next up would possibly be Brazil or Japan, the defending World Cup champions. Canada would avoid a match with the fire-breathing Germans until the final, which increases its chances of making it that far.

If you've been watching the elite teams during the World Cup—the Germans, the Americans, the French—you'll notice they make few errors, rarely turn the ball over and have five or more avenues to score. Each team also has players who stand up in the dying minutes or when the game needs to be won.

Canada needs to find more ways to score urgently and break down hyper-defensive strategies rolled out like the way China sets up. It needs to be more creative and quick like it showed against the Dutch, while showing the aggression it did during the New Zealand match. Canada needs to clump together elements of its three group stage matches into one solid World Cup knockout campaign or Saturday could very well be the country's last game.

Sinclair is due for a breakout and can help the team achieve that. She is eons better than a one-goal tournament player. This World Cup wasn't supposed to be all about Sinclair, but her quiet play during the group stage was a reminder at how much Canada relies on the veteran.

It's time for the sleeping giant to come out of hibernation.