December 22, 2013 - 1:13 PM
BRASILIA, Brazil - Canada had to wait until the 83rd minute of its match against Scotland before scoring a goal.
But luckily for the Canadian squad, one goal was all it needed.
Winnipeg's Sophie Schmidt scored the winner off a Diana Matheson corner kick to seal Canada's third-place spot in the Torneio Internacional de Futebol Feminino in Brazil on Sunday.
"It's probably one of my goals to become a more prolific goalscorer so I've got to keep that mentality moving forward, especially when the likes of Christine Sinclair and Adriana Leon aren't putting the ball in the back of the net," Schmidt said. "We've got to get that support from that midfield unit so I want to keep scoring more often."
A young Canadian team consisting of 15-year-old Jessie Fleming, 16-year-old Sura Yekka, 18-year-old Kadeisha Buchanan, and the 21-year-old Leon looked comfortable throughout the match, aside from a few Scotland chances which included a near miss when their opponent hit the crossbar early in the second half.
Head coach John Herdman says he was impressed with the talent shown by his young team.
"In today's game, we played with a 15, 16, and 18-year-old on the pitch and a 21-year-old all at the same time. So if you talk about the future I think things bode well," said Herdman. "It's going to be great for the future. I was very impressed with Jessie Fleming today and her composure in her (full) debut."
Leon and Sinclair scored in Canada's 2-0 victory over Scotland in the tournament opener on Dec. 12. The Canadians then lost to Chile 1-0 on Dec. 15 and earned a 0-0 draw with host Brazil on Dec. 18.
That loss and draw sent Canada to a rematch with Scotland for third place.
"The girls deserved to get something out of that today and they did," Herdman said. "It's just about resilience, persistence to keep going, and I think we should have had it sewn up by halftime to be honest."
News from © The Canadian Press, 2013