Casey Stoney was unabashed in her assessment of Canada's 1-0 loss to the 11th-ranked Netherlands in a women's soccer friendly on Tuesday.
“Not good enough,” said Canada's Nijmegen coach. “Not anywhere near the same level in terms of technical quality, ability to hold the ball, win 50-50 duels. Not the standard we want or require when we play top opponents.”
The Dutch were faster, more creative, more aggressive and connected better for most of the game. With some key pieces missing, Canada's once vaunted ability to win physical battles was absent.
“I played against Canada, I watched Team Canada and all I heard was that that was the difference. Well, that's not the case now,” said the former England captain. “So we need to go back to basics. Honestly, I think we look like little girls versus women at times in terms of duels.”
“Look, we have a lot of work to do,” she added.
Lynn Wilms scored against the classy Dutchman who had been leading the dances for most of the evening. The home side took the lead in the 28th minute and could have extended their lead with more scoring.
Ninth-place Canada offered little more in the second half, but the Dutch kept coming.
“To be honest, I didn't take away a lot of the positives tonight,” said Stoney, who lamented Canada's string of losses and failure to capitalize on the chances it had.
Netherlands Lynn Wilms scored the only goal in Tuesday's friendly as the Dutch defeated Canada 1-0 in Nijmegen, Netherlands.
Defender Jade Rivière was the best of the Canadians, creating a threat down the right flank.
“Jade has the potential to be one of the best defenders in the world… We just didn't have enough players to [required] level,” Stoney said.
She said it will take time and possibly personnel changes to correct the situation.
“But who am I changing personnel to?” – she asked rhetorically. ” [player] The pool is a pool, and it’s so small.”
The message to her players was to go back to their clubs and work on the field and in the gym to improve.
It was the third straight defeat for Canada, which had not scored in 274 minutes since beating Costa Rica 4-1 on June 27. It was only the Canadians' second loss to the Netherlands in 15 meetings (9-2-4).
The Canadian women, who missed several key moments due to injury, lost 1-0 to No. 24 Switzerland on Friday in Lucerne. On July 2 in Washington they lost 3-0 to the second-place United States.
Stoney warned the Swiss and Dutch are “ready to compete now” with a “very competitive” UEFA Women's Championship in July. In contrast, she noted that Canada's last competitive game was Aug. 2, 2024, a penalty shootout loss to Germany in the quarterfinals of the Paris Olympics.
This doesn't make things any easier for Canadians. They finish the year in the November international window with a two-match series against No. 8 Japan, as well as games in Nagasaki on November 29 and December 2.
“These games are here for a reason,” Stoney said. “We need to fight right now to get out of this, to know exactly what we need to do to get better. And who do we need to bring into the team to make sure we compete at the highest level.”
The Dutch played possession
Under Stoney's leadership, the Canadians fell to 6-4-1.
As expected, the Dutch played possession (they had 70% of the ball in the first half), while also looking for holes in the Canadian defence. They found a big goal in the 28th minute.
The Canadian defense was torn apart after a deft passing attack that ended with Esme Brugts beating Canadian defender Jade Rose and sending a perfect pass just past the outstretched leg of center back Shelina Zadorski. The ball found Wilms alone in front of goal as a result of a simple attack on goalkeeper Sabrina D'Angelo, Wilms' teammate at English Aston Villa, who tried unsuccessfully to return to position.
Stoney made three changes to her starting lineup, with D'Angelo, guard Ashley Lawrence and Jordyn Huitema replacing Kaylen Sheridan, Gabby Karl and the injured Olivia Smith.
One of Canada's women's national soccer team's rising stars, Olivia Smith, was injured Friday in a friendly against Switzerland and had to have her golf cart removed from the field.
This was an experienced line-up, with the Canadian starting lineup coming into the match with a total of 945 caps. Lawrence earned her 150th cap while captain Jessie Fleming collected cap number 149.
Canada failed to take advantage of its few chances.
Adriana Leon's goal in the 62nd minute was disallowed for clear offside. Dutch goalkeeper Lise Kop, who plays for England's Tottenham Hotspur, made a great save to deflect Janine Sonis' shot over the crossbar in the 72nd minute.
Nichelle Prince's goal was ruled offside in stoppage time, which Stoney said was clearly in play.
In the second half, Canada fielded Karl, Nichelle Prince, Marie-Yasmine Alida, Holly Ward, Evelyn Viens and Marie Levasseur.
Absent from Canada were injured goalkeeper Lisianne Proulx (Juventus), defenders Kadeisha Buchanan (Chelsea) and Vanessa Gilles (Bayern Munich), midfielder Simi Awujo (Manchester United), as well as Smith and teenage striker Kayleigh Hunter.
