Match in Focus: Canada stun France with last-gasp winner

Vanessa Gilles was Canada's hero, scoring the winner in the 102nd-minute as the defending gold medallists ended a tough week hanging onto their slim chances of Olympic progression...

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It’s rare the hosts are playing in a major tournament match and more of the focus is on the opposition, but that’s the unique position defending gold medallists Canada found themselves coming into this clash.

The narrative should have been hosts vs holders, but the spygate scandal which has engulfed Canada, its players, staff and federation over the past days has ensured little else has been discussed.

Bev Priestman was a noticable absentee after her one-year suspension was announced by FIFA, and as interim head coach Andy Spence stood in the middle of the pitch and clapped his likely mentally exhausted players onto the pitch for the warm-up, it felt like resilience would have to trump outright talent to get a result after a taxing week.

There are of course people who think Canada shouldn’t be here at all now, and while the players have pleaded they knew nothing of the drone situation and never saw any footage, the reputation of Canada Soccer has been tarnished, even if that’s not a slight on the players themselves.

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With their six-point deduction hanging over them and essentially making their opening round win over New Zealand redundant, nothing but a win would really keep them alive on a sticky night in Saint-Étienne.

After a first half where they often found themselves penned in by France, it looked like an unlikely pipe dream when Marie-Antoinette Katoto struck, but Canada rewrote the narrative after the break, first equalising through captain Jessie Fleming, before defender Vanessa Gilles popped up inside the box in the 12th minute of added time to seal the win.

At full-time, there was scenes of emotion usually reserved for the gold medal, but this game meant more to the 22 players, and as well as anything else, it has kept them in the hunt for an unlikely place in the quarter-finals.

Here’s five key takeaways from the match in WFC’s view…

Katoto class shines through

I pointed out the other day in my 5IVE round-up that Katoto had been sorely missed by France in too many major tournaments now.

Whether it be her exile at the hands of Corinne Diacre in 2019 or the injuries which ended her Euro 2022 prematurely and kept her out of the 2023 World Cup, PSG forward Katoto is making up for lost time with a real clinical edge.

Not content with her two goals in the opening round of games against Colombia, Katoto found the decisive breakthrough against Canada at a critical time, just minutes before the break and as the defending gold medallists were doing a better and better job at frustrating the Olympic hosts.

But in one swivel and one shot to wrongfoot Kailen Sheridan in goal, Katoto was off flying towards the corner flag, knees first by the time she got there, to take the adulation of the partisan French crowd.

If Renard’s side go far enough in this tournament to earn themselves a medal in front of their own supporters, Katoto is going to have a big say in their destiny.