SAINT-ETIENNE, France — While Canada’s women’s soccer team unexpectedly kept its Olympic hopes alive Sunday, the players said they wanted to tell the world one thing: Gold medalists are not cheats.
Vanessa Gilles scored 12 minutes into 13 minutes of stoppage time to seal a 2-1 win over hosts France.
This came a day after the team found out that it had been docked six points by FIFA in the group stage as a result of the drone spying scandal that unfolded as the Olympics began, severely limiting the Canadians’ chances of advancing.
When news of the punishment broke Saturday evening, Giles said she nearly broke her hand while punching the wall, so angry she felt.
“It’s been 72 hours and we have no control over anything,” Giles said. “We’re not part of any of this, and we’re being punished like we just got caught doping. We didn’t do anything. We’re tired of defending ourselves over something we have no control over.”
“We didn’t get any advantage. We go out there and play as hard as we can and we work towards that goal all year long, day in and day out. So the things that we can’t control are the biggest source of anger and frustration.”
Giles was still wiping away tears as she met the media after the match. Her teammates described the match as exhausting, and Giles said: “I’ve never felt this emotional before a match, not even in a gold medal final.”
Now, after beating New Zealand and France to neutralize their group-stage points total to zero, the Canadians, whose federation plans to appeal the six-point deduction, can move on with a win over Colombia on Wednesday.
“It feels like we’re on top of the world now,” said veteran Jessie Fleming, who scored the equaliser in the 58th minute to draw France 1-1. France goalkeeper Pauline Perraud-Magnin was injured in the build-up to the goal and was replaced shortly afterwards by reserve keeper Constance Picaud.
The trouble for Team Canada began during practice before the first game, when Team New Zealand reported a drone flying over the closed-door practice session. Authorities found footage of the practice and arrested Joseph Lombardi, an analyst for the Canadian team. Lombardi and Jasmine Pander, the Canadian assistant coach he worked for, were immediately sent home.
FIFA subsequently suspended women’s soccer coach Bev Priestman for a year, along with Lombardi and Pander.
Priestman, who has already withdrawn from the tournament, issued a statement through her lawyer on Sunday saying she was “deeply saddened by the players.” She apologized to the team and the country and asked the players to “go out today and show the world what they are capable of.”
“I wish I could say more, but I will refrain from doing so at this time, given the appeal process and ongoing investigation,” Priestman wrote.
Asked if she accepted the apology, goalkeeper Kaylin Sheridan said she wasn’t sure.
“Right now, it’s really hard. It’s really hard,” Sheridan said. “At the end of the day, she’s a human being, and people make mistakes. I think down the road we’ll be in a place where we can accept that. But right now, we’re staying in our bubble. We’re not letting anything in. I think that’s really important. It’s worked so far. We’re going to keep at it as long as we can, and we’re going to prove some people wrong.”
France dominated possession Sunday night, but the Canadians said they were proud of never giving up. Players said they had to express their emotions Saturday night, which were very mixed. Several players described crying, and having trouble sleeping or eating before the game on Sunday.
“There’s a lot of negativity directed at us, a lot of things that are just mean and disturbing,” Sheridan said. “We feel like we had nothing to do with all of this stuff that’s happened. We’re being attacked right now. We’re the dartboard. Unfortunately, we had to take that on. To put up with that. To come together and really shut the world out was a really hard decision.”
“You have to trust that everyone is doing that, and that’s what we did.”
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