Canada faces significant sanctions — US coming together under Hayes

For those who don’t know what’s happening: Canada was caught flying a drone over New Zealand’s practices before the opening match between the two teams. A team analyst was detained by French authorities and an assistant coach was also implicated in filming the opponent. Both were sent home.

Canadian head coach Bev Priestman removed herself from the opening game but, upon further review, she was also suspended for the tournament. It became clear, and the head of Canada Soccer said as much, that this was not an isolated incident. There is evidence that both the men’s and the women’s teams were involved in alleged spying incidents.

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Retired Canadian soccer star Christine Sinclair posted on social media that she was unaware of any suspect footage of opponents during her career.

FIFA, the Canadian Olympic Committee and Canada Soccer all launched investigations. FIFA came down hard, banning Priestman for a year, fining the federation and deducting six points from the team — an unusually harsh punishment that makes it likely Canada won’t play past the group stage.

Bev Priestman’s career is likely over. If the spying was indeed systemic, as has been alleged, former men’s and women’s soccer coach John Herdman could be on the hot seat. We’re still waiting to hear if Canada will follow through on its plans to appeal the unprecedented point deduction.

Priestman issued an apology on Sunday night through her attorney.

“I am absolutely heartbroken for the players, and I would like to apologize from the bottom of my heart for the impact this situation has had on all of them,” Priestman said in a statement. “As the leader of the team on the field, I want to take accountability, and I plan to fully cooperate with the investigation.”

The investigations will likely stretch on for months. But this is definitely a black eye for Canada as the country prepares to host the men’s World Cup in 2026. There is even the possibility, although at this point it’s just outside and punditry speculation, that Olympic medals could be stripped from the women’s team. That would be a shame, because the Canadian women were one of the bright spots in the Tokyo Games amid COVID.

Canada’s players meanwhile, have made things interesting. They’ve collected six points with wins in each of their first two games. Even if the points deduction is upheld, there’s still a chance they could reach the knockout round — the top two teams from each group advance, as well as the top two third-place teams. So if they win the final group match against Colombia in Nice, and the other results break their way, there’s a chance the Canadians could still get into the quarters.

As for the United States, below you can read the post-game comments from head coach Emma Hayes. She’s tempering expectations, but securing the quarterfinal berth early was important to set the tone for the tournament.

The focus is rightfully on the speedy trinity of Sophia Smith, Mallory Swanson and Trinity Rodman, and indeed they have developed a chemistry that has been missing in the U.S. attack in the recent past.

“We’re more than what everybody thinks. We’re not just an athletic team with fast forwards. We’re so much more than that,” Rodman said. “We need to believe deep down that we can break down teams. If that’s passing it up and laying it off and moving off of each other, there’s so much more depth that we can bring. And I think living and breathing that on the field is going to help us improve.”

Hayes said the team hasn’t done much yet. Next up for the USWNT is Australia on Wednesday here in Marseille.

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Sights and scenes

Stadium in Nice after my two games there (also covering the men’s side):

Inside Marseille’s massive stadium

And, of course, a big teddy bear.

Stories from around Paris

There are so many Olympics stories out there! But here are a few of the stories that caught my attention over the last few days.

Rachel Bachman’s excellent piece on the USWNT from the Wall Street Journal

Emily Kaplan for ESPN on Canada’s players

Rick Westhead’s incredibly detailed story about Canada spying for TSN

ESPN’s Jeff Kassouf says the USWNT should be feared again

Meg Linehan’s story from The Athletic on the USWNT coming into its own in France

Emma Hayes Q+A

Here’s some of Emma Hayes from after the game on Sunday night (Sunday day in the US):

Hayes: “It was fun, I actually really enjoyed the game. My agent texted me and said, ‘I enjoyed it — I bet you didn’t.’ And I was like, ‘No, I really enjoyed the game.’ I liked the tempo. It was a high-level game, high-level opponent, high level of tactics, high level of tactical execution on our part — that was a mature performance.

“You have to suffer, of course you do. And they’re a top team. But we were devastating when we needed to [be]. I thought we were well worthy of our lead at halftime. There’s still things that irritate me about us, but that’s for me to fix. And I say it genuinely, purely because I think we could have controlled even more. I think we allowed Germany to come back into the game in part because of our decision making.

“Front three really, really dynamic, but this is a team effort and a great first goal, great resilience after their equalizer, great save for Alyssa Naeher in the first few minutes of the game. So happy for Soph [Smith], she does so much for the team — so much, both sides of the ball, that’s growing.

“And for Lynn Williams, like this is for me a player who epitomizes everything you want in a squad. Someone who cares, someone who trains with great intensity, someone who’s intentional in everything she does. She’s deserving of what she got tonight because she doesn’t give up on herself. But most importantly, she’s the best teammate you could possibly have.”

Question: “Any update on Tierna [Davidson]?”

Hayes: “I don’t — I know that she just got a knock. I don’t know any more than that. I haven’t seen her other than a high five.”

Question: “Why do you enjoy working with Sophia?”

Hayes: “I love Soph. My type of player. She gives to the team and I think she’s having to learn as a nine — when to hold, when to stretch, when the play off of ten. So coaching her is so much fun because she absorbs it. I think the front three in general were dynamic, really fun to watch it. Most importantly, they enjoyed themselves.

“But I’m sorry to say what I’m about to say, but I’m going to say it — It is only three points. Not here to like wow everyone for a game and not do it again. We have to build the momentum. I think we have to, first of all, recovering from this type of game. Can you imagine the adrenaline? But that’s probably my biggest concern now is that you get so high, comedown is like any hangover. So we have a day and a half to recover before we go on the training pitch. We have to analyze the things that are within our control and we have to win against Australia, simple as that.”

Question: “Can you talk about that front three and how they complement each other?”

Hayes: “You can see I’m not making any changes to the lineup because you have to build connections. I think that’s my sixth game in charge maybe. So I’m still learning about them, let alone what they’re learning about each other. There’s things I’ve learned about the team tonight — from a character perspective, that I wanted to see, from a resilience perspective that I wanted to see. And then there were moments where I could see when we get lapses. Sometimes you don’t see that when you’re comfortable. When you play a top-level opponent, you get to see all sides. I saw all sides of us tonight, which I was pleased with.”