The save that saved Canada

Labbé robs Brazil in shootout after Sinclair’s miss. Up next, the U.S.

TOKYO—For years Christine Sinclair was seen as the Canadian women’s soccer team. It is never that simple, of course; nobody is a team by themselves. But she was a truly world-class player, the stonefaced, grim-faced genius, the quiet superstar, and if she couldn’t score it was hard to find others to do it. For years, the question was whether Canada could keep up with the best player in the world.

And then came Friday night at Miyagi Stadium in Rifu, four hours from Tokyo, and an Olympic quarterfinal fight with Brazil. Canada has come away with bronze medals at the past two Olympics, one with a jiujitsu-style win over France in London, one by defeating Brazil on their home turf at the Games in Rio.

The idea this time was to change the medal, aim higher, and have a chance to get all the way there. Lose to Brazil in the quarters and it would have felt like the floor gave way.

And after an evening of near-misses in the Japanese heat it had to be decided by penalties, and penalties aren’t always fair. The majority of Sinclair’s record 187 international goals haven’t been so much about that static shooting range as they’re a sort of unlocking of a moving puzzle: finding the space, anticipating the play, fighting to get there, quality at the end. Sinclair has spent most of her life trying to find seams in her reality, and being the one who sees what’s happening before anybody else. She’s been pretty great at it.

So Sinclair, the captain, won the coin toss and wanted Canada to shoot first. She stepped to the spot to open. Barbara, the Brazilian goalkeeper, waited. You want a goal, call Sinclair. She hadn’t been taking penalties lately, but she sure as hell was here.

Sinclair’s attempt was a flub. She put it halfway between the centre of the goal and the post, and once Barbara guessed the direction a save was easy. Canada was behind. How strange that Sinclair had put them there. Without family or friends in attendance at

Canada 0

Brazil 0

CANADA WINS ON PENALTIES 4-3

these Olympics all a team has is each other, but one thing about penalties is your teammates can only really watch. They can’t help you. And if you miss, you just have to walk all the way back to them, thinking about it the whole way.

So Sinclair had to walk all the way back. She had already hit the ground early in the match — she jumped and had her feet taken out and pinwheeled down into Kadeisha Buchanan’s knee. She stayed down, got up, got cleared to come back real fast. You just hoped it was OK to put her back in.

The night was going to be emotional because the Olympics are emotional. The whole Olympics has been bathed in heat and the pandemic, and in its last big international chance Canada lost to Sweden in the quarterfinals of the 2019 World Cup. It was hard. Sinclair has tried so hard for so long to achieve something really big internationally. She’s running out of time.

So then came Marta, the Brazilian great who has never won gold, and she scores so easily that Canadian goaltender Stephanie Labbé folded over like she’d been shot in a western. Pressure’s on. Jessie Fleming of London, Ont., a relative veteran at 23, shot left and low and perfect, even though Barbara guessed correctly: 1-1.

Brazil scored again, Debinha. Made it look easy: 2-1 Brazil. Canada’s next shooter was Toronto’s Ashley Lawrence, another longtime stalwart. She went left corner too, and Barbara guessed right again, but it didn’t matter. That’s how you do it: 2-2.

Brazil scored again, Erika. Labbé guesses wrong again: 3-2. And Adriana Leon of Mississauga, another longtime senior team player, puts a third straight penalty somewhere where it doesn’t matter what the goalie does. Barbara guesses wrong anyway: 3-3.

And then Labbé made a save, and Vanessa Gilles walked up.

She’s from Chateauguay, 25 years old, a centre back, inexperienced as hell: eight caps, and in a spot usually occupied by Shelina Zadorsky. She lined the ball up.

She was absolutely nails. It may have been the best penalty all night. Under Olympic pressure, Canada got four coldblooded, clinical, under-pressure moments; instead of Sinclair trying to carry Canada, Canada carried Sinclair. And finally, Labbé made another save, and that was it.

And then came bedlam, and in there Sinclair was hugged by the injured Sophie Schmidt, who has been with Sinclair in all three of the Olympics before this one, and you could see it then: Sinclair’s face twisted, a smile and a crumpling to ward off the tears, and she was more or less crying after the game ended anyway. The Olympics, as mentioned, can be profoundly emotional, even for stone-faced geniuses.

So now the United States beckons in the semifinal, and they’ll clearly be the favourites. The image of Sinclair’s three goals in that epic 4-3 loss to the Americans in the semifinal at the London Olympics, of her wild-eyed and volcanic passion, may be the enduring image of her incredible career. She very nearly dragged Canada to a final, and the idea of a Norwegian referee still resonates with Canadian soccer fans. Big game, again.

These are Sinclair’s fourth Olympics. She’s 38. Maybe she can return with Paris in only three years, when she’s 41.

But it will end at some point. Not Friday, though. Not yet. On the final penalty, with Labbé bouncing on her heels before guessing right on a so-so shot, Sinclair was Canada’s leader again. She stood with her teammates but she was first off the line, the one who saw what was happening before anybody else, and the Canadian women’s soccer team ran down the field, following the captain. And running with her, too.