Canadian women crush Morocco in international soccer friendly in Spain | CBC sport

Despite the absence of captain Christine Sinclair and other veterans through injury, Canada coach Bev Priestman notched up two wins and some youngsters showed their hands in October’s FIFA international window.

Evelyne Viens scored a goal and set up two more as Canada beat Morocco 4-0 in a women’s international friendly on Monday in Jerez de la Frontera, Spain, after beating Argentina 2-0 on Friday .

“As a coach, it’s always more exciting to look at the bench – whoever starts, whoever finishes, you know that the whole team contributes to the win,” said Canada coach Bev Priestman.

Viens, 25, scored her third goal in her 12th appearance in Canada and was a threat all game.

“She just looks like she’s enjoying herself instead of carrying the weight of the world on her shoulders. I just asked her to relax and do exactly what she does [her] Association. And she probably did. I’m very happy for them,” Priestman said of Viens, who plays for Sweden’s Kristianstads DFF.

WATCH l Fleming, Viens opened floodgates in 4-0 win:

The speedy 23-year-old Larisey opened up her senior scoring account on her third appearance.

And a pair of 19-year-olds stood out. Jade Rose started in central defense and looked calm and collected, while midfielder Simi Awujo impressed from the bench.

However, it took a while to get going.

Morocco, ranked 76th in the world, proved a stubborn opponent to break. The seventh-placed Canadians had 73 percent possession in the first half but had just three shots on target, with Fleming scoring the opener in the 24th minute.

Stronger 2nd half

“I was really disappointed in the first half. I liked the reaction in the second half,” said Priestman.

“There is never an easy international match,” she added. “These teams are resilient and they will do everything they can to give you a hard time in these games. At the end of the day 4-0 I will make it over 90 minutes. I just wish we could get that first half performance back.”

The Atlas Lionesses, en route to their first-ever World Cup, finished second to South Africa at the Africa Women’s Cup of Nations in July.

Canada defeated No. 31 Argentina in Sanlucar de Barrameda, Spain on Friday, taking the lead through an Argentine own goal in the 68th minute and an 87th-minute strike from substitute Cloe Lacasse. Morocco lost 4-0 to No. 32 Poland last Thursday in Seville, Spain.

Priestman made six changes to their starting lineup, adding goalie Sabrina D’Angelo, Desiree Scott, Jade Rose, Viens, Lacasse and Quinn, known by one name. The Starting 11 came into play with a total of 730 caps, including 416 from Scott, Fleming and Kadeisha Buchanan.

Scott, who earned her 184th cap, took over as captain from Fleming.

Injury plagued squad

In addition to Sinclair, the injured Ashley Lawrence, Vanessa Gilles, Deanne Rose, Gabrielle Carle and Jayde Riviere were absent in Canada. Allysha Chapman was injured in the physical game against Argentina.

Morocco held back in an effective defensive block, looking for counterattacks. The Canadians had more possession but struggled to build up offense in a dismal start to the competition.

That changed in the 24th minute when a poor save from Morocco goalkeeper Khadija Er-Rmichi was intercepted by an opportunistic Viens who found an onrushing Fleming in the box. The Chelsea midfielder edged out defender Nouhaila Benzina to beat Er-Rmichi for her 19th goal in 109 caps.

A minute later, Schmidt hit the crossbar with his own header from another corner. In the 80th minute, Er-Rmichi managed a hard Prince shot from the edge of the box.

Priestman sent on Shelina Zadorsky, Nichelle Prince and Schmidt early in the second half. Quinn, who appeared to have preferred an ankle, was one of the players who was substituted.

Awujo, Larisey and Zoe Burns followed from the bench as the game progressed.

A long-range shot from Morocco, the only shot on target, sent D’Angelo to a save in the 48th minute after a Schmidt rally.

Beckie made it 3-0 in the 84th after a fine pass from Schmidt. With the defender not pressing, Beckie had time to find her seat and fired the ball from the far post for her 36th goal in 98 games for Canada.

Larisey completed the goal in the 90th minute, capitalizing on a fine through ball from Viens. An oncoming Er-Rmichi initially blocked the ball, but it rebounded to Larisey, who poked it home for her first goal for Canada.

With her fourth consecutive victory, the Canadian Olympic champion improved to 10-2-3 this year after losing 1-0 to the USA in the CONCACAF W Championship final and 1-0 in the Arnold Clark Cup in July had lost to Spain in February.