Canada's Olympic gold medal defense ends: ‘To have gotten this far is a testament to our group'

When it was all over, a player named Vanessa Gilles had no more tears left. She had shed those the previous two weeks, in countless players-only meetings when the team sat together in disbelief, anger, and shock. With each revelation regarding the cheating scandal involving a former head coach and a six-point deduction, Gilles and her teammates felt like they couldn’t take any more hits. Canada’s games came as something of a relief. Even on Saturday night, when it was 87 degrees in Marseille and the humidity swallowed the players from the moment they left the locker room, there was a respite in just playing soccer. “To have gotten this far is a testament to our group, to our mentality,” Gilles said. “I’m just proud of the team for how we stuck together.” Even as shot after shot for Canada missed the back of the net and as the scoreless game against Germany went into extra time, there was faith among the players that things would turn around. They had already beaten the odds, they could do it again, right? Even when the game went into penalty kicks, there was confidence. They had been in this position before in the gold medal match. They won that night. But on Saturday night, that did not happen. Germany advanced on penalty kicks and will face another team on Tuesday, while the defending gold medalists will board flights on Sunday back to their respective destinations. There will be no repeat, no parade, no medal. “It’s been a really dark place for the last couple of weeks, but in the midst of that, we’ve also created some of our best memories as a team,” said a player named Janine Beckie. “It has been a strange couple of weeks, but I’m going to leave tonight so much prouder of this team than I ever have been.” Canada didn’t win, but they didn’t lose either. Though this game will go down as a loss on their record, the players on this team can leave France with a distinct pride for what they have done over the past four games. That this team, one that was essentially docked two wins, was inches away from the semifinals is something, and someday these players should hold that feeling closely. It might not carry the same weight as a gold medal, but pride is pretty heavy too, and the players — even the ones who could cry and exited the pitch with red eyes — clearly contained that. Canada soccer has many questions to answer moving forward, and an investigation will reveal that all eventually. The interim coach declined to comment on Saturday night about an email that the former coach sent regarding spying on opponents, but any lingering questions about the players on this team were fully answered through four games in France. In each game, a different hero stole the show. And on Saturday night, though no player scored in regulation or extra time, the coach remarked about how impressed he was for a squad to put up many shots on a top-10 team. More than anything, what impressed about Canada was how it held together after a slow start. Canada has much to hold up in terms of what they accomplished in France. What comes next is anyone’s guess. The respective soccer federation will have decisions to make. For the players, there will perhaps be more tears, when they’re finally able to find them again, and maybe some reflection. But from a situation in which it’s hard to imagine a tougher road, the path from here is clear: Canada has a team of fighters who, with their backs against the wall, showed mettle, leadership, and hunger. They showed poise at every stop.