Canada Not Showing Enough Confidence at Women's World Cup

They are atop their group with one game to go, and they have not conceded a single goal in the Women's World Cup.

Still, Canada's 0-0 draw against New Zealand on Thursday night raises some doubts.

Christine Sinclair has scored Canada's only goal of the tournament thus far, and even that was a gift of a penalty in the 92nd minute against China.

Their offence, which coach John Herdman championed as Canada's main weapon before the tournament in a Globe and Mail editorial, is misfiring. One goal from 24 shots over two games is not good enough.

"We've got to put them away if we want to go far in this tournament," Herdman told TSN after the match. "That's going to be the key to our success."

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Secondary scoring is a big concern for Canada as defenders double up on Sinclair, the main threat in red. Melissa Tancredi, in particular, had chances against New Zealand—including a solo run in the box—that she scuffed.

Known for her imposing presence on the field, Tancredi simply has not done a good enough job as a reference point in the attack, and Herdman may be wise to start pacy forward Adriana Leon ahead of Tancredi in the group-stage finale against the Netherlands on Monday. Canada need to win it if they want to top the group.

"Canada seems to do it the hard way," Herdman told the press, per TSN. "That's how we roll."

The lack of goals on the front end has also put more pressure on the back. And in the first half, Canada almost paid for that.

Nineteen-year-old defender Kadeisha Buchanan lost the ball in the middle of the pitch, and as teammate Allysha Chapman chased it down, she committed a foul in the penalty area.

If New Zealand's Amber Hearn had not hit the crossbar on the resulting penalty kick, Canada would have potentially lost that game and control of their group.

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Buchanan later in the second half had to make another risky challenge in the box to dispossess New Zealand midfielder Annalie Longo as she rushed to goal.

Canada are playing a dangerous game with fate. This is not a confident team playing in front of their home fans.

It's exactly the kind of game Herdman did not want to see.

"We’d like to show Canada that we’ve grown and can control the game in the opposition half rather than rely on physical defending and counterattacking strategies," the 39-year-old coach wrote in the Globe and Mail.

Canada have led possession stats in both games against China (62 per cent) and New Zealand (59 per cent), but they have not translated that territorial domination into anything of substance. To the contrary, Canada had to engage in a scrappy game with New Zealand just to take a point.

If the hosts have serious ambitions of winning this tournament—especially for Sinclair, who has shouldered the burden of the Canadian women's game for 15 years—then they need much more of a balanced performance against the Netherlands and onward.