What A Game
Courtesy Amy Walsh Amy Walsh Official Website
Canada 1 – China 1
What a game. In front of 52 800 screaming and chanting Chinese fans—and pockets of Canadian supporters,consisting mostly of our family and friends—we tied China in a game we probably should have won.
We looked really, really good out there, and the way everyone dealt with the crowd was phenomenal. So many teams have entered an environment like yesterday’s and buckled under the pressure, but instead, we seemed to thrive on it. Actually, maybe I’m giving us a little too much credit for coping with the masses since some of the Chinese chants sounded distinctly like, “Canada! Canada! Canada!”
I suppose it’s all in the way you decide to use it: Will you sink or will you swim? For all of us, it was about soaking up the support, the boos, the catcalls—the noise in general—and using it to our advantage. We have played in front of more hostile crowds before (Maracana stadium in Rio and Juarez during Olympic Qualifying spring to mind) so this wasn’t something new. Frankly, I think it served to fire everyone up even more.
One of my favourite moments came prior to the start of the game as we headed down the long stadium tunnel to the field entrance. We were jumping up and down, whooping and hollering, yelling at the top of our lungs—just having a great time getting each other wound up and using it as last-minute motivation.
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