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Emily Kaplan, ESPN
SAINT-ETIENNE, France — As the Canada women’s soccer team improbably kept its Olympic hopes alive on Sunday, players said they wanted to let the world know one thing: The defending gold medalists are not cheaters.
Vanessa Gilles scored 12 minutes into a 13-minute stoppage time to finish off an unlikely 2-1 comeback win against host France.
That was a day after the team found out it was being docked six points by FIFA in the group stage as a result of a drone spying scandal that unfolded as the Olympics began, which severely limited the Canadians chances of advancing.
When news of the punishment dropped on Saturday night, Gilles said she almost broke her hand punching a wall, that’s how angry she was.
“It’s been 72 hours where we have no control over anything,” Gilles said. “We’re not part of any of this, and we’re getting sanctioned as if we just got caught doping. We did nothing. We’re just so tired of defending ourselves over something we have no control over.
“We got no advantage. We go out there, we play our hearts out, we work for this all year round, day in and day out. So it’s just the uncontrollables that are the biggest anger and biggest frustration.”
Gilles was still wiping away tears when she met with the media postmatch. Teammates described a taxing game, with Gilles saying: “I never felt so many emotions going into a game, even the gold medal final.”
Now, with wins against New Zealand and France to neutralize their group stage total to zero points, the Canadians, whose federation is planning to appeal the six-point deduction, can advance with a win over Colombia on Wednesday.
“It feels like us against the world right now,” said veteran Jessie Fleming, who scored in the 58th minute to equalize the game at 1-1. France keeper Pauline Peyraud-Magnin was hurt on the play that led to the goal and was replaced shortly after by backup Constance Picaud.
The trouble for Team Canada began during training ahead of the first game, with the New Zealand team reporting a drone flying over its closed-door practice session. Authorities found footage of the practice and arrested Joseph Lombardi, an analyst with the Canadian team. Lombardi and Jasmine Mander, the Canadian assistant coach he reported to, were immediately sent home.
FIFA then suspended women’s soccer coach Bev Priestman for one year, along with Lombardi and Mander.
Priestman, who already removed herself from the tournament, released a statement through her lawyer on Sunday saying she was “absolutely heartbroken for the players.” She apologized to the team and the country and told the players to “go out today and show the world what you’re made of.”
“I wish I could say more,” Priestman wrote. “But I will refrain at this time, given the appeals process and the ongoing investigation.”
Asked if she accepted the apology, goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan said she wasn’t sure.
“Right now, it’s really tough. It’s a really tough thing to do,” Sheridan said. “Ultimately, she’s a human being, and people make mistakes. I think later down the road we’ll be in a place where we can accept that. But right now, we’re staying in our bubble. We’re not allowing anything in. I think it’s really important. It’s proving to work so far. We’re going to ride it as long as we can, and we’re going to prove some people wrong.”
France dominated possession on Sunday night, but the Canadians said they were proud for never giving up. Players said they had to channel emotions on Saturday night, which ran the gamut. Many players described sobbing in tears, having trouble sleeping or eating leading up to the game on Sunday.
“There’s so much negativity directed toward us, and so many things that are just mean and messed up,” Sheridan said. “We feel like we have nothing to do with what all these things that are gone on. We’re under attack right now. We’re the dart board. We unfortunately had to take that. For us to take that. In order for us to come together and really shut the world out was a really hard decision.
“You have to trust that everyone is doing it, and we did.”
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