The show goes on in Canada despite FIFA crisis
Despite the storm raging in world soccer, the show must go on and Canada and England met in a women`s friendly in front of a passionate sellout crowd on Friday that offered hope the game can survive its latest crisis.
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Hamilton: Despite the storm raging in world soccer, the show must go on and Canada and England met in a women`s friendly in front of a passionate sellout crowd on Friday that offered hope the game can survive its latest crisis.
"For these women, it is not about the money, it`s about the game, it renews your faith," said England supporter Kevin Mackowski. "And it`s good soccer, it`s a truly beautiful game."
The party atmosphere inside the stadium provided a stark contrast to the gloom and despair that has hung over the sport since FIFA was rocked to its core by the arrest of seven senior officials as part of a probe into widespread financial wrongdoing.
Battered but unbowed, Sepp Blatter was re-elected president of FIFA for a fifth term on Friday despite demands that he quit in the face of a major bribery scandal that plunged soccer`s governing body into the worst crisis in its 111-year history.
The players from both squads did their best to keep the focus on the action on the pitch but may be facing a losing battle with FIFA fallout set to overshadow their World Cup which will run from June 6 to July 5 in six cities across Canada.
Blatter`s re-election has raised fresh questions over his leadership with the possibility of civil war in international football and unhappy sponsors demanding reform.
But none of that was a concern for the two coaches whose laser-like focus is locked in on a World Cup now just eight days away.
"FIFA could have been abducted by aliens in the last week and it wouldn`t have bothered us," Canadian coach John Herdman told Reuters. "I wouldn`t have cared because our only focus is on this team and the women`s World Cup.
"Football is always going to go on. Regardless of what is happening, the game will go on.
"The genuine fan just doesn`t really care about that stuff. The genuine fan just wants to see two goals, two teams and a game of football and that is how simple we try to keep."
Canada will head to Edmonton for the tournament opener against China riding the momentum of 1-0 win over England but more important than Friday`s result was the experience of playing in front in front of a raucous sellout crowd of 23,197.
"The girls were able to feel what it was like to play in a packed house under pressure and played freely," said Herdman. "There was a lot of pressure on that game.
"They rose to that pressure, that pressure of performing knowing they had to get a result to get the momentum."