Melissa Tancredi injured in Canadian women's soccer win over China

Teenage midfielder Jessie Fleming scored a highlight-reel goal in the sixth minute to give Canada a 1-0 win over China on Wednesday in its penultimate outing before the Rio Olympics.

Coach John Herdman called it a dominant performance but it was one that may have come with a cost. Veteran forward Melissa Tancredi came off in the second half with an ankle injury after colliding with Chinese goalkeeper Zhao Lina.

"We'll wait and see. It's definitely a little bit of a concern at the minute," Herdman said of the injury.

There was some positive news in that the 34-year-old Tancredi, who won her 119th cap Wednesday, was walking around after the game.

Beautiful goal

Still Canada finished with 10 players, given it had used the six substitutions that had been agreed on before the game.

Fleming's goal was a beauty. She cut through the Chinese defence before beating the 'keeper for her third goal in 29 senior appearances.

"I thought (Christine) Sinclair's goal against Costa Rica (at the CONCACAF Women's Olympic Qualifier in February) was one of the best I'd seen for Canada but Jessie took it up a notch today," said Herdman. "It's the first time I've see a Canadian do what she did, which is to dribble past three Chinese players and just coolly slot it home.

"I've been waiting for a goal like that for a long time. I said that to Jessie afterwards. It sort of marks the type of player she is and the type of player Canada's needed. And I think she can be that — a clever little magician in the midfield that can just find another gear through her technical ability."

The 18-year-old midfielder from London, Ont., is headed to UCLA this fall.

"First half, I think we could have been two, three up," Herdman said. "And the second half, the first 15-20 minutes, we could have put the game to bed with a couple of good chances."

The game at Stade Sebastien-Charlety was originally billed as a closed-door friendly. But it was a full international, albeit one that was not promoted to the public and played before a handful of Chinese fans.

It was a far cry from the last time the teams met in June 2015 when a crowd of 53,058 watched Sinclair bury a stoppage-time penalty for a 1-0 win in the opening game of the Women's World Cup at Edmonton's Commonwealth Stadium

The Canadian women, ranked 10th in the world, play their final warmup game Saturday against third-ranked France in Auxerre with a much larger crowd expected.

The French beat the 12th-ranked Chinese 3-0 at the same Paris venue on Sunday.

Herdman used most of his roster Wednesday, bringing on Tancredi, Deanne Rose, Rebecca Quinn, Josee Belanger, Nichelle Prince and Allysha Chapman at halftime for Sinclair, Desiree Scott, Sophie Schmidt, Diana Matheson, Rhian Wilkinson and Janine Beckie.

Stephanie Labbe played the whole game, recording her 15th career shutout.

Schmidt's 150th cap

Canada improved its 2016 record to 10-3-0.

It was a milestone game for Schmidt — her 150th cap — and Herdman — his 50th international win as a coach (his record with Canada and New Zealand stands as 50-27-12).

Herdman also celebrated his 41th birthday Tuesday, pranked by his team during practice. Chapman and Tancredi faked getting into a fight and while Herdman tried to figure out what was going on, he took a pie in the face from a stealthy Prince.

"I didn't see that one coming," said Herdman.

Also Wednesday, Canadian defender Kadeisha Buchanan and fullback-midfielder Ashley Lawrence (West Virginia), goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan (Clemson) and defender Quinn (Duke) were among 36 women on the list of contenders for the 2016 Missouri Athletic Club's (MAC) Hermann Trophy, awarded to the top NCAA player.

Buchanan was one of three finalists for last year's award.

By The Canadian Press