Canada leaves France without an Olympic soccer medal, but the 22 indefatigable players lost on their own terms
It was penalty kicks, not a 6-point FIFA-imposed penalty, that ended the Canadians' Olympic journey
Minutes after the Canadian women's soccer team took down Colombia, winning the third of three must-win games to complete an improbable Olympic group stage sweep, goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan was asked what could stop her team.
"Just us, man," Sheridan told Radio-Canada's Christine Roger. "We're the only thing in our way."
A six-point penalty from FIFA, levied after a drone spying-scandal involving head coach Bev Priestman and two staff members, couldn't stop them. There's no indication the players were involved, but they were the ones who bore the brunt of FIFA's punishment.
As the noise got louder around them, the 22 players on the Canadian team did their best to shut the world out. They used that belief in each other to propel the team to two come-from-behind wins, when many had already counted them out.
At times on Saturday, it looked like the Canadians might have what it takes to defeat a strong German side and advance to the semifinals. But they couldn't convert on their chances, and the defending Olympic champions' story ended when the Germans outscored them on penalty kicks.
WATCH | Breaking down Canada's loss to Germany on the CBC Sports Primetime panel:
The Canadians are leaving France without an Olympic medal, but they lost on their own terms. They lost in a shootout, by the slimmest of margins, and not because of a penalty that was out of their control.
"What we've accomplished through this much adversity is incredible," forward Cloé Lacasse told Roger. "The individuals on this team have shown so much character throughout this tournament. Everything was against us from the very beginning."
Creating a bubble
Andy Spence, thrown into the role of head coach after Priestman's departure, said he felt his team was "dominant" during the second half and in some extra time. They played strong football and did it with heart, he said.
"Ultimately, I can't be any prouder of the group of players and staff," he said.
It's not the first time Canada's women's soccer team has relied on each other's strength to persevere.
Last year, members of this team spoke to a Parliamentary committee about how a long battle for equal treatment with their governing body, Canada Soccer, has affected them.
The players who testified in front of that committee described a fight for transparency from Canada Soccer. They described having to make do with less, even after winning Olympic gold in 2021.
"We have been successful not because of our federation, but actually in spite of our federation for so many years," veteran Janine Beckie told the committee.
While players were preparing to compete at the World Cup, they were also embroiled in negotiations over compensation, and concerns about funding cuts. The team finished last at the SheBelieves Cup in 2023 while navigating that battle. Then, they failed to advance out of the group stage of the Women's World Cup in Australia.
This Olympic tournament was supposed to be just about the soccer. But once again, the Canadians had to deal with off-pitch distractions, this time at a whole new level.
WATCH | Beckie discusses her team's performance after quarterfinal loss to Germany:
"If it wasn't for the 21 players I have around me, it would have been a lot harder," Beckie told Roger about the team's Olympic journey. "We just continued to focus on us, on our bubble, on what makes each other great, which is each other.
"I think once we got on that roller-coaster, we just rode it together and I'm just so sad that this journey is over. To look back on what we did under the circumstance, you really can't be anything but proud."
The task ahead for Canada Soccer
Off the pitch, Canada Soccer has a lot of work ahead.
The organization hired an expert on workplace investigations to look into what happened at the Olympics. Beyond that, new general secretary and CEO Kevin Blue, who came into the organization promising to rebuild trust, has vowed to get to the bottom of the extent of the spying.
"The more I learn about this specific matter, the more concerned I get about a potential long-term and deeply embedded systemic culture of this type of thing occurring, which is obviously completely unacceptable," Blue said last month.
Blue used the word rehabilitation in that press conference, saying Canada Soccer needs to work to make the organization "a federation that you are all proud of."
The organization will need to sort out who will lead the team into the next cycle of major tournaments, with Priestman banned by FIFA for a year.
On the field, Spence found positives in the team's performance and the players who will lead the team into the future.
"That's what fills my heart with the belief that this team's only going in one direction, and that's definitely a real forward direction," Spence told Roger.
One of those players, 20-year-old Simi Awujo, couldn't have imagined the circumstances in which she played her first big international tournament with Canada.
She took away a lesson on the team's resiliency, on how they have each other's backs.
That, she said, made a difficult experience easier, and it's that quality that she hopes Canadians will think about when they look back on this team.
"It really sucks that we had to lose on [penalty kicks] of all things," she said.
"But I think it just kind of shows that we're a force to be reckoned with. Things can try to tear us down and we'll always come back."
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