The Canadian Women’s Soccer Team (CWST) won the 2020 Olympics Gold Medal.  CWST defeated the US team in the semifinal and the Swedish team in the final.   It was their “destiny”, despite being given long odds of winning the Gold.  “Lady luck” was clearly on their side.  For a more detailed back drop to the CWST’s win, please refer to the section that follows the rhyming-prose piece.

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What we can learn from the Olympics Gold Medal win by  the Canadian Women’s soccer Team (CWST)

Congratulations to the winning Canadian Women’s soccer Team
They are the first team to win gold medal for Canada in this sport
As an underdog, no one expected them to win the gold
Winning the ultimate prize was their best and apt retort

In winning the gold, they shed light on one of life’s truisms
Life is not fair; best team doesn’t always win, much to their chagrin
Playing strong defense can compensate for a mediocre offense
In soccer, penalty shots allow a weak offense to sneak a win

Being good, but not great often works, thanks to lady luck
Even Canada would acknowledge they weren’t the best team
According to FIFA’s ranking, they occupied the 8^th spot
Before coming to Japan, winning the gold was just a dream

In the semi final and final, they didn’t score a “regular” goal
Their goals came via penalty shots, a 1-1 duel between 2 players
Penalty shots involve a lot of psychology in trying to outfox the other
While penalty shots could create a win, these are not team affairs

So, to all the underdogs, don’t be deterred, keep playing the game
Stay modest and humble when lady luck shines a light on you
Enjoy the moment, since lightening may not strike twice
Despite your best hopes, the next moment of glory may not easily ensue

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Backdrop to the Olympics Gold Medal win by the Canadian Women’s Soccer Team (CWST)

Going into the Olympics competition, CWST was ranked 8^th in the FIFA’s ranking (June 25, 2021), with US at #1 and Sweden at #5.
Women’s Ranking (fifa.com)

The odds of winning, per DraftKing website (as of June 9, 2021), for the three teams were +100 (US), +900 (Sweden) and +2000 (Canada).  The US team had won Gold in 4 out of the 5 last Olympics.  Clearly they were the odds-on favorite to repeat their performance after Rio in 2016.
Olympics odds 2021: Favorites, sleepers, long shots to win women’s soccer gold medal at Tokyo Summer Games – DraftKings Nation

Canada was placed in Group E along with Japan, Great Britain, and Chile.  In the Group stage competition, Canada came in 2^nd with the UK at the #1 slot.  Canada won 1 game against Chile (2-1) and drew 2 games (Japan 1-1 and the UK 1-1) against the 3 teams they played.

In the quarter final of the knockout stage, Canada beat Brazil on Penalty Kicks (PK) after a 0-0 score (regular time and 2 extra times, for a total of 120 minutes of playing time).

In the semifinal Canada beat the US by a score of 1-0.  The lone goal was scored on a penalty shot during the regular playing time of 90 minutes by Jessie Fleming.

In the final, Canada beat Sweden on Penalty Kicks after a 1-1 draw over 120 minutes (regular + 2 extra times).  The lone Canadian goal was once again scored by Jessie Fleming on a penalty shot during the regular playing time of 90 minutes.

So, in summary, Canada won outright only 1 of the 5 matches it played.  In the knockout stage, they won due only to penalty shots (either during the regular 90 minutes or penalty kicks after the regular and 2 extra time sessions).

Penalty shots are a 1 on 1 affair, not a team affair.  An excellent penalty shot player can make a huge difference in winning vs. losing.  Further, the award of a penalty shot during the pre-PK session (i.e., regular time and Extra time) is a matter of “chance”.  The infraction by an opposing player has to happen in the penalty area and has to be called by the referee and confirmed by VFR.  The infraction could easily be unintentional, rather just a happenstance.

Penalty shots involve a lot of psychology.  The goalkeeper tries to intimidate/distract the penalty shot taker.  The attacker tries to mislead the goalkeeper by showing moves to go left (right) but go right (left) of the goalkeeper.  The goalkeeper makes an informed guess as to which way she/he thinks the attacker will go.  If she/he guesses incorrectly and the attacker doesn’t bungle the shot, the goal is scored and not much the goalkeeper could do.  Should the goalkeeper make the right guess, then it depends on how good the shot is from the attacker.  A capable and experienced attacker, such as Megan Rapinoe (US) can score on penalty kick even when the goalkeeper makes the right guess.

The “destiny” was clearly on Canadian’s side.  In the Penalty kick phase, the two teams take turns to kick penalty shots until one of the teams gains the winning edge. As to who starts the penalty kick session is determined by a coin-toss.  Should there be no winner after 5 tries, the teams enter into a “sudden death” phase.

In the match against Sweden, Canada and Sweden were tied 2-2 after 5 penalty shots were taken turn by turn.  Given that Canada had won the coin toss, they took the 6^th shot before Sweden could and scored.  Since this was the “sudden death” phase, Sweden didn’t get a chance to respond.

The rest is history!

As a dual citizen of Canada and the US, I get to double-dip.