Hooper's early goal stands up in 1-0 Canada win over China

In a match in which China dominated possession, and outshot Canada by a 16-5 margin, the only goal that found the net was a 7th minute header by Canada's Charmaine Hooper, and the Canadian side held on for the final 83 minutes for the 1-0 quarterfinal victory in front of 20,021 fans at Portland's PGE Park.

After the teams exchanged early crosses into the box that were snared by the goalkeepers, Canada had the first good scoring chance in the 6th minute, when a Christine Sinclair cross to Christine Latham forced a quick save from Chinese goalkeeper Han Wenxia to tip the ball wide. After the corner kick, a Diana Matheson ball from near midfield found Charmaine Hooper in the box, and the Canadian striker got to the ball just before the charging Chinese goalkeeper, and her header from 10 yards out put Canada out to an early 1-0 lead.

One minute later, China nearly equalized when Sun Wen's shot from 20 yards out to the Canadian keeper's right deflected off the top of the crossbar before going over. Three minutes later, A long through ball into the Canadian box forced Canadian goalkeeper Taryn Swiatek to come off her line to smother the ball near the top of the box.

China had another good chance in the 13th minute when Bai Jie headed a shot just wide right from 10 yards out. Play was end-to-end for much of the first half, and Sinclair snuck in behind the China defense and was briefly open but her shot from 15 yards out was right at the Chinese keeper. Sun Wen had China on the attack again in the 17th minute when her shot from inside the Canadian box was just wide left.

In the 20th minute, a dangerous cross into the box from China forced a last-minute clearance by Hooper, and after another dangerous cross off the rebound, Swiatek came off her line to control the ball and end the threat.

In the 29th minute, China's Fan Yunjie unexpectedly went for goal off a free kick from 40 yards out, and a seemingly innocent shot at first dipped towards the upper right corner, going only a yard or two over the bar. One minute later, China had another good scoring chance when a cross from the left side found Jie momentarily open in the box, but her header was wide left. In the 37th minute, a through ball from Sun Wen found Bi Yen open momentarily in the box, but her shot from 12 yards out was into the left side netting. In the 44th minute, Sinclair had Canada threatening again when her header off a free kick was just wide left from near the penalty spot. China had the final good scoring chance of the first half when Bi Yan's shot from near the top of the box was right at the Canadian keeper, and the half would end with Canada holding onto a 1-0 lead.

Swiatek had to be sharp in the Canadian goal early in the second half, as within the first ten minutes she faced a hard shot from Yan Zhao, which she controlled without giving up a rebound, and then having to smother a dangerous through ball to Sun Wen. Zhao had another good chance when she hit a dipping shot from outside the box that was a yard over the bar. In the 64th minute, Sun Wen was able to turn in the Canadian box, but her shot from 15 yards out was wide right.

In the 69th minute, Bie Jie seemed to briefly get in behind the Canadian defense, but Sharolta Nonen was able to shoulder Jie off the ball as she neared the top of the box to end the China threat. In the 71st minute, Canada very nearly doubled their lead when Sinclair controlled the ball inside the China net, and her toe poke towards the right post was nearly knocked in by a charging Latham who lunged for the ball, but Wenxia Han was able to get to the ball just before Latham to end the Canadian opportunity.

In the 73rd minute, second-half substitute Zhang Ouying made a run down the right side and cut back into the Canadian box, and her low shot towards the right post was smothered by Swiatek. In the 80th minute, the Canadian side had a good chance of their own when Sinclair's shot from just inside the box was just tipped wide left by Han.

In the 82nd minute, China had their best chance of the match to level the score when a cross from the right side from Ouying curled across the goal mouth, just a yard or so off the line, and though Swiatek was unable to get to the shot, the ball went right through Chinese attackers Sun Wen and Teng Wei untouched as they only needed a slight deflection to put it into the open net, but the golden opportunity went unfinished and the Canadians held onto their one goal lead.

In the 85th minute, China had a free kick from 25 yards out that was sent well over the bar by Bi Yan, and in stoppage time the final good opportunity for China came for Sun Wen as she had a shot from 15 yards out, but her shot was easily controlled by Swiatek, and after controlling most of the run of play for the second half, China had been unable to pull back the equalizer, and the Canada side advance to the semifinal with a 1-0 win over the favored China side.

Match report and game photos by Allison Andrews