Women's World Cup in Canada: A success or a failure?
When the 2015 World Cup schedule came out and soccer fans in Montreal saw that their city was not hosting the final, there may have been some people who were upset about that.
But now, looking back at how things unfolded, it's safe to say fans in Montreal were privileged to the best on field product this tournament had to offer — the quarter-finals between Germany and France and the semifinals between Germany and the USA were the best games of the tournament.
Germany, USA and France are the top-three ranked teams in the world and they delivered thrilling performances. Montreal hosted a true showcase to the quality of the women's game.
It was almost so good that the failings of the Olympic Stadium as a venue could be overlooked… almost.
"It didn't feel like we started with a bang in Montreal," says Daybreak sports columnist Andie Bennett
"Those first couple games the attendance wasn't great and it feels even more empty when you're in a building like that."
The unfortunate part is that of the nine games played in Montreal, only three — the quarter-finals, the semifinals and Canada vs. Netherlands — had enough fans to create a real atmosphere at the Big O, which can hold more than 60,000 spectators.
"I would have loved to have been watching soccer outside," Bennett says.
Canada falls short on pitch
Canada was not one of the best two teams in this tournament, so it's hard to be critical of it for not making the final. But based on the way the things unfolded, Canada had a great chance to be there.
In the knock-out stage, on Canada's side of the bracket, the only team that was ranked significantly higher than them was Japan, at No. 4. Compare that with the other side of the bracket which included No. 1 Germany, No. 2 USA, No. 3 France and No. 5 Sweden.
Couple that with Canada's home-field advantage, and it's a fair conclusion to say that this was a golden opportunity the team let slip away.
Still, from the wider perspective, this event was a success. Every venue had at least a game or two where the grandstands were packed.
Not every game was a win for organizers, but overall Canadians fans supported this event in a way that we might not have seen only 10 years ago.
Rubber match final
Tonight marks the third time in five years the USA will meet Japan in a major final. Japan beat the USA in the 2011 World Cup final, and a year later in London the USA beat Japan to win Olympic gold.
"It's like the final of the best two-out-of-three series, the rubber match! So that makes it very exciting," Bennett says.
Kick off for the World Cup final is July 5 at 7 p.m. ET in Vancouver.
