Canada were dished a comprehensive defeat by co-hosts Australia on Tuesday to see them become the first Olympic champions to be dumped out of the Women’s World Cup group stages
Allysha Chapman of Canada appeared to use a string of expletives
Is it a major tournament without an X-rated rant caught on camera?
In the age of instant rewind and endless camera operators, the answer is no. And at this summer’s Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, it was a besieged Canada on Tuesday evening that provided the world with its first dose of the expletives.
Canada’s Allysha Chapman was caught on camera in the second half of the North American’s despairing performance against Australia appearing to mouth the words: “She f** jumped into me you t***” towards French official Stephanie Frappart. The outburst came after Chapman was adjudged to have been the guilty party in a hefty challenge with Hayley Raso, who had been giving Canada the run around throughout the encounter.
Emotions were heated at Melbourne Rectangular Stadium with the match stakes ratcheted up to a dizzying height. But where Canada needed only a positive result to see them through to the next stages, a woeful display from the reigning Olympic champions was exploited gleefully by an inspired-looking Matildas.
Real Madrid winger Hayley Raso fired her side into an emphatic 2-0 lead before the break, making light work of the conspicuous absence of talismanic striker Sam Kerr, who did not start the crucial all-or-nothing match due to a calf injury.
A second-half goal from Mary Fowler and an injury-time penalty from Steph Catley only accentuated the sense of suffering for Beverly Priestman’s side, who were duly dumped out of the tournament after finishing third in Group B following their 4-0 defeat.
The defeat sees Canada become the first reigning Olympic champions in Women’s World Cup history to fail to make it out of the group stages. And in an outburst that seemed to encapsulate the sense of frustration coursing through the Canadian squad, Chapman appeared to blast Frappart in fantastic style during the emotional contest.
Allysha Chapman made her anger known (
Image:
Optus Sport)
The ebullition is all the more appropriate given its occurrence on the anniversary of England’s Euro2022 Final triumph over Germany last year when England legend Jill Scott was infamously caught by amateur lip readers lambasting Sydney Lohmann as a “f** p***” after a challenge with which the then-35-year-old took umbrage.
The iconic moment from the former box-to-box midfielder was duly translated into viral memes and videos. Perhaps poetically, another major tournament is treated to a similar outburst one year on.
Australia’s victory over Canada means Tony Gustavsson’s side finished top of Group B and avoided joining co-hosts New Zealand as the first Women’s World Cup hosts in the history of the tournament to not reach the knockout stages. The Matildas will face the runners-up of Group D in the Round of 16.
