The final of the Ladies Algarve Cup 2016 was played at Estadio Bela Vista, Parchal on March 9th 2016, resulting in a score of Canada 2 - Brazil 1.
In the absence of the USA the 23rd edition of the Algarve Cup was won once more by North America, this time in the guise of Canada.
Although they lost their first match of the tournament to Denmark, two victories against Belgium and Iceland ensured they secured top spot in their table and would face the unbeaten Brazilians.
Both teams were up for the final and though there was plenty of attacking football neither side could make a breakthrough in the first half. It wasn’t until the 60th minute that the first goal came via the boot of Shelina Zadorsky of Canada. Immediately the tempo of the game increased with the Canadians growing in confidence, whilst the Brazilian ladies were not giving up either.
The killer blow came in the 67th minute when 21 year old Janine Beckie doubled the score for Canada all but ending a Brazilian fightback.
The Brazilian Ladies did get a consolation goal in time added on through Andressa Alves but it was too little too late.
Head coach of Canada John Herdman was delighted with the result and told the assemble media pack “that although this was Canada’s first visit to The Algarve it certainly will not be its last”. He further spoke about this years upcoming Rio Olympic games to which Canada had already qualified, and using the Algarve Cup as his prime preparation had yeiled dividends especially the chance to play European opposition.
The host nation Portugal, although finishing last in this years tournament have shown vast improvement, having gone down by the smallest margin of 1-0 in two of their matches.
