Sydney Collins Absent in Canada's Olympic Soccer Win Following Scandal

Cal at the Olympics: Former Golden Bears standout Collins broke her leg last week; ex-Cal star Ifeoma Onumonu plays in Nigeria's soccer loss to Brazil

Sydney Collins / Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

Canada defeated New Zealand 2-1 Thursday in the opening women’s soccer game of the 2024 Olympics, but the absence of former Cal star Sydney Collins, who broke her leg last week, may have prevented the Canadians from dominating the game as expected.

The lingering cheating scandal may have had something to do with it too, since Canada's head coach, Bev Priestman, was not present at the contest after voluntarily suspending herself for one game as the results of the actions of members of her staff this week.

And the New Zealand team had earlier this week submitted a request to the IOC and FIFA to nullify any positive result by Canada in Thursday's game, but the IOC and FIFA have not responded. So at the moment Canada picked up three points for the win.

As it turns out, only one former Cal athlete was in action Thursday. Ifeoma Onumonu, who played for Cal from 2012 to 2016, came on as a substitue for Nigeria in the 67th minute of a 1-0 loss to Brazil.

Onumonu, a forward, was unable to score a goal in her 15 minutes of playing time but she did deliver a pass to Rasheedat Ajibade that almost resulted in a goal and would have been an assist for Onumonus. Nigeria's next game is Sunday against Spain, and it remains to be seen whether Onumonu gets on the pitch for that contest.

However, the focus was on the Canadian team on Thursday.

The absence of Collins did not hurt Canada in this first game of group-stage play, but being without the former Golden Bears standout may make it difficult for Canada to repeat as Olympic champions after winning the gold medal at the 2020 Games (which were held in 2021).

Collins’ 2024 season has been a nightmare.  She broke her right leg back in February, and she played in a game for the first time since that injury in a match against Nigeria last week in Spain in a tuneup for the Olympics.  But she suffered a fractured left leg in that matchup and will miss the Olympics.

On Saturday, Canada announced that defender Gabrielle Carle would replace Collins on the roster after previously being selected as an alternate.

The absence of Collins, a defender, was noticeable.  It’s debatable whether her presence could have prevented New Zealand’s Mackenzie Barry from scoring in the 13th minute of the first half, but Collins’ presence would have made it more difficult for Barry.

That gave New Zealand a 1-0 lead that it held into late in the first half when Canada scored the tying goal. The Canadians then scored the go-ahead goal in the 70th minute and protected the lead to walk away with three points.

Canada, which is ranked eighth in the world, was the clear favorite against New Zealand, which is ranked 28th. Canada controlled most of the game but seemed to be playing with a sense of desperation for much of the game.

New Zealand players said they were motivated for the game after it was discovered that a drone surveillance of a New Zealand practice this week had been directed by Canada assistant coach Jasmine Mander and Canada analyst Joseph Lmbardi, both of whom were sent home after the cheating was discovered.

Priestman then announced she would not be present for the game against New Zealand as a virtual self-imposed one-game suspension because she is responsible for the actions of the entire Canada women's soccer program.

No Cal-affiliated athletes competed in Thursday’s action at the Paris Olympics.

Former Golden Bears standout Ifeoma Onumonu is an alternate on the Nigerian team, but she was not expected t be on the active rooster for Nigeria’s contest against Brazil on Thursday.

The Opening Ceremonies take place on Friday, and former Cal swimmer Andi Murez is scheduled to be one of the two flag-bearers for Israel in the Opening Ceremonies parade of countries.

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