USA women’s team defeats Canada; show your support

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Mallory Swanson scored twice in the first half as the United States beat Canada 2-0 Thursday in a labor dispute-tainted SheBelieves Women’s Cup match.

The Canadian teams, facing their federation, wore purple jerseys during the performance of the national anthems, before the game. “Enough is enough,” read a message on the shirts.

Before kickoff, the Americans linked arms with their center circle opponents in a show of solidarity.

Canadian soccer players are negotiating a new collective agreement that would give them equal pay to men. Some say they haven’t received the money for 2022.

“Purple has always been associated with efforts to achieve gender equality,” the Canadian Soccer Players Union said in a statement released Thursday. “Given the current circumstances, our players will continue to wear purple until our federation puts in place standards ensuring equal treatment and opportunity.”

The players originally said they planned to boycott team activities at the tournament and skipped practice on Saturday. However, the Canadian federation warned them that such a protest would amount to an illegal strike.

“I can’t blame them for their attempt. You were just able to see the indifference towards them,” said Canadian coach Bev Priestman. “But it doesn’t get fixed overnight, so you have to keep pushing. We have to use this tournament for what we have in front of us”.

In the first match of the cup, also on Thursday at the Exploria Stadium, Brazil beat Japan 1-0, with Debinha scoring after a corner kick from Marta, who played her first game since March, when she suffered a tear from the anterior cruciate ligament of the left knee.

The four-team tournament moves to Nashville, Tennessee, where the United States takes on Japan and Canada takes on Brazil on Sunday. All four teams are qualified for the World Cup.

The United States have won the last two World Cups and have a total of four titles.