FIFA Women's World Cup: Canada 1-0 China

China had looked on course to grab a share of the spoils before Canada captain Sinclair struck in second half stoppage time to send the vast majority of the 53,058 Commonwealth Stadium crowd home happy, and leave the East Asians needing to regroup ahead of their June 11 Group A clash against the Netherlands who beat New Zealand 1-0 in the day's other game.

“Overall I was very happy about our team performance and I believe our team will be even better in the next match,” China head coach Hao Wei told fifa.com.

“It is a pity to lose in this way [with a late goal] but within a couple of days we can successfully adjust our mindset, I have no doubt about that.”

Roared on by the partisan home support, Canada started brightly, defender Kadesiha Buchanan twice being denied by China goalkeeper Wang Fei with only three minutes on the clock.

However, China, runners-up at the World Cup’s 1999 edition, settled down and forced Canadian custodian Erin McLeod to make a decent block as Gu Yasha bore down in goal, before Wang Lisi’s free-kick cruelly cannoned off both posts and away to safety just moments later.

Canada then replied in kind, Josee Belanger thumping a fine shot from the edge of the area against the Chinese bar as neither side could find a breakthrough ahead of the half-time whistle.

In stark contrast to the opening 45 minutes, the second period was noticeable if only for its lack of significant goalmouth action until, and with time running out, referee Kateryna Monzul pointed to the spot after Zhao Rong had hauled down substitute Adriana Leon.

The experienced Sinclair duly held her nerve to convert the penalty despite Wang’s best efforts.

“It was a good start to the tournament for Canada. We had double the amount of possession they did and outshot them by double,” explained Canada head coach John Herdman.

“The girls have now had that experience of coming out and playing in front of 50,000 people, and that is not easy. Some of the players that came on really stood up. We gave the crowd something to cheer about (at the end), which was really cool.”

FIFA Women’s World Cup – June 6, 2015 until July 5, 2015

Group A: Canada, China, New Zealand, Netherlands
Group B: Germany, Cote d’Ivoire, Norway, Thailand
Group C: Japan, Switzerland, Cameroon, Ecuador
Group D: USA, Australia, Sweden, Nigeria
Group E: Brazil, Korea Republic, Spain, Costa Rica
Group F: France, England, Colombia, Mexico

Group Stage Key Fixtures

Group A: Canada 1-0 China (Edmonton 6/6), China v Netherlands (Edmonton, 11/6), China v New Zealand (Winnipeg 15/6)
Group B: Norway 4-0 Thailand (Ottawa 7/6), Cote d’Ivoire v Thailand (Ottawa 11/6), Thailand v Germany (Winnipeg 15/6)
Group C: Japan v Switzerland (Vancouver 8/6), Japan v Cameroon (Vancouver 12/6), Ecuador v Japan (Winnipeg 16/6)
Group D: USA v Australia (Winnipeg 8/6), Australia v Nigeria (Winnipeg 12/6), Australia v Sweden (Edmonton 16/6)
Group E: Brazil v Korea Republic (Montreal 9/6), Korea Republic v Costa Rica (Montreal 13/6), Korea Republic v Spain (Ottawa 17/6)

Round of 16: June 20 until June 23
Quarter-finals: June 26 & 27
Semi-finals: June 30 and July 1
Final July 5