Canadian women's team fell to Brazil in invitational tournament in Yongchuan, China.Francisco Seco/The Associated Press
The Canadian women’s soccer team suffered its second 4-0 loss in just over a month, falling to Brazil in the opener of an invitational tournament on Thursday.
Canada, ranked seventh in the world, was coming off a 4-0 defeat in Japan in a friendly on Oct. 6.
The 11th-ranked Brazilians got two goals from Bia Zaneratto and singles from Chu and Formiga.
Fifteen-year-old midfielder Olivia Smith of Whitby, Ont., became the youngest international soccer player in Canadian history when she came in for Jordyn Huitema in the 86th minute.
Adriana Leon had Canada’s best chance, hitting the post in the 54th minute.
“We are going through some adversity with our results and while we didn’t have a bad performance, we definitely made some mistakes that we shouldn’t be making,” Canada coach Kenneth Heiner-Moller said.
“We need to get back on track, but we will make sure we get there.”
Canada will face New Zealand in the third-place game on Sunday.
Host China beat New Zealand 2-0 on Thursday.
Heiner-Moller is using the China tournament to prepare for the CONCACAF Olympic qualifying tournament in January/February in the U.S.
The host cities and draw for the CONCACAF tournament, which will run Jan. 28 to Feb. 9, will be announced Thursday in Miami.