Germany is this year's host country for the Women's World Cup. Fittingly, they are also a favorite at the tournament and the reigning champion.
In 2015, Canada will be the host. Unlike Germany, the Canadians didn't exactly assert themselves as a contender for the next World Cup.
Prior to the tournament, Canada was built up as a team who could establish themselves on the international scene. Perhaps they weren't going to make the finals, but they certainly seemed to stand a chance to make the knockout stages.
Even though losing narrowly to France and forfeiting an opportunity to make it into the quarterfinals would have given the Canadians an opportunity to build on this performance.
On the bright side, Canada won't be under any pressure in 2015. They have nowhere to go but up, and their country has very low expectations after a less-than-impressive outing at the 2011 Women's World Cup, to say the least.
After losing to Germany in a close opener, Canada was completely destroyed 4-0 by France, essentially sealing their fate.
Without a single point to their name, Canada limped into their final group match. Their opponent, Nigeria, also had zero wins in group play going into this game.
Canada bypassed the chance to salvage any sort of dignity they may have gained with a win. They were beaten 1-0, and go home defeated and embarrassed.
It's troubling. The Canadians blew a huge opportunity to assert themselves as a legitimate competitor in women's international soccer.
Canada didn't need to win. They didn't even need to advance to the knockout stages of the tournament. The tradition of Canada's women's soccer would have been bolstered if they would have managed to walk away with a single point.
The mystique created by a home team who actually presents some sort of relevancy will be sorely lacking from the Women's World Cup next go around.
It's four years away and Canada will have opportunities to redeem themselves, but they completely dropped the ball in this tournament.
They walk away as the biggest loser of the entire World Cup. A bad performance in the World Cup isn't something Canada is going to be able to recover from in the new future. The ramifications of their miserable performance will carry into the 2015 World Cup.
Oh Canada, indeed.
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