Canadian women's soccer team falls to France in final Rio tune-up
First Olympic match will be on August 3 against Australia
Canada's women's soccer team dropped a 1-0 decision to France on Saturday, in its final warmup for the Rio Olympics.
Camille Abily scored on a direct free kick for No. 3 France in the 36th minute for the game's only goal, but the 10th-ranked Canadians had several scoring chances in a game that could have gone either way.
"There's no celebration coming off when you play well against France and you don't get a result. What's the point, you know?" coach John Herdman said. "We'll take this this close to the Olympics but tonight was about trying to push over that threshold, get the result to take us into the Olympics with a real clear mindset that we can beat these teams."
The Canadians were missing veteran striker Melissa Tancredi, who sat out the match with an ankle injury.
There is history between the two countries. Canada edged France 1-0 for the bronze medal at the London Olympics four years ago.
The Canadians split their games in France, defeating 12th-ranked China 1-0 in Paris on Wednesday.
Canada opens the Olympics on Aug. 3 against No. 5 Australia, and also faces Zimbabwe and Germany in Group F action.