Squamish soccer backfielder Martina Franko had to watch helplessly from the bench as Team USA crushed her and Team Canada's hopes for soccer gold at the Pan Am games this week, after being injured last Friday in a match against Brazil.
But she was back in the lineup as her squad beat Team Mexico 2-1 to claim a bronze medal in yesterday's (July 26) consolation match.
"The games haven't gone the way we were hoping," said Franko in an interview with the Chief prior to the bronze medal match. "The Mexico game is important so we can take something positive forward into the World Cup."
As Franko hoped, the Pan Am games did end on a high note for Team Canada in front of 100,000 fans at Estádio do Maracanã.
"It's a legendary place," said Franko. "It's really amazing to play there. For our game against the States there were 40,000 fans."
While the tournament began well for Franko, with her team outscoring their opponents 22-1 over their first three games, the team hit a sour note when they squared off against Brazil Friday (July 20) losing the match 7-0.
"The game against Brazil was one of the worst games we could have played," said Franko. "They came out attacking. We had to use three players to cover just one of their players."
Five of Brazil's goals came off the heel of the singularly named Marta, FIFA's International Women's Player of the Year.
"She beat us by herself," said Franko.
Despite the loss, Canada still entered the medal round with high hopes, only to have them dashed by the States.
"We were really hurting. We were at the point where our next substitute was our goalie, we had so many players out."
But Canada rebounded yesterday with a healthier and longer bench, to end the games on a high note that will hopefully propel them forward on their quest to win the Women's World Cup in Beijing in September.
