Canada falls just short of semi-final goal at FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup

The aim was to keep building.

Canada may not have reached their short-term goal of a semi-final appearance at the 2014 FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup after a 2-0 quarter-final loss to Germany but the country has taken a step forward after their performance at the tournament.

Women's soccer left a footprint on the nation two years ago when Christine Sinclair led the national team through adversity to a hard earned bronze medal at London 2012.

In many ways, it was up to coach Andrew Olivieri and his squad to show that the next generation would carry the game forward on the international stage, especially as hosts - and to certain degree they did.

"The objective for these young ladies isn't to grow interest in the game because that's been done. It isn't to grow the membership, because we have a wonderful membership across our country," Olivieri said when the team was announced in July. "Their objective now is to start growing the quality in which we play the game and the ambition we have as a soccer nation to excel on the world stage."

They demonstrated resiliency and did not fold when they were in grave danger of being eliminated after taking a match and a half to grasp creating Olivieri's patience and possession based style of play.

First losing 1-0 to Ghana in the opener and then falling 2-0 to Finland at the half in their next match, Canada finally broke out with three second-half goals to win 3-2.

Next they defeated a tournament favourite in North Korea (albeit their star player was slightly injured and did not play till the second-half) in their final group stage match to squeak into the knockout round.

It marked the first time this country has advanced to the quarter-final since 2004 - a span of four U-2o World Cup tournaments.

Entering play against Germany, Canada had stayed true to their game plan with a higher possession percentage than the opposition in all three previous matches

Early on they hung tough with the high-flying Germans who lead the group stage with a total of 12 goals.

The Canadians looked confident and poised on the pitch at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton, AB., until the 24 minute mark when a defensive miscue between Kadeisha Buchanan and Rebecca Quinn left Pauline Bremer wide open to break in and score on goalkeeper Kailen Sheridan.

The scoring play was controversial in that Bremer looked to be offside, but the Canadians had ample time to respond. In the end they were over-matched and were unable to net the equalizer before Rebecca Knaak sealed the victory with a header on a corner kick by Sara Daebritz in 86th minute.

The early loss of sparkplug forward Nichelle Prince did not help the Canadians, she exited the game in the 16th minute because of a right leg injury.

Possession percentage was split evenly, the big difference seemed to be Germany's ability to generate shots on goal. They finished with 8 while Canada had 3 and none in the first half (Emma Fletcher's shot off the cross bar was not recorded as a shot on goal).

The Canadians had similar issues against another top-flight team in their previous match against North Korea and also struggled in the first-half versus Ghana in this regard.

Still though, Olivieri's side looked increasingly cohesive as the tournament wore on and strong performances were exhibited by notable players such as Sheridan in goal, Buchanan, who for the most part was a stalwart on the back line, while Prince and Janine Beckie proved to be consistent offensive threats

Amongst others, Defender Sura Yekka, midfielder Fletcher and forward Amandine Pierre-Louis highlighted Canada's depth across the field.

Germany becomes the second team to qualify for the semi-finals after North Korea defeated the U.S. earlier in the day. The remaining two spots will be decided in Sunday's matches.

Canada will host international soccer again next summer when the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup is staged from June 6 to July 5.

Follow Neil Acharya on Twitter: @Neil_Acharya