SheBelieves Cup: Canada continue protest in 2-0 win over Brazil

Canada continued to protest against their national association as they beat Brazil at the SheBelieves Cup.

The Olympic champions again wore purple T-shirts with the phrase “enough is enough” prior to kick-off as they won 2-0 in Nashville.

They are in dispute with Canada Soccer (CSA) because of concerns over funding cuts and a lack of pay equality.

Vanessa Gilles and Evelyne Viens scored for Canada, who bounced back from an opening defeat by the United States.

“I’m really proud of the group, for what they’ve come through, to bounce back,” said coach Bev Priestman, whose players also wore purple wristbands.

“We said today we had to climb, we had to keep moving forward, and we did that.”

Five-time winners the USA maintained their perfect start as Mallory Swanson scored the only goal in a 1-0 win over Japan.

Prior to facing the USA in their opening match, the Canadian Soccer Players Association said the team would “continue to wear purple until our association has standards in place that ensure equal treatment and opportunity”.

Canada, ranked sixth in the world, decided to play in the four-team SheBelieves Cup tournament “in protest” after calling off a strike because of threats of legal action by the CSA.

However, they have threatened to boycott a team camp in April if their demands are not met.

The CSA says it has a “proven track record” of supporting women’s football, adding pay equality was “at the core” of negotiations with the national team players.

The final round of SheBelieves Cup matches take place on Wednesday in Texas, when the USA play Brazil and Canada meet Japan.

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