There’s something almost perfectly poetic hidden in the highlight of Olivia Smith’s young career to date.
Captured, thankfully, , national team coach Bev Priestman sits the teenager down in a darkened hotel conference room and tells her: “So listen, this may come as a bit of a shock to you … you’re going to the World Cup!†But given that the Canadian women had jetted out to Australia particularly early this summer, technically Smith wasn’t going to the World Cup — she was already there.
And that’s how it feels with Smith. She is now indisputably the most exciting talent in Canadian women’s soccer, yet also someone who has been here all along.
In the space of a couple of weeks in July, she turned professional and joined a European powerhouse in Sporting Lisbon, made her competitive debut for the national team (at that same World Cup, of all places) and turned 19 a couple of days later. For good measure last week, she marked her first competitive start for her new Portuguese employers with a goal and a sublime assist.
So, as she rejoined the national team set-up this week for the two-game Olympic playoff with Jamaica, Smith could be bracketed as a star on the rise, pushing for even more opportunity and greater game time. Yet she’s a veteran, too.
Almost four years have passed since the North York-born, Whitby-raised attacker made Canadian history as the youngest player in national team history, when she was sprung from the bench late against Brazil at just 15 years and 94 days. It was at an invitational tournament in China, and Smith added a second cap a couple of days later against New Zealand. Four years later, if all of this still feels like a teenage dream that’d be fair … and accurate.
“I’m just eager to grow and learn new things,†Smith had said in July when announcing her decision to swap Penn State for the pros. “I think a dream of mine is to play pro overseas, and I think the time is right now.â€
If those first steps at Sporting have shown anything, it’s that her timing was indeed spot on. Over this crucial five-day spell — Friday’s first leg in Kingston and the return clash in ÎÚÑ»´«Ã½ on Tuesday — the same may well prove to be true for the national team, too.
Priestman’s reigning Olympic champions didn’t nearly live up to their billing in Australia at the World Cup, but the poor performance didn’t come out of the blue, either. For well over a year they have been too blunt in attack, scoring just five goals in nine games going back to last November. The coach has spoken openly about the need to be more clinical; Smith is certainly that.
“Listen, with Olivia, I don’t know if it’s well known but she had a knock, and only just played and got a goal (for Sporting) because she had been getting back to fitness. Also there’s been a bit of an illness (for Smith) in our camp, but I’m hoping she will be good to go,†Priestman told the Star. “But (she’s) a big talent. She can shoot — she has a bit of a rocket in her — and to me feels a little bit fearless. And that’s what we need.â€
Smith coming off the bench in the final World Cup group game as Canada’s exit was emphatically confirmed was perhaps not quite a sliding-doors moment, but the doors are beginning to swing. Christine Sinclair, the country’s greatest player and soccer’s greatest scorer, was sitting on that same bench, having been removed from the contest against Australia. How long the captain hangs around may well depend on how Canada handles the Jamaicans, with Paris a possible finale.
While for much of her career Sinclair handled a huge chunk of the scoring load, in later years that has fallen on others. Yet none have been able to match her prolific heights of a goal at least every other game. Adriana Leon has scored big goals, but at a rate of 33 per cent; Janine Beckie is hovering around the same one-in-three mark; Jordyn Huitema, still 22, has scored 16 in 67, or one in four.
Smith, while still figuring out her preferred role, has consistently found the net. Her 24 goals at the youth level for Canada rank second all-time behind only Sinclair with 27. As the page turns toward a second iteration of Priestman’s Canada, Smith’s impact shapes up to be significant. A first cap on Canadian soil at a sold-out BMO Field on Tuesday could provide another sign of what’s to come.
“I think she’s a massive part of the future,†added Priestman. “The step up into a pro environment, it’s going to professionalize everything Olivia does. She looks confident, she feels confident. She’s dynamic, and it’s very exciting to have that in your future.â€
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