John Herdman believes Canada "showed that they do belong" at the World Cup despite losing their opening match 1-0 to Belgium on Wednesday.
Making their World Cup return after a 36-year exodus, Canada dominated the first half and should have gone ahead when they were awarded a penalty after Yannick Carrasco handled Tajon Buchanan's shot.
However, Alphonso Davies saw his spot-kick saved by Thibaut Courtois, before Michy Batshuayi struck Belgium's winner a minute before half-time to ensure Canada's World Cup return ended in defeat.
Despite the disappointing result, Canada's head coach Herdman was pleased with his team's performance after such a long spell away from international football's top competition.
"They showed that they [Canada] do belong," Herdman told reporters in his post-match news conference. "It's been a long time since we've been back.
"The fans tried to warm the stadium and I'm sure they walked away proud that we are a football nation. I'm really proud.
"We had a couple of goals, to play fearless and to entertain. We had other goals but never got to those moments."
Canada finished the game with 22 shots to Belgium's nine, but they only hit the target with three of those as they drew a blank, becoming just the third team in World Cup history to fail to score a goal in their first four matches.
Herdman complimented Belgium's defending, adding: "The stats would say we are a ruthless team, we just couldn't find the net.
"When you have the Real Madrid goalkeeper [Courtois] it makes a difference, when you also have [Toby] Alderweireld, [Jan] Vertonghen, [Leander] Dendoncker, it’s difficult to get through.
"I thought sometimes it was one touch too many around the box, but when you outshoot Belgium you can't complain too much. Sometimes it's your night, and sometimes it's not."
Herdman was asked why Davies, a defender, took the penalty ahead of the likes of striker Jonathan David, who has scored nine goals in 15 games for Ligue 1 side Lille this season, including two penalties.
Herdman defended Davies, saying: "It was a big moment, we were waiting to get that first goal.
"I'm proud of Phonzy [Davies], he's picked the ball up. It's a big moment for any player, carrying the weight of a nation. It takes a special character.
"When you have an $85million player, let him take it. He practices just like Jonny David. Give Courtois credit too, that was some good keeping."
One positive for Canada is that Morocco and Croatia, the other teams in Group F, played out a goalless draw earlier in the day, meaning Herdman's side still have a decent chance of getting through.
With Croatia up next for Canada on Sunday, Herdman acknowledged both the importance and difficulty of that fixture, explaining: "The group is wide open after the Morocco and Croatia result.
"But teams know us now, the cover is off, teams will know what we do and we're coming up against a formidable team in Croatia who have a midfield to die for."
Hull City 3-3 Ipswich Town: Tigers fight back three times to deny Tractor Boys
Ipswich Town missed the chance to move into an automatic promotion spot as play-off-chasing Hull City came from behind three times in a thrilling 3-3 Championship draw at The MKM Stadium.
Ipswich knew a victory would take them second after Leeds United were surprisingly beaten 4-0 by Queens Park Rangers on Friday, and they led on three separate occasions, George Hirst opening the scoring before Omari Hutchinson produced two brilliant strikes from the edge of the area.
However, buoyed by slip-ups from rivals Norwich City and West Brom earlier on Saturday, Hull dug deep to fight back on each occasion, Ozan Tufan and Liam Delap scoring their first two equalisers.
With Liam Rosenior's men 3-2 down with just four minutes to play, substitute Noah Ohio blasted his shot in off the crossbar to punish an error from Ipswich goalkeeper Vaclav Hladky.
The result keeps Ipswich behind second-placed Leeds on goal difference, though the Tractor Boys have a game in hand to come at Coventry City on Tuesday.
Hull, meanwhile, are two points adrift of the top six, with Norwich's goal difference advantage meaning their top-six spot is all but assured. The Tigers will, however, leapfrog West Brom if they beat Plymouth Argyle on the final day and Albion lose to Preston North End.
Data Debrief: Hutchinson's best not enough
Hutchinson was a man who deserved to be on the winning side on Saturday, giving Ryan Allsop no chance with two near-identical left-footed strikes from the right corner of the penalty area.
His goals came from an expected goals (xG) total of just 0.6, and he led all players on the pitch for shots (eight) and passes in the final third (21), also laying on three chances for his team-mates.
Chelsea and Hayes fall short again in the Champions League
Chelsea and Emma Hayes have once again fallen short of securing a place in the final of the Champions League.
There will be a feeling of déjà vu as Barcelona stopped Chelsea at this stage of the competition last season and seem to be the Blues’ Achilles' heel.
Hayes, who is leaving at the end of season to manage the US Women's National team, was hoping she could complete her last season with Champions League glory, the only trophy to elude her during an illustrious spell at Chelsea, but it was not to be.
Chelsea had pulled off a remarkable result in the first leg and were leading 1-0 at the halfway point of the tie.
With a record crowd of 39,398 roaring them on, it felt like Saturday could be the night on which Chelsea changed their fortunes in this competition.
However, the Catalan holders showed their big-game mentality and Ballon d’or winner Aitana Bonmati had cancelled out Chelsea's lead in the tie within 25 minutes at Stamford Bridge.
The drama ensued from that point on with two huge decisions by referee Iuliana Demetrescu sealing the Blues’ fate.
Kadeisha Buchanan was given her marching orders when she received a somewhat harsh second yellow card just before the hour mark for a foul on Salma Paralluelo, then Fridolina Rolfo scored the all-important goal from the spot when Ashley Lawrence was adjudged to have fouled Bonmati.
Hayes felt aggrieved by the calls made by the Romanian referee and made her feelings known to the officials at the full-time whistle, when she could be seen mouthing the words; ‘we’ve been robbed’.
Hayes could not hide her disappointment when speaking to the media after the tie and had strong words for UEFA.
“I didn’t feel we got the opportunity to lose the game, that was taken away,” said Hayes.
“I was surprised when I saw her [Demetrescu] selected because she’s famous for easy cards and I think that [Buchanan's sending-off] is probably the worst decision in UEFA Women’s Champions League history.
“So when you get such a shocking official decision, there’s nothing you can do about it.
“It’s hard enough when we’ve got 11 against them [Barcelona], but when you’ve got 10 it’s virtually impossible.
“Even Barcelona players said to us they knew the referee was helpful for them. I didn’t think it was a foul [from Buchanan] let alone a yellow card. I’m gutted for the players, we were robbed."
On the red card, Hayes added: “I was stood there and I looked at the fourth official and I said, ‘Surely that will be checked?’ and she said, ‘It can’t on a yellow’.
“But as I said, I think the toughest thing to take is that we didn’t lose it.
“There’s nothing you can do when there’s such a terrible decision and it’s already hard enough. They are a top team. When that’s taken out of your hands, that’s a tough one to take for the players.”
Hayes may have reason to question the appointment of Demetrescu as the data shows she has awarded four penalties in three UEFA Women's Champions League games this season, more than any other referee.
Barcelona have now reached the final for the fourth consecutive year and will face either eight-time champions Lyon or Paris Saint-Germain, the finalists from 2015 and 2017.
Bonmati shared her elation about winning the tie with DAZN after the game, saying: "A little bit lucky but sometimes you have to shoot in the box and you never know."
"It’s amazing, another final," Bonmati added as her team-mates danced and sang in the rain in front of the travelling fans.
"It wasn’t easy because we had a tough team in front of us. We had to sweat our T-shirts to achieve it. I’m proud of my team and let’s go in for another final."
This win saw Barcelona earn their fifth clean sheet from 10 matches in the competition this season, a higher total than any other team has managed.
Al-Khaleej 0-1 Al-Nassr: Ronaldo misfires on return as Laporte nets winner
Cristiano Ronaldo returned from suspension but failed to find the net as Al-Nassr secured a 1-0 win over Al-Khaleej on Saturday, with Aymeric Laporte coming up with the decisive goal.
Ronaldo was in action for the first time since being sent off for an elbow in a 2-1 Saudi Super Cup loss to Al-Hilal earlier this month, with his initial two-match ban being reduced to one on appeal.
He missed three good chances as Al-Nassr threatened to fall further behind runaway Saudi Pro League leaders Al-Hilal, but former Manchester City defender Laporte spared his blushes by nodding Marcelo Brozovic's deep free-kick into the bottom-left corner with 68 minutes gone.
Al-Nassr remain nine points adrift of Al-Hilal at the summit in spite of their win, with Jorge Jesus' team unbeaten through 28 games this season as they close in on a record-extending 18th title.
Data Debrief: Ronaldo misfires on return
Ronaldo was presented with the Saudi Pro League's Player of the Month award for March ahead of kick-off, having scored four goals in three league appearances last month.
However, his sights were off on Saturday as he failed to net despite three of the visitors' four big chances, as defined by Opta, falling his way. He led all players on the pitch for expected goals (1.27 xG), shots (five), shots on target (three) and touches in the area (nine) without reward.
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