ANALYSIS + HIGHLIGHTS: CanWNT bow out of Concacaf W Gold Cup after rain-soaked loss to USWNT

There are many words one could use to describe the 2024 Concacaf W Gold Cup semi-final between the Canadian women's national team and their arch-rivals, the United States.

Indeed, onlookers selected from a myriad of options to make their feelings on this particular tilt rather clear, if crude in equal measure.

For the sake of professionalism, we will not be repeating them here.

The CanWNT bow out of the inaugural Gold Cup, though not necessarily by the content of their football; rather, it was the sodden, unplayable pitch that played the role of villain on the evening in San Diego, California, with puddles scattered across the surface so deep that the captive Orcas nearby might have looked on with some envy.

Jokes aside, the field and the rainy conditions proved the primary component of this much-anticipated match-up, as the ball often failed to roll to pass completion, nor would it accompany an ambitious dribbler, nor clear without a splash, nor be received without a second guess.

So when Jaedyn Shaw mustered the opening goal of the match, and the U.S. celebrated with their usual vigour, even American supporters must have admitted to themselves it was neither deserved nor pretty; a goal born of nothing more than opportunism rather than skill or instinct: The very simple fact is that Vanessa Gilles' backpass literally stopped rolling along the grass. The beautiful game, indeed.

If not for Jordyn Huitema's 82nd-minute equalizer, a 1-0 loss here may have left but a mark on the Canadian team's psyche. Instead, the Canadians were made to suffer further agony, enduring 30 more minutes of extra time in this sopping, soaking waterpark just for Sophia Smith to score the Americans' second go-ahead, Adriana Leon's last-gasp penalty to equalize and end regulation time... and, finally, the U.S. to win it on a penalty shootout, making each twist and turn moot and booking their spot in the final vs. Brazil on Sunday, anyway.

Yes, both teams played on the same surface; a wonderful silver lining for Bev Priestman and co. to stew upon, to be sure, as every game plan, tactical advantage and personnel decision for this moment went out the window to make way, instead, for whatever this was.

On a night of football that offered so much promise and intrigue and spirited rivalry, we were delivered so, so little of it.

Onto the Olympics then, I suppose.

Here are your highlights: