NICE, France — Neil Stafford laughs now about what it took him to convince Vanessa Gilles to play soccer at the University of Cincinnati.

“A lot of begging,” the long-time U.S. college coach quipped.

Stafford is probably the least-surprised person on Earth that his old Bearcats centre back scored the late winning goal against France on Sunday to keep the Canadian women’s national team in the Olympic picture. Incredibly, they can advance, despite FIFA’s six-point penalty, with a win over Colombia Wednesday in Nice.