Toronto | Canada has been waiting since 1986 and now it’s over: it’s going back to the FIFA World Cup.
• Read also: Canada in the World Cup: What did they say?
The men’s national team secured a ticket to Qatar next November by beating Jamaica 4-0 at BMO Field in Toronto today.
With this win, Canada is almost certain to take first place in the Octagon qualifiers with the final to be played in Panama on Wednesday.
This will be Canada’s second World Cup appearance, and the first in 36 years. The Canadians never doubted the dominant performance after the first loss of the championship in Costa Rica on Thursday.
Eid
Despite the cold, the party continued at BMO Stadium after the match. As the players gathered in the center of the field, coach John Herdman led a session thunderclap To the sound of the drum the supporters participated, almost all of whom were still there.
The players were cheering under the light snow, as if adding to the magic of the moment.
We also released a video of Alfonso Davies, who is not with the team at the moment, recovering from myocarditis after contracting the COVID virus.
quick goal
The Canadians dominated from the start of the match and never looked back.
It’s 13And the The minute Kyle Larrain opened the scoring by accepting a ball from Stephen Eustakiew, who slipped between the Jamaican center.
In a first half in which Canada was in complete control, Tajon Buchanan doubled the lead at 44And the A minute receiving a cross from Jonathan David after a free kick.
Junior Howlett made sure to put a lid on the encounter by scoring at 83And the One minute, Adrian Mariappa scored an own goal in the 88th minuteAnd the the moment.
dominance
Like we said, Canada clearly dominated the match. In fact, with a little bit of accuracy at the end, Maple Leaf could have led by four or even five goals before returning to the locker room in the first half.
Kyle Larrain, Jonathan David and Tajon Buchanan all missed opportunities very clear.
Canada was always first on the ball, and they gave up possession of the Reggae Boys so little, they couldn’t close the penalty area.
In the left lane, Sam Adekugbe was dominant, which gave Javain Brown a very poor match.
Atmosphere
It was cold today in Toronto, -5°C with a feeling of -14°C at kickoff, but that didn’t dampen the pressure of the 30,000 fans gathered at BMO Field.
The atmosphere was infernal even before the meeting even started. Hundreds of fans formed an honor guard on the bus carrying the Canadian players, with smoke, clip art and chants.
As if to mark the occasion, a little snow began to fall for a few minutes, just to make it look more Canadian.
The pride of the nation
More than just a place in the World Cup, the national team has achieved yet another achievement, uniting the nation behind it.
“I think the country didn’t believe in us because we didn’t give them a reason to,” coach John Herdman said. People think so now.
“Now is the time for everyone behind football to unite because we can become a force. It is time.”
The English and the adopted Canadian native now hope this will be something strong for Canadian football being built.
achieve the impossible
There has been a sharp rise because the heart of this team is young and yet players under the age of 30 believed the World Cup was a long way off.
“We thought it was impossible for Canada to go to the World Cup,” said Lucas Cavallini. I hope we can unite this nation and convince young people to continue to believe in their dreams. »
“You have to believe that as a young Canadian, you can be the best soccer player in the world,” added Jonathan Osorio, citing one of his teammates as an example.
“We already have one of the best players in Alfuso Davies and if he can’t convince the youngsters that they can become the best, I don’t know who can.”
family
On Saturday, Stephen Ostaccio referred to his teammates as brothers, expressing his love for them and saying he would invite them all to his wedding.
“It’s not just nice words or quotes, it’s really a feeling we have and that’s what made us qualify for the World Cup, something that people thought was impossible a few years ago or even a year ago,” insisted Samuel Peet.
“I grew up with a lot of these guys in neighborhoods around Toronto and I don’t think many of us were very wealthy,” Osorio added. We had to fight and start from the bottom. »
in the raptors
To motivate his forces, John Herdman invited his players to make a pilgrimage to the NBA Raptors’ locker room at Scotiabank Stadium.
“I told them there was a group of guys who made the decision, in that locker room, to change the face of their sport. The guys made the same decision tonight.
“I wanted the guys to get a taste of what heroism is, we had a special moment, we were getting goosebumps.”