VAN DIEST: Canadian talent manifests itself in World Cup qualification

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For Canada’s men’s national soccer team, the road to the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar has been an adventurous one, and along the way, it has proven to be the most talented men’s team ever assembled by the country.

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Midway through the final Concacaf qualifying stage, Canada is poised to earn a spot in a men’s World Cup for the first time since its only appearance in 1986.

A 1-0 win against Costa Rica on a Jonathan David goal, in front of more than 48,000 fans at Commonwealth Stadium on Friday, kept Canada third in the eight-team standings with 13 points, one behind the United States and Mexico. and more importantly, two above fourth place Panama.

Canada could overtake Mexico in qualifying when the teams meet in Commonwealth on Tuesday, where an even bigger crowd is expected.

“We are happy where we are, we know we could have scored more points, but we are confident in our abilities and we know that Mexico will be a difficult game,” said Canada defender Sam Adekugbe. “I think looking back we are in a good situation and we know what our ambitions are and we just have to keep pushing for three points in every game. We are happy but not happy. “

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The top three teams after the 14-game round robin qualify for Qatar, with the fourth advancing to a continental tiebreaker for an additional World Cup spot.

With head coach John Herdman pressing all the right buttons up to this point, there is a growing belief in the team that not only can they finish third and win an automatic World Cup spot, but they could win the Concacaf group outright. .

Draws in the United States and Mexico have tipped the pendulum in Canada’s favor against the two teams they can now host.

Mexico lost 2-0 to the United States in Cincinnati on Friday, causing them to slide down the standings and now they have to play in the cold in Edmonton. The United States, meanwhile, travels to face Jamaica.

“We know how good Mexico is, they are known as the best team in Concacaf and even though they lost (on Friday), they still have a lot of quality and can still be dangerous,” Adekugbe said. “We have to focus on what we can do and how to prevent them from getting the best of themselves.

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“It’s going to be another tough game, but we went there and got a result in a tough stadium (Azteca), one of the toughest in the world. We know our quality and we know what we can do and we are only focused on that in the future. “

It speaks volumes about the quality of the Canadian team when a victory in the final round of World Cup qualification can be criticized for not being dominant or comfortable enough. Yet at this stage, one Canada had not advanced to in a quarter century before this year, it’s all about the outcome.

Playing in front of the third-largest crowd in the history of the men’s team and under the heavy weight of expectations, in less-than-ideal conditions, Canada did the job. Now move on to the next one.

“It was a tough game, Costa Rica is a good team and it took us a while to figure out how we can get the best of ourselves on the pitch,” said Adekugbe. “We made some changes at halftime, like the teams do, and we were able to come out more dominant. We have a lot of quality attacking players. We always trust our ability to create chances and score goals. We want to continue doing so ”.

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Herdman and his coaching staff deserve credit for mustering all the talent to bring Canada to this stage in the rankings. Herdman is also to be commended for recruiting players with Canadian ties, who might not otherwise have been part of the national team.

Former Chelsea product Ike Ugbo is the latest to join the team. Ugbo grew up in London, England, but spent part of his youth in Ontario, which made him eligible to play for Canada. When the opportunity to play for England seemed to run out, Herdman convinced the forward to use the Maple Leaf, adding another talent to the growing stable.

Ugbo, who was also eligible to play for Nigeria through his father, came in as a late substitute against Costa Rica and nearly scored his first international goal.

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“First things first, he is now tied on the salary cap so this is good news for Canada, he will not go to Nigeria or England,” Herdman said of Ugbo now committed to Canada after entering the field at a senior international. “But he earned that place. He’s a real poacher and I think if he’d stayed a little longer, he might have found the back of the net. “

Ugbo could see more time against Mexico on Tuesday as his long-awaited Alphonso Davies will slide to his usual spot on the left wing, where he has been most effective for Canada. He started up front as a forward against Costa Rica.

Herdman also has other options to pitch to Mexico with a lot of talent available.

“Our team is quite flexible and quite fluid and that is a credit to the coaching staff,” Adekugbe said. “We have been doing a lot of tactical work since the beginning of this camp. I felt very comfortable there and also the other players and the result was a close match, but we felt we were in control and we were the most dominant team ”.