Outstanding effort by Canada.
Belgium 1 | Canada 0
Canada dominated most time of the game but couldn’t finish in front of goal, specially when Alphonso Davies missed the first-half penalty saved by Belgium keeper Thibaut Courtois.
Expectations for Canadians are extremely high because they came top of Mexico and USA in their qualifying games. Well now they are in a group of three top 25 world ranking teams which is a pretty big pill for Canadians to swallow.
As Canadians we have to lower our expectations and enjoy this experience, since the ice hockey nation going shoulder to shoulder with world’s top ranking teams such as Belgium, Croatia and Morocco
Over a three and half decade droughtness, this is a lifetime experience for all of us to watch them on the grand turf of the world of football and gain the respect of the red maple leaf.
In four years Canada co-hosting the world cup with the USA and Mexico. This is a good opportunity for some young players to gather experience and be ready for our home turfs.
John Henderman is a great coach.
John shortly after taking over for the Canadian women’s national soccer team in 2011, he led them to a gold medal finish at the 2011 Pan American Games in Mexico. He guided the team through the CONCACAF Olympic qualifying tournament in Vancouver, Canada, securing one of two qualifying spots for the London Olympic Games taking place in the summer. In London, the Canadian team placed third winning a bronze medal. The team retained their bronze medal at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
On 8 January 2018, Herdman was named head coach of the Canada men’s national soccer team. He “also becomes men’s national director, with responsibility for all age groups from under-14s upward”. In 2021, he guided the team up the FIFA World Rankings from 72nd to 40th, its highest position to date, to earn the team the honour of “Most Improved Side” of the year. On 10 February 2022, he improved Canada to 33rd in the FIFA World Rankings.
On 27 March 2022, he led the team to qualify for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, its first World Cup in 36 years, becoming the first manager to have successfully led both the national women’s and men’s teams of a nation to qualify for a World Cup.
