John Herdman believes the emerging new generation of Canadian soccer players can unite the nation from Victoria to St. John’s.
“We feel like we can connect the country by qualifying for the biggest sports event on the planet,” said the Canadian men’s team head coach in a Zoom call Thursday with national sports media.
Canada, in the final stage of CONCACAF World Cup qualifying for the first time since 1998, will kick-off the round with a home game against Honduras next Thursday at BMO Field in Toronto.
“We are playing in 14 matches we have not played in nearly 25 years,” said Herdman, of Canada’s long stretch away from the final round of qualifying.
“We want to put the world on notice. We are absolutely committed to getting the team to Qatar [2022 World Cup]. I told the players this four years of preparation is about playing an opening game in the 2022 World Cup against an Italy, Brazil, Argentina or Spain. There’s a new mentality [on the national side] that believes anything is possible.”
The task on home turf is a big one, as it always must be for Canada in CONCACAF, where points on Latin American pitches are hard to come by. The ambitious goal is nothing less than earning the full 21 points in the seven games of the final round to be played in Canada.
“We want to win all games at home and make that a fortress in accumulating 21 points. That’s the mission. But we know the football gods are not always smiling on you and we have a built-in margin for error. We also know how many road victories we will be [targeting].”
It all begins against Honduras in the first Canadian game at home since 2019. Two sold-out Canada games in 2020 against Trinidad and Tobago, scheduled for Starlight Stadium in Langford, were cancelled due to the pandemic.
“Getting back to home soil and feeling that national anthem is what we’ve been waiting for,” said Herdman.
“The players are excited to start a new journey and show our fans how much they care about representing their country.”
It is a golden generation with four Canadian players on European clubs playing in this year’s Champions League and three on teams in the Europa League.
“That’s absolutely massive,” said Herdman, of the talent at his disposal.
It includes Alphonso Davies of Bayern Munich and Jonathan David of Lille OSC, the two youngest players in the Canada squad at 20 and 21. Davies is a Bundesliga and UEFA Champions League winner while David is a Ligue 1 champion in France. Davies and David are two of five Canadians ages 23 or younger on the roster announced Thursday, along with rising sensation Tajon Buchanan of the New England Revolution of MLS.
“Our young talent is using the national team as a springboard,” said Herdman.
“Our attacking is brilliant on both our left side and on our right side. Tajon takes the pressure off Aphonso. That brings another level of dread to the opponent.”
So much so that Canada could actually be turning the tables in CONCACAF.
“Our fans want to see their team play the best in CONCACAF and expect this World Cup campaign is a turning point and tipping point.”
Canada has not qualified for the World Cup since 1986 with a national side with four players from the Vancouver Island Soccer League.
Canada meets the U.S. on Sept 5 at Nissan Stadium in Nashville and hosts El Salvador at BMO Field on Sept. 8 in the three-game opening set of the 14-game final round. Qualifying runs through March 30. The top three teams of the eight in the CONCACAF final round will qualify for World Cup Qatar 2022 while the fourth-place team will advance to an at-large, last-chance world qualifier.
