Members of Vancouver Island’s Croatian community will likely have mixed emotions Nov. 27 when their homeland plays their adopted country in the 2022 World Cup of soccer in Qatar
“My heart says Croatia and my heart says Canada,” Rudi Ranogajec of Victoria said Friday after the World Cup draw in Doha. “I have mixed emotions for sure.”
Ranogajec, who was born in a refugee camp in Italy as his parents fled communism in the former Yugoslavia, was among those who jammed the Croatian Cultural Society hall in Gordon Head in 2018 during Croatia’s run to the final of the last World Cup in Russia. Now, with Canada in the mix, he said he wishes both teams all the best and will be rooting for a tie.
In a land of immigrants, the World Cup has always been Canada’s great cultural dance.
It has been watched and celebrated over the years from the Portuguese and Greek cultural halls on Elk Lake Drive to Holland House in Royal Oak to the Italian Da Vinci Centre in Vic West and the German Edelweiss Club in James Bay.
Ethnic homelands were easy to celebrate without Canada competing, which hasn’t happened since 1986, when the national side, with a then-heavy presence of Island players, qualified for the first and until now only time. But Canada has not only ended the 36-year drought, it’s considered a dynamic and rising young side.
“Put the Croatia shirts away in the drawer and put on the red of Canada and just get behind our country,” Canada coach John Herdman said Friday on TSN.
While it’s familiar to those who grew up in footballing nations, watching their country in the World Cup will be a new experience for many Canadians, said Herdman, a native of England. “It’s the dream to have the whole country celebrate at the same time and a moment to show a new Canada with dads, mothers, daughters, sons, grandparents all piling around the TV to watch Canada score its first goal in the World Cup.”
The latter didn’t happen in 1986, as Canada was blanked in all three games against France, Hungary and the Soviet Union.
Ranogajec, a former player who won the Jackson Cup Island championship in the 1980s with Victoria Croatia, says a lot has changed since 1986 for Canadian soccer. “Canada is so much more attacking and technical now and will score,” said Ranogajec, who expects the Canadian team to “surprise a lot of people” at the World Cup.
The Canada-Croatia game, he said, will be “quite a day for us in the Croatian community.”
“It’s a big test for Canada because Croatia is very good.”
It certainly won’t be an easy ride. Canada was drawn to open Nov. 23 against Belgium, which was ranked No. 1 in the FIFA world rankings for four years from 2018 to this week, and was third in the 2018 World Cup. Second opponent Croatia made it to the 2018 championship game before losing to France. Canada closes play in the group stage Dec. 1 against Morocco, which was unbeaten in African qualifying.
Belgium is definitely the favourite, said George Pakos of Victoria, who scored two of the four goals in the final round of CONCACAF qualifying that propelled Canada into the 1986 World Cup. “But this is a fair draw and this Canadian team is talented enough that I believe we can move on beyond this group stage into the next round.”
Another Victoria product and Canada team alumnus concurs. Martin Nash, who earned 38 caps for the national side, and is now coach of York United in the Canadian Premier League, said Canada has the potential to “cause some damage” in the World Cup. “They are not just going. They are going to compete. I believe they have the ability to get out of their group. This generation is really exciting. They are so athletic and technical.”
Women’s national team coach Bev Priestman, who guided Canada to the gold medal last summer in the Tokyo Olympics, said the Canadian men “can give any team a run on the day.”
“The ceiling is high. They are ready to compete and get out of their group into the next round.”
