Canada goes to work while WC party continues

TORONTO: As France celebrated their 2018 World Cup triumph, Canada coach John Herdman was hard at work on Tuesday thinking about how to get his side invited to the party in four years time.

For Canadians World Cup fun is something they have rarely had any direct interest in, instead living vicariously through others waving the flag of their ancestral homes.

Canada has qualified just once for the World Cup, in 1986, when they lost all three group matches and failed to score a goal.

The man Soccer Canada has turned to right the ship is Herdman, a high-energy Englishman who relies on motivation and inspiration as much as tactics and has never managed a men’s team but found success in the women’s game steering Canada to bronze medals at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics.

Soccer Canada is counting on Herdman’s contagious enthusiasm, outside-the-box-thinking and attention to detail to accomplish what a long line of managers with more traditional resumes were unable to do and qualify the country for a World Cup.

“We’re going to fight for everything we can to get this team over the line in 2022 or die trying,” declared Herdman, looking ahead to the tournament in Qatar in four years.

“Three MLS clubs, three MLS academies, a Canadian professional league right on the horizon we should be qualified.

“In four years time what you have created is a foundation for future success but it will be built on the fact you have achieved success and if you achieve success in 2022 you know the foundation is there for more.

“If you cannot get an invitation to a party, however, you throw one, with Canada set to co-host the 2026 World Cup along with the United States and Mexico.