It has taken 36 years and the fans have waited and waited and waited. A generation has aged but they have hung in there, supporting their team in all these years of near misses and heart breaks, and eventually the unflinching faith of the never say die fans has prevailed. Canada has qualified for the Football World Cup to be held in Qatar later this year. This would be Canada’s second participation in the World Cup, after their 1986 participation in Mexico. Canada’s qualification is no mean achievement and is a truly inspiring story worth writing a post for.
The interest in Football has been growing massively in Canada though still it is well behind Hockey ( Ice Hockey ) and the NHL ( National Hockey League ) is what every young kid in Canada wants to play in. However, Football began to attract some serious attention when John Herdman took charge of Canada’s Women’s Football Team in 2011. The team had finished last in the Women’s World Cup, but Herdman played some magic with the same team, instilled in them some hard to break self belief and led the same set of players to two bronze medals in the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Games. The Women’s Team had already become world beaters and was a force to reckon with when Herdman left the Women’s Team to coach the men in 2018, just before the qualification for the World Cup 2022 was about to begin.
Herdman assembled a group of young and highly talented players and began his quest for the World Cup qualification. In the interim , the Women’s team was dominating the world and their clinching the Gold at the Tokyo Olympics was a resounding moment for Canadian Football. The victory was a major catalyst and a tremendous source of inspiration for the Men’s Team.
Such was the will to qualify that Herdman even knocked at doors for money for his Team. The Team too was not an ordinary one. It was a true representation of the idea of Canada. It had players born in refugee camps, players who had seen the worst of tragedies both natural and man made, but Canada had welcomed them in its fold with warmth and given them opportunities to prosper in life. The players just wanted to give something back for the love they had received.
The sheer athleticism, skill and chemistry within the team coupled with fearless aggressive football dismantled opponents as Canada marched towards qualification. They topped their group and barring one loss, they very much remained undefeated in their campaign. Herdman, the magician as I would call him had transformed a set of players into one lethal conquering machine and as experts have said Canada won’t be pushovers this World Cup and infact top teams would be wary of their amazing tenacity and brave football. Canada are drawn in Group F alongside Belgium, Morocco and Croatia in the World Cup. A tough group indeed, however I am certain that Canada will surely put up a good show.
It is many a times said that behind every successful man is a woman. How far it is true is a matter of discussion, but when it comes to Canada there is no denying that behind their successful Men’s Football Team is their very successful Women’s Football Team.
We have also seen that a resolute mind, a determined spirit, an unyielding focus and a staunch self belief are a definite success concoction. Canada’s success is one more such proof, and a lesson learnt.
The Maple Leaf is all set to fly in Qatar and we shall witness how high it soars.