With a win or draw against Honduras tonight, Canada can clinch CONCACAF Final 4.
Canadian men's soccer team can clinch CONCACAF Final 4 with a win or draw tonight against Honduras
If the Canadians win or draw, they will qualify for the Nations League finals in Las Vegas in June.
It was one year to the day since the Canadian men's soccer team reached their first World Cup in 36 years following an emphatic victory over Jamaica at BMO Field.
As a result of so many changes since then - both good and bad, on and off the field - the celebration of the anniversary felt more like a time for settling accounts than a chance for happy reflection.
John Herdman may have preferred to concentrate on Tuesday's match against Honduras. Canada will qualify for the CONCACAF Nations League finals in Las Vegas in June with a win or a draw. In the event of a loss, the Hondurans will be forced to move to the desert.
"It will be hot tomorrow night, there's no doubt," Herdman stated. "For us, it's all on the line. Winner takes all. I've been clear with the mentality of the group … We've come home to win."
As the conversation progressed, it became apparent that Canada Soccer was facing an ongoing institutional crisis.
During a recent interview, Herdman was asked how he felt when he heard that Nick Bontis had described Christine Sinclair's demand for equal pay and treatment as "bitching" when he had coached the Canadian women before he coached the men.
Herdman took a considerable amount of time to respond. An expression of hardness appeared on his face, and his eyes were black.
"I think frustrated," he stated. "Really frustrated."
Afterward, he was asked how he coped with relentless off-field drama, including boycotts, both real and threatened, by both national teams, protracted contract negotiations regarding World Cup compensation and other issues, Bontis' departure, the departure of Sandra Gage, the departure of Richard Scott, and reports that Herdman was in the process of leaving for the role of coach for New Zealand.
"It's not easy," Herdman said. "Given I think everything that everyone has put into the program over the last 10, 12, 13, 14, 15, 20 years … There's a lot of people who've sacrificed a lot. We've worked hard to get to this moment — really hard to get to this moment.
"It should be different."
Return to action with victory
Despite losing three games at the World Cup in Qatar, the men were able to win 2-0 against Curaçao on Saturday to set up Tuesday's group-deciding match. Canada's victory also secured a spot in this summer's Gold Cup.
Rather than celebrate it as the beginning of an exciting and potentially historic cycle, it should have been viewed as the beginning of a new World Cup campaign. Canada, along with the United States and Mexico, will co-host the 2026 tournament.
The fireworks were obscured by clouds instead.
There is perhaps no better way to reset than to defeat the tough Honduras team: to truly remember the heights that this team reached not so long ago and to begin dreaming about what might still be possible. Despite a damp spring day, it will not be long before the world's eyes turn to a summer-warm BMO Field.
"We will keep on the path and focused," midfielder Jonathan Osorio said. "That starts with winning the game tomorrow."
Until further notice, other players will remain divided in their attention.
On behalf of the rest of the team, Alistair Johnston, a member of the leadership group that has been negotiating with Canada Soccer, has struggled to balance the demands of a professional move to Scottish giant Celtic with his desire to improve every aspect of the national team's program.
"It's about finding that balance," he said. "You've got to focus on your club, but at the same time, we understand it's not just about our national team — it's about all of Canada Soccer".
"At the end of the day, we know that if we take care of what we need to take care of on the field, it helps everything off the field as well. We want to be a world class organization on the pitch and off the pitch, and if we can really take care of business on the pitch, it makes everyone's life a little bit easier. And puts pressure on other people to run the business like a world class business."
Success will breed success, and the players will be able to set an example for their governing body through their on-field performance.
That belief is weighed down by years of institutional failure, most of which remains unresolved.
The only way to find out if winning will provide the remedy and a new Canada Soccer will emerge in 2026 is to beat Honduras on Tuesday night.
source: Chris Jones for CBC
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