Canada fired for ‘hell game’ against Croatia, says manager
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Canada manager John Herdman said Saturday that his team was fired for a test against 2018 World Cup finalists Croatia after the Canadians outlasted Belgium in a 1-0 loss.
Canada, competing in its second World Cup, is still looking to score its first goal in the history of the men’s tournament. They qualified for the tournament in 1986, where they lost 0-0 and 0-0 in the group stage.
Canada faces Croatia, who held Morocco to a 0-0 draw in their opener on Sunday, in what Herdman described as a “massive game.”
“It’s a hell of a test for this team. We’re excited,” Herdman told a news conference. “We have one hell of a match coming up.”
Emotional after Canada’s solid performance against the second-ranked team in the world, Herdman drew the attention of the Croatian media when he said his team would go and “destroy Croatia.”
In response to his comments, a Croatian tabloid published a full-page photo of a naked Herdman with maple leaves covering his mouth and privates with the headline: “You have a mouth, but do you have one?” Do you even have balls?”
Herdman, who previously admitted that his emotional comments were not very respectful of Croatia, laughed off the story in a Croatian tabloid on Sunday.
“My wife is after you. She wishes she had that boy.” He said with a smile. “I’ve got a little more stomach than that.”
Canada, who surprisingly beat Belgium 21-9, topped the CONCACAF qualifying table, scoring more and conceding fewer goals than any other team. After Croatia drew with Morocco, all four teams are looking to qualify for the knockout stages.
“There were times when playing Bermuda was exciting and now here we are,” Canadian midfielder Stephen Eustaquio said.
“I think before the tournament we were favorites not to do well in this group, but we beat Belgium, so anything can happen in this group.”
