The build-up to this match was intense. From the moment John Herdman’s post-match comments were relayed to Croatia’s coach and players, there was a little extra to this clash.
Two minutes in, it looked as though Canada was ready to back up their coach’s talk by walking the walk as Alphonso Davies scored the country’s first goal at a men’s World Cup with a tremendous header off an inch-perfect cross from Tajon Buchanan.
“I’m very happy for the moment,” Davies told TSN's Matthew Scianitti after the match. “To get the first-ever World Cup goal for Canada, for me, just keep dreaming, keep believing, keep pushing.”
Creating this moment was a huge objective for the team but the manner in which Croatia steadily wrestled control after and came away with an impressive 4-1 victory left the players disappointed they couldn’t come away with more.
“I’m disappointed in the result,” Davies said. “It’s not easy to take defeat and today we lost the game. Everyone came out here, we did our best, we fought every single minute but this game is about winning. Especially in this tournament, we needed those three points and we’re looking forward to the next game. Hopefully, we can get something out of that.”
Canada were the lowest-ranked side in the group and weren’t favoured to make it out but gave plenty of reason for optimism after a spirited display against Belgium. With Croatia unable to find a way past an organized Morocco side, coming away with at least a point in this second match didn’t seem out of the question.
Croatia’s midfield trio of Luka Modric, Mateo Kovacic, and Marcelo Brozovic – especially the former two – showed their class, though, and coupled with an outstanding performance from Ivan Perisic and a pair of smart finishes by Andrej Kramaric proved too much for Canada to handle.
There were certainly moments where Canada could have had a second goal and made things interesting, but the extent to which Croatia commanded the middle of the pitch meant there was only going to be one winner. Canada showed what it can be at its best and its worst, Croatia showed that it can sustain its best for longer while also having a higher floor in terms of performance.
“A lot of pride in that performance,” Herdman said. “I thought in moments they showed they could compete on the world stage, to see us score our first goal and have that moment where the fans – knowing people back home east to west were celebrating somewhere – it was a great moment. When they scored that second goal I thought it was a turning point because we had to come out after the game and this team are absolute killers in transition. This is a team that when you give them that little inch, they take a yard.”
The defeat will hurt players and fans alike, but the moments that these players along with the coaching and support staff have helped create will inspire the next generation. Few will know better than Atiba Hutchinson, who captained the side and earned his 100th cap, what a moment like that could mean going forward.
“That was a first for us,” Hutchinson said. “We’ve been waiting for that [for] a very long time. It kinda makes you feel like a little kid again, it was an amazing cross from Tajon and to see the effort that Phonzie had to get on the end of it and put that ball in the back of the net, it was a great feeling. In that moment, you’re ready to push on from there and get the feeling you’re going to get something out of the game. I’m sure there were a lot of Canadians across our country celebrating like crazy and we’re just disappointed we couldn’t do more to get a better result here.”
Hearing the Canadian national anthem at the men’s World Cup, competing against quality sides in Belgium and Croatia, scoring the first goal, these are moments that will have children across the country now dreaming of doing even bigger things because of what they’ve seen.
The players themselves, several of whom are under the age of 25 will benefit from the fact that they have this experience to look back on. There was so much that they experienced for the first time that will serve them going forward. There are players who will have impressed enough to garner attention from higher quality teams and thereby continue to raise their level. The soccer world as a whole will have a new level of respect for Canada.
“We’ve got a lot of positives we can take from our last two games,” Hutchinson said. “Getting that feel of what it takes to be in a World Cup, we’ll learn from this and we have another game five days from now. We want to finish on a good note, we want to finish with three points and hold our heads up after.”
Without having seen it, former Bank of Canada governor David Dodge believes that Tuesday's 2024 federal budget from Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland is 'likely to be the worst budget' in decades.
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Horrified worshippers watched online and in person as a bishop was stabbed at the altar during a church service in Sydney on Sunday evening.
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A controversial former school trustee from B.C.'s Fraser Valley who described a political rival as a "strip-tease artist" during an election campaign has been ordered to pay her $45,000 for defamation.
Michael Gordon Jackson, the man on trial after being charged with contravention of a custody order for allegedly abducting his daughter in late 2021 to prevent her from getting a COVID-19 vaccine, called himself to the stand Monday.
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A couple who owned a Colorado funeral home where authorities last year discovered 190 decaying bodies were indicted on federal charges that they misspent nearly US$900,000 in pandemic relief funds on vacations, cosmetic surgery, jewelry and other personal expenses, according to court documents unsealed Monday.
The ship crash that destroyed Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge and left several people dead is now under federal criminal investigation, according to a U.S. official familiar with the matter.
The historic hush-money trial of Donald Trump got underway Monday with the arduous process of selecting a jury to hear the case charging the former U.S. president with falsifying business records in order to stifle stories about his sex life.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday let a Republican-backed law in Idaho that criminalizes gender-affirming care for transgender minors broadly take effect after a federal judge blocked it as unconstitutional.
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Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland will be presenting the 2024 federal budget on Tuesday, revealing how the federal Liberal government intends to balance the nearly $40 billion in pre-announced new spending with her vow to remain fiscally prudent.
Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly says she's urging Israel to de-escalate rising conflicts in the Middle East and not bomb Iran in retaliation for this past weekend's thwarted airstrikes.
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It’s common knowledge that exercise is good for your mental health and your heart health — and now a new study suggests that all three are working together.
The cybersecurity firm BrandShield has taken down more than 250 websites selling fake versions of popular weight-loss and diabetes drugs in the GLP-1 class, the company’s CEO Yoav Keren told Reuters.
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NASA confirmed Monday that a mystery object that crashed through the roof of a Florida home last month was a chunk of space junk from equipment discarded at the International Space Station.
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Canadian singer Grimes apologized to fans on Saturday after her Coachella set earlier that evening was beset by technical issues that caused her to scream into the microphone in frustration.
A movie weapons supervisor was sentenced to 18 months in prison in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer by Alec Baldwin on the set of 'Rust.'
A Vancouver woman whose company duped investors by promising big returns on real-estate deals that would house the homeless has been ordered to pay nearly $626,000 after the British Columbia Securities Commission deemed the operation a Ponzi scheme.
The U.S. Department of Justice is preparing to file an antitrust lawsuit against Live Nation as soon as next month, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter.
Apple's smartphone sales tumbled 10 per cent last quarter, according to market research firm IDC, as sales in China fell sharply.
A high score on a Foo Fighters pinball machine has Edmonton player Dave Formenti on a high.
Celebrity food critic Keith Lee said he was blown away by Toronto, handing a rich ranking to its culinary creators, as the first international stop of his latest food tour.
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After four years at the University of Connecticut, Edwards was selected sixth overall by the Washington Mystics in the WNBA draft Monday night.
The Indiana Fever selected sharpshooter Caitlin Clark with the first pick of the WNBA Draft on Monday.
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If you’ve ever felt the allure of Hollywood and wanted to be in a big-budget movie your time to shine is now.
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Michael Gordon Jackson, the man on trial after being charged with contravention of a custody order for allegedly abducting his daughter in late 2021 to prevent her from getting a COVID-19 vaccine, called himself to the stand Monday.
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Lethbridge West MLA Shannon Phillips is calling on the province to reinstate funding for the Lethbridge Elder Abuse Response Network.
If you’re planning to head to the coulees this weekend to enjoy the nice weather, don’t forget to look down.
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The City of Sault Ste. Marie is expecting a busy summer at the Downtown Plaza. City officials say the plaza is coming off a successful first winter season, which saw large crowds gathering at the outdoor rink.
The Soo Greyhounds are the talk of the town, as their second-round matchup in the OHL playoffs touches down in the Sault.
Thunder Bay Police Service held a news conference Monday afternoon to discuss the misconduct investigation that led to criminal charges being laid against the city's former police chief.
A pricing agreement has been reached between crab fishers and seafood processors that will allow for Newfoundland and Labrador's annual crab fishery to get started.
Longliners across Newfoundland and Labrador are tied up once again, as a new protest by the province's fish harvesters threatens to derail the crab fishery for a second straight year.
A unique photo exhibit is putting cameras into the hands of survivors of domestic and sexual violence in Newfoundland and Labrador.
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