On Wednesday, they were three strangers waiting at a bus stop, all holding tickets to Canada’s final group stage match against Switzerland at B.C. Place. “We started talking and hit it off,” said Dalen Brueckner, who’s from Edmonton and came to B.C. to watch World Cup matches. Some 48 hours later, they’ve embarked on a 2,000-kilometre road trip to Los Angeles for Canada’s round of 32 game against South Africa on Sunday. “We’re going to take turns for the driving because it is quite a long drive. And once we get there, we’re going to find an Airbnb and then go to the game on Sunday,” said Zenobia Watson, who’s from North Vancouver. The idea was born when the new friends were commiserating that Canada’s 2-1 loss to the Swiss meant their round of 32 match would be played in Los Angeles and not on home soil. “I put it out there: ‘Should we go? I mean, if we go, I’ll drive,’” said Sonny Voyageur, who believes it’s kismet that his last name is also the name of the national team’s support group. “I know I was destined to go on this trip,” he said. The trio all managed to get tickets for the game, and are hoping to see a lot of other Canada jerseys in the stadium. “I think there’s going to be more Canadians than we might expect, and I think it’s going to be a lot of screaming red Canadians hoping to see a win,” said Brueckner. Alex Ho is an executive director with the Voyageurs fan group. He watched the first game in Toronto, and both games at B.C. Place. The Ottawa resident is flying from Vancouver to Los Angles on Saturday to watch the game against South Africa. “Obviously we would have preferred to be here and stay here in Vancouver. That’s not the reality of what’s going to happen. But I am happy to go to L.A. and see where we go,” said Ho. “I think we’re the favourites going in, which is a very strange one for us to be in.” Ho knows that Team Canada fans in L.A. will be hoping for the kind of march to the stadium that the Voyageurs are famous for. “The planning for the marches in Toronto and Vancouver took months. We basically have 72 hours to pull this off. So we’re just going to say, ‘Everybody meet up at this at this bar, or this restaurant’ beforehand,” said Ho. “It’s a bit of a challenge. It might be something that’s just going to happen spontaneously.” The road tripping trio will be there. “We’ll bring the red to the streets of L.A.,” said Brueckner. If Canada wins on Sunday and advances to the round of 16, both Ho and Brueckner have plans to go to Houston for that game. “I think Canada has to go in as the heavy favourites, and we’re expecting to see them win,” Brueckner said. For the new friends, a win in L.A. would be the cherry on top of an incredible World Cup experience. “This whole thing has just been remarkable,” said Voyageur, who is from Comox. “We don’t want it to end. And it’s not over yet.”
