Soccer-Canada deliver Vancouver vindication with maiden World Cup finals victory

By Philip O’Connor

VANCOUVER, June 18 (Reuters) – Canada’s first World Cup match on the west coast delivered a resounding 6-0 victory over Qatar that brought boundless joy to long-suffering local fans in Vancouver, who witnessed their men’s national team notch their first win at a World Cup finals. 

On an otherwise jubilant afternoon at the sold-out BC Place, the only shadow that was cast was in the form of a suspected broken leg suffered by midfielder Ismael Kone after a clumsy tackle by Qatar’s Assim Madibo, but not even that could dampen the enthusiasm of the raucous home fans. 

“It’s unbelievable, it’s historic, it’s history right here. That’s a win for Vancouver, it’s the first in Canada’s history at a World Cup, and we were here to witness it,” Canada fan Mattias Cherniak told Reuters just after the final whistle as fellow supporters whooped and beamed with joy as they headed for the exits. 

Though ice hockey reigns supreme in much of Canada, diehard fans in Vancouver need little invitation to tell you that theirs is a soccer city, and if Thursday’s game was a test of that theory, the national team and their fans passed with flying colours.

The pre-game rendition of the national anthem was loud and passionate, only eclipsed by the ear-splitting roars of the red-clad fans for the game’s first two goals in the opening half-hour from Cyle Larin and Jonathan David.

TRADITIONAL THOBES

Forming a wedge off to the left behind one of the goals, fans dressed in traditional white Qatari thobes with maroon scarves cheered their team on, but the sending-off of Homam Ahmed in the 33rd minute ended any hopes they may have had of getting a positive result.

The second-half red card for Madibo for recklessly challenging Kone made their task impossible, and with Qatar down to nine men, the rest of the game looked like a power play from an ice hockey game as the Canadians retained possession and rained shots on goal.

The run-up to the World Cup in Vancouver has been a difficult one for the sport in the city, dominated by discussions around the future of the Whitecaps, the Major League Soccer team based there, and whether or not the franchise might be set for a move to Las Vegas.

On Thursday, all that faded into the background, and the win put Canada top of Group B on goal difference ahead of Switzerland who they will meet in the final group game. Should they emerge victorious from the group, they will stay in Vancouver for the first knockout round. 

“It’s huge for the future, it’s building the culture, it’s building the money, it’s everything,” Cherniak enthused, surrounded by equally jubilant family and friends.

“It is 100% going to make the game more popular here — whoeverwasn’t watching the game here at the stadium, they watched it on their TV, and they’re loving it. It’s unbelievable,” he added.  

(Reporting by Philip O’Connor, editing by Ed Osmond)