The Canadian men flew south to El Salvador on Tuesday to take the next step on their remarkable World Cup qualifying journey.
And while coach John Herdman and the players keep their eye on the prize, they know the support they have behind them as they inch closer and closer to Qatar 2022.
“We had a good chat about that with the players,” Herdman said prior to jumping on the team charter ahead of Wednesday’s game in San Salvador. “We feel that the country is really coming with us. And it’s exciting.”
The Canada coach cited special moments with the home crowd after wins over the U.S., Panama and Mexico in Hamilton, Toronto and Edmonton, respectively.
“Just moments you have to live. You have to soak it all in,” he said. “And then the next day you get back to work.
“I’ve got some really top-level leaders in this team that have lived big experiences, so they know what comes with the territory. They know that we’ve got to tune out that noise at the right time and get back to being humble, feet on the ground. And knowing that if we don’t take three points here, Panama win, Mexico, U.S.A. win, you’re back in the fight again. You’re back into the scrap of making sure you’re in a position to not finish in fourth place.
“So it’s massive game. And these players are well aware.”
Canada (6-0-4, 22 points) tops the eight-team standings in the final round of CONCACAF qualifying, with a four-point bulge over Mexico and the U.S. (both 5-2-3, 18 points). Panama (5-3-2, 17 points) stands fourth, four points above Costa Rica (3-3-4, 13 points).
Come March, the top three countries will represent North and Central America and the Caribbean in Qatar. The fourth-place finisher will face an Oceania team in an intercontinental playoff to see who joins them.
A win Wednesday combined with other results could see the Canadian men seal qualification.
Should Canada beat El Salvador (upping its total to 25 points), and Panama lose to Mexico, the U.S. lose to Honduras and Costa Rica lose or draw against Jamaica, the 40th-ranked Canadians would be through. That would open the door for Canada since Panama plays the U.S. in March — and under that scenario one of them would be unable to overtake Canada — while Costa Rica can’t drop any points if it is to reach the 25-point mark.
A more likely scenario could see Canada guarantee itself at least a fourth-place finish after play Wednesday.
El Salvador (2-5-3, nine points), Jamaica (1-5-4, seven points) and Honduras (0-7-3, three points) cannot catch Canada.
Herdman’s team has a nine-point cushion over fifth-place Costa Rica. A Canadian win Wednesday coupled with a Costa Rica loss or tie in Jamaica would mean the Costa Ricans could not catch Canada, assuring the Canadian men of at least a fourth-place finish.
A Canada tie in El Salvador coupled with a Costa Rica loss would also guarantee the Canadians at least fourth place.
Herdman says his team is aware of the dangers coming off the emotional high of Sunday’s win over the U.S. And he is not taking El Salvador lightly, noting its strength at home where it tied the U.S., Honduras, Jamaica and Panama with the lone loss to visiting Mexico.
He says his team is going into “a real CONCACAF experience” at Estadio Cuscatlan.
“I think every game I’ve seen El Salvador play, they’ve got a packed house. They’re fighting for their lives. They’re the underdogs. We know they never surrender the shirt in that stadium.”
It’s been a gruelling schedule with three games in three countries in a week. But Herdman says the Canadians have made the best of it.
“It’s been demanding. But I think when you’re winning, it changes everything. I can imagine what this would be like if you’d lost those two games. It would be probably the toughest experience of our careers. But when you’re winning, the sun shines. These trips don’t feel burdensome. We’re just excited now to actually get to El Salvador.”
Herdman’s backroom team has also worked hard to ease the travel. The Canadian men have flown by charter, taking chefs with them and having security in place while opting to spend as little time on hostile ground as possible.
“The mindset of the group has been just embrace and enjoy these moments,” he said.
Canada is 9-5-4 all-time against El Salvador and won 3-0 when they met last September in World Cup qualifying play at Toronto’s BMO Field. It is 2-2-2 in games in El Salvador, last winning there in December 1996.
After Wednesday, Canada wraps up qualifying play at Costa Rica on March 23, at home to Jamaica on March 26 and at Panama on March 29.
El Salvador, whose roster includes former Toronto FC defender Eriq Zavaleta, is coming off a 2-0 win in Honduras. It lost 1-0 to the U.S. in Columbus to open the international window.
With centre back Steven Vitoria suspended after picking up a second yellow card, Canada has called up CF Montreal defender Zachary Brault-Guillard.
Midfielder Samuel Piette limped out of last week’s victory in Honduras and is deemed day-to-day.
Canada remains without Bayern Munich star Alphonso Davies, who has been sidelined by myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle, after testing positive for COVID-19. The 21-year-old from Edmonton has still been putting on a show, however, live-streaming on Twitch as he watches Canada’s games.
On the plus side, Herdman said influential midfielder Stephen Eustaquio, who missed both the Honduras and U.S. games after Portuguese reports he had tested positive for COVID, was awaiting the team in El Salvador.
GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Canada’s Marina Stakusic fell 6-4, 6-3 to Poland’s Magdalena Frech in the quarterfinals of the Guadalajara Open tennis tournament on Friday.
The 19-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., won 61 per cent of her first-serve points and broke on just one of her six opportunities.
Stakusic had upset top-seeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (0) on Thursday night to advance.
In the opening round, Stakusic defeated Slovakia’s Anna Karolína Schmiedlová 6-2, 6-4 on Tuesday.
The fifth-seeded Frech won 62 per cent of her first-serve points and converted on three of her nine break point opportunities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
TORONTO – Alejandro Kirk’s long single with the bases loaded provided the Toronto Blue Jays with a walk-off 4-3 win in the 11th inning of their series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday.
With the Cardinals outfield in, Kirk drove a shot off the base of the left-field wall to give the Blue Jays (70-78) their fourth win in 11 outings and halt the Cardinals’ (74-73) two-game win streak before 30,380 at Rogers Centre.
Kirk enjoyed a two-hit, two-RBI outing.
Erik Swanson (2-2) pitched a perfect 11th inning for the win, while Cardinals reliever Ryan Fernandez (1-5) took the loss.
Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman enjoyed a seven-inning, 104-pitch outing. He surrendered his two runs on nine hits and two walks and fanned only two Cardinals.
He gave way to reliever Genesis Cabrera, who gave up a one-out homer to Thomas Saggese, his first in 2024, that tied the game in the eighth.
The Cardinals started swiftly with four straight singles to open the game. But they exited the first inning with only two runs on an RBI single to centre from Nolan Arendao and a fielder’s choice from Saggese.
Gausman required 28 pitches to escape the first inning but settled down to allow his teammates to snatch the lead in the fourth.
He also deftly pitched out of threats from the visitors in the fifth, sixth and seventh thanks to some solid defence, including Will Wagner’s diving stop, which led to a double play to end the fifth inning.
George Springer led off with a walk and stole second base. He advanced to third on Nathan Lukes’s single and scored when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. knocked in his 95th run with a double off the left-field wall.
Lukes scored on a sacrifice fly to left field from Spencer Horwitz. Guerrero touched home on Kirk’s two-out single to right.
In the ninth, Guerrero made a critical diving catch on an Arenado grounder to throw out the Cardinals’ infielder, with reliever Tommy Nance covering first. The defensive gem ended the inning with a runner on second base.
St. Louis starter Erick Fedde faced the minimum night batters in the first three innings thanks to a pair of double plays. He lasted five innings, giving up three runs on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts.
ON DECK
Toronto ace Jose Berrios (15-9) will start the second of the three-game series on Saturday. He has a six-game win streak.
The Cardinals will counter with righty Kyle Gibson (8-6).
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
CALGARY – Mired in their first four-game losing skid in 20 years, the Calgary Stampeders are going back to Jake Maier at quarterback on Saturday after he was benched for a game.
It won’t be an easy assignment.
Visiting McMahon Stadium are the Eastern Conference-leading Montreal Alouettes (10-2) who own the CFL’s best record. The Stampeders (4-8) have fallen to last in the Western Conference.
“Six games is plenty of time, but also it is just six games,” said Maier. “We’ve got to be able to get on the right track.”
Calgary is in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2004.
“I do still believe in this team,” said Stampeders’ head coach and general manager Dave Dickenson. “I want to see improvement, though. I want to see guys on a weekly basis elevating their game, and we haven’t been doing that.”
Maier is one of the guys under the microscope. Two weeks ago, the second-year starter threw four interceptions in a 35-20 home loss to the Edmonton Elks.
After his replacement, rookie Logan Bonner, threw five picks in last week’s 37-16 loss to the Elks in Edmonton, the football is back in Maier’s hands.
“Any time you fail or something doesn’t go your way in life, does it stink in the moment? Yeah. But then the days go on and you learn things about yourself and you learn how to prepare a little bit better,” said Maier. “It makes you mentally tougher.”
Dickenson wants to see his quarterback making better decisions with the football.
“Things are going to happen, interceptions will happen, but try to take calculated risks, rather than just putting the ball up there and hoping that we catch it,” said Dickenson.
A former quarterback himself, he knows the importance of that vital position.
“You cannot win without good quarterback play,” Dickenson said. “You’ve got to be able to make some plays — off-schedule plays, move-around plays, plays that break down, plays that aren’t designed perfectly, but somehow you found the right guy, and then those big throws where you’re taking that hit.”
But it’s going to take a team effort, and that includes the club’s receiving corp.
“We always have to band together because we need everything to go right for our receivers to get the ball,” said Nik Lewis, the Stampeders’ receivers coach. “The running back has to pick up the blitz, the o-line has to block, the quarterback has to make the right reads, and then give us a catchable ball.”
Lewis brings a unique perspective to this season’s frustrations as he was a 22-year-old rookie in Calgary in 2004 when the Stamps went 4-14 under coach Matt Dunigan. They turned it around the next season and haven’t missed the playoffs since.”
“Thinking back and just looking at it, there’s just got to be an ultimate belief that you can get it done. Look at Montreal, they were 6-7 last year and they’ve gone 18-2 since then,” said Lewis.
Montreal is also looking to rebound from a 37-23 loss to the B.C. Lions last week. But for head coach Jason Maas, he says his team’s mindset doesn’t change, regardless of what happened the previous week.
“Last year when we went through a four-game losing streak, you couldn’t tell if we were on a four-game winning streak or a four-game losing streak by the way the guys were in the building, the way we prepared, the type of work ethic we have,” said Maas. “All our standards are set, so that’s all we focus on.”
While they may have already clinched a playoff spot, Alouettes’ quarterback Cody Fajardo says this closing stretch remains critical because they want to finish the season strong, just like last year when they won their final five regular-season games before ultimately winning the Grey Cup.
“It doesn’t matter about what you do at the beginning of the year,” said Fajardo. “All that matters is how you end the year and how well you’re playing going into the playoffs so that’s what these games are about.”
The Alouettes’ are kicking off a three-game road stretch, one Fajardo looks forward to.
“You understand what kind of team you have when you play on the road because it’s us versus the world mentality and you can feel everybody against you,” said Fajardo. “Plus, I always tend to find more joy in silencing thousands of people than bringing thousands of people to their feet.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
