The stage is set for Canada’s long-awaited return to the FIFA World Cup.
We’re only hours away from the Canadians kicking off their adventure — 36 years in the making — in Qatar with a game against Belgium at Ahmed bin Ali Stadium.
But Wednesday’s clash between Canada the world No. 2 won’t just be your run-of-the-mill, David vs Goliath type matchup.
Belgium’s golden generation, led by world-class talents like Kevin De Bruyne, Eden Hazard and Romelu Lukaku, is approaching its twilight years. Despite sitting near the top of the FIFA rankings for the better part of the last decade, and even topping the list at some point, the country has nothing to show for its remarkable talent and development.
Confidence is as high as it can be for Canada as they prepare to take on Belgium in their World Cup opener on Wednesday. (Getty Images)
Enter Canada, whose impressive run through CONCACAF qualifying has many labelling their current crop of young stars as Canadian men’s soccer’s golden generation, led by superstar Alphonso Davies and future stars Jonathan David, Tajon Buchanan and Stephen Eustaquio.
And while it may be the nation’s first appearance at the tournament since 1986, the players maintain they’re not in Qatar to simply make up the numbers.
“[We’re] beyond excited that we made it to the world’s biggest stage, but I just want to be clear, that we’re not here just to enjoy or participate,” veteran defender Steven Vitoria said. “We’re here to get a job done.”
While the challenges in a tricky Group F will come hard and fast, the players relish the opportunity to measure themselves against some of the world’s best talents.
“I think every player’s dream is to play against the best, and I think everyone is trying to level up to see where they are against the best players and the best teams,” said striker Ike Ugbo. “So I think it’s a good challenge, for sure.”
John Herdman’s squad does not seem short on confidence, either, despite facing down a European juggernaut midweek.
“We don’t hope any more, we believe,” said midfielder Jonathan Osorio on Sunday. “We’re very confident in ourselves. We want to show that we are a football nation, that we can compete with the best in the world.”
Belgium enters Matchday 1 in less-than-ideal form, having lost 2-1 to Egypt in a pre-tournament warmup game last Friday. While the Red Devils expect their leader De Bruyne to be firing on all cylinders to start the tournament, the same cannot be said for some of their other regulars. Lukaku will miss the game after failing to recover from a nagging injury in time, while captain Hazard has barely featured for Spanish club Real Madrid this season, and has not been in his characteristic game-changing form for a long time.
Count out Belgium at your own risk, as this core of players have seen just about everything major international competitions could throw at them, finishing third at the 2018 World Cup in Russia, and reaching the quarter-finals of the last two UEFA European Championships. Manager Roberto Martinez will be anxious to finally claim the country’s first-ever international trophy after six years on the job, and with his stars still at the peak of their powers.
This is likely to be Belgium’s Last Dance, but will they get their fairytale ending?
“We know we’re coming up against a team that have been together for six, seven years; a team that has grown together, there’s not much they haven’t seen together,” Herdman said on Tuesday. “We’ve got to understand that there are moments in the game where they’ll take control, but we have an element of not fearing certain parts of what Belgium bring, because it’s all new to us.
“There will be a naivety that will work for us, but it can also work against us.”
Canada’s youthful legs will hope to put a damper on the Flemish parade, and their best shot at getting a draw – or an unlikely win – over their opponents will come if they take the game to them, using their speed and counter movements to stretch out the fifth-oldest squad in the tournament.
Belgium looks like it’s clinging onto the past, while Canada has everything to look forward to in the future. The boys in red and white believe they’re ready to take anybody on.
“On any given day, any team can beat anyone,” said David. “If it falls on the right day, of course we can win.”
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Canada’s Gabriela Dabrowski and New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe remain undefeated in women’s doubles at the WTA Finals.
The 2023 U.S. Open champions, seeded second at the event, secured a 1-6, 7-6 (1), (11-9) super-tiebreak win over fourth-seeded Italians Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini in round-robin play on Tuesday.
The season-ending tournament features the WTA Tour’s top eight women’s doubles teams.
Dabrowski and Routliffe lost the first set in 22 minutes but levelled the match by breaking Errani’s serve three times in the second, including at 6-5. They clinched victory with Routliffe saving a match point on her serve and Dabrowski ending Errani’s final serve-and-volley attempt.
Dabrowski and Routliffe will next face fifth-seeded Americans Caroline Dolehide and Desirae Krawczyk on Thursday, where a win would secure a spot in the semifinals.
The final is scheduled for Saturday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published on Nov. 5, 2024.
EDMONTON – Jake Allen made 31 saves for his second shutout of the season and 26th of his career as the New Jersey Devils closed out their Western Canadian road trip with a 3-0 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Monday.
Jesper Bratt had a goal and an assist and Stefan Noesen and Timo Meier also scored for the Devils (8-5-2) who have won three of their last four on the heels on a four-game losing skid.
The Oilers (6-6-1) had their modest two-game winning streak snapped.
Calvin Pickard made 13 stops between the pipes for Edmonton.
TAKEAWAYS
Devils: In addition to his goal, Bratt picked up his 12th assist of the young season to give him nine points in his last eight games and now 15 points overall. Nico Hischier remains in the team lead, picking up an assist of his own to give him 16 points for the campaign. He has a point in all but four games this season.
Oilers: Forward Leon Draisaitl was held pointless after recording six points in his previous two games and nine points in his previous four. Draisaitl usually has strong showings against the Devils, coming into the contest with an eight-game point streak against New Jersey and 11 goals in 17 games.
KEY MOMENT
New Jersey took a 2-0 lead on the power play with 3:26 remaining in the second period as Hischier made a nice feed into the slot to Bratt, who wired his third of the season past Pickard.
KEY RETURN?
Oilers star forward and captain Connor McDavid took part in the optional morning skate for the Oilers, leading to hopes that he may be back sooner rather than later. McDavid has been expected to be out for two to three weeks with an ankle injury suffered during the first shift of last Monday’s loss in Columbus.
OILERS DEAL FOR D-MAN
The Oilers have acquired defenceman Ronnie Attard from the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for defenceman Ben Gleason.
The 6-foot-3 Attard has spent the past three season in the Flyers organization seeing action in 29 career games. The 25-year-old right-shot defender and Western Michigan University grad was originally selected by Philadelphia in the third round of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. Attard will report to the Oilers’ AHL affiliate in Bakersfield.
UP NEXT
Devils: Host the Montreal Canadiens on Thursday.
Oilers: Host the Vegas Golden Knights on Wednesday.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 4, 2024.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Patrick Mahomes threw for 291 yards and three touchdowns, and Kareem Hunt pounded into the end zone from two yards out in overtime to give the unbeaten Kansas City Chiefs a 30-24 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday night.
DeAndre Hopkins had two touchdown receptions for the Chiefs (8-0), who drove through the rain for two fourth-quarter scores to take a 24-17 lead with 4:17 left. But then Kansas City watched as Baker Mayfield led the Bucs the other way in the final minute, hitting Ryan Miller in the end zone with 27 seconds to go in regulation time.
Tampa Bay (4-5) elected to kick the extra point and force overtime, rather than go for a two-point conversion and the win. And it cost the Buccaneers when Mayfield called tails and the coin flip was heads. Mahomes and the Chiefs took the ball, he was 5-for-5 passing on their drive in overtime, and Hunt finished his 106-yard rushing day with the deciding TD plunge.
Travis Kelce had 14 catches for 100 yards with girlfriend Taylor Swift watching from a suite, and Hopkins finished with eight catches for 86 yards as the Chiefs ran their winning streak to 14 dating to last season. They became the sixth Super Bowl champion to start 8-0 the following season.
Mayfield finished with 200 yards and two TDs passing for the Bucs, who have lost four of their last five.
It was a memorable first half for two players who had been waiting to play in Arrowhead Stadium.
The Bucs’ Rachaad White grew up about 10 minutes away in a tough part of Kansas City, but his family could never afford a ticket for him to see a game. He wound up on a circuitous path through Division II Nebraska-Kearney and a California junior college to Arizona State, where he eventually became of a third-round pick of Tampa Bay in the 2022 draft.
Two year later, White finally got into Arrowhead — and the end zone. He punctuated his seven-yard scoring run in the second quarter, which gave the Bucs a 7-3 lead, by nearly tossing the football into the second deck.
Then it was Hopkins’ turn in his first home game since arriving in Kansas City from a trade with the Titans.
The three-time All-Pro, who already had caught four passes, reeled in a third-down heave from Mahomes amid triple coverage for a 35-yard gain inside the Tampa Bay five-yard line. Three plays later, Mahomes found him in the back of the end zone, and Hopkins celebrated his first TD with the Chiefs with a dance from “Remember the Titans.”
Tampa Bay tried to seize control with consecutive scoring drives to start the second half. The first ended with a TD pass to Cade Otton, the latest tight end to shred the Chiefs, and Chase McLaughlin’s 47-yard field goal gave the Bucs a 17-10 lead.
The Chiefs answered in the fourth quarter. Mahomes marched them through the rain 70 yards for a tying touchdown pass, which he delivered to Samaje Perine while landing awkwardly and tweaking his left ankle, and then threw a laser to Hopkins on third-and-goal from the Buccaneers’ five-yard line to give Kansas City the lead.
Tampa Bay promptly went three-and-out, but its defence got the ball right back, and this time Mayfield calmly led his team down field. His capped the drive with a touchdown throw to Miller — his first career TD catch — with 27 seconds to go, and Tampa Bay elected to play for overtime.
UP NEXT
Buccaneers: Host the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.
