Canada’s soccer team is heading into Thursday’s World Cup Group B showdown against Qatar in Vancouver with a clear message: take charge from the very first minute.
The match comes after Canada’s opening 1-1 draw with Bosnia & Herzegovina, a result that left all four teams in Group B — Canada, Qatar, Switzerland, and Bosnia & Herzegovina — level on one point, one goal scored, and one goal allowed heading into Thursday’s matches. Switzerland faces Bosnia & Herzegovina earlier in the day before Canada takes on Qatar.
“We know that, given our group being so tight right now, that every moment and every point matters, and we’re focused on that,” Canada coach Jesse Marsch told reporters at a pre-match press conference on Wednesday.
Marsch made clear the team has no interest in being passive going forward. “We’re not trying to be overly magnanimous, we’re just focused on the match and about Qatar and what they’re good at, and what we want to try to limit from them, and how we want the game to look,” he said.
The coach pointed specifically to the first half against Bosnia & Herzegovina as a stretch where Canada failed to impose its preferred style of play. “I think we felt like, specifically in the first half against Bosnia, that the game looked more like what they wanted it to look like than what we wanted it to look like, and so we have to make sure that from the beginning we set the tone and we play the kind of match that favours us from the start, so we will, we will be looking to establish that early in the match,” Marsch said.
One positive development for Canada is the availability of Alphonso Davies, whose health had been a subject of speculation for several days. Marsch confirmed the left-side player is fit and ready. “He’s been in training this week, and he’ll be available tomorrow, and we’ll see how the match goes, and then make a decision on how we would choose to use him,” the coach said.
After opening their campaign in Toronto, the Canadian squad has traveled to the west coast to prepare at the National Soccer Development Centre ahead of the Vancouver match. Marsch expressed enthusiasm about playing at BC Place in front of what he expects to be an electric crowd.
“I know this is a football town, Vancouver. We’ve seen it many times before, and we expect this place to be rocking, man. I mean, red everywhere, rocking, supporting these guys, supporting their players, their team, their country,” he said.
Marsch also called on fans to make their presence felt inside the stadium. “Like, these guys will be ready to perform, and we want to make sure that Qatar feels not just the team, but the crowd. So show up, be loud, use the echo in the stadium, and make sure that we have a 12th man in the stadium,” he added.
