Speaking to reporters from his hotel room in Slovakia last week – ahead of all-important friendlies with World Cup hosts Qatar in Vienna on Friday (1pm ET) and Uruguay in Bratislava, Slovakia on Tuesday (noon ET) – appeared listless, anxious, not his usual exuberant self. He admitted that lately his nights have been interrupted by jet lag. “These last four months since June, there seems to be so much going on,” he said. “Some super positives and some things that, yeah, keep me up at night.” June was a reference to Canada’s previous international window, which was a bust from the start. After leading his team to their first World Cup in 36 years, Herdmann could only watch as everything he had so carefully built began to crumble around him. First, Canada Soccer’s proposed friendly in Vancouver with Iran was canceled because it was an unforgivably bad idea. a hastily scheduled match with Panama was scrapped by a players’ strike over their World Cup wages. This controversy remains unresolved. And now, just two months from Canada’s World Cup opener against storied Belgium on Nov. 23, Herdman’s navigation of a series of other dilemmas will dictate whether he is able to answer one key question: can he recapture the sense of joy, brotherhood, and decisiveness that led his team in Qatar to first place? “I have no doubt that difficult decisions are coming,” he said. “There are a lot of moving parts at this point.” WATCHES | Chris Jones breaks down Canada’s World Cup friendlies:
Canada faces tough international tests against Qatar and Uruguay ahead of the World Cup
CBC Sports’ Chris Jones breaks down the biggest stories for the CanMNT’s upcoming friendlies against Qatar and Uruguay.
Unusual World Cup schedule
Unusually, this year’s World Cup will be held in winter to avoid the worst of Qatar’s heat, disrupting the European club season. That has compressed game schedules for Canada’s top players, including Alphonso Davies at Bayern Munich, Stephen Eustáquio at Porto and Jonathan David at Lille, raising fatigue and injury concerns. Atiba Hutchinson, one of Canada’s spiritual leaders and the veteran captain of Turkish giants Beşiktaş, will miss this window with a bone bruise that will sideline him until at least the end of October. It would be something of a tragedy if he couldn’t play in the tournament he fought so hard to get to. “It’s a tough situation,” Herdman said. “I can’t hide from it. If there’s anyone you want to see at a World Cup, it’s Atiba Hutchinson.” In Hutchinson’s absence, David (Junior) Hoilett will take over as captain. Tajon Buchanan, one of Canada’s most dynamic young forwards, has also been limited to a spotter so far this season. He is recovering from a quad injury he suffered with Club Brugge, and although he will be present for Uruguay, he is unlikely to play. “Both the club and the country are trying to wrap him in cotton wool,” Herdman said. With any luck, Canada’s roster won’t turn out to be as depleted by injuries as their counterparts in Europe because there aren’t as many Canadians playing in the top leagues. France alone are missing twelve players this window, including Karim Benzema, Hugo Lloris and Ngolo Kanté. Germany’s Marco Retz cried after injuring his ankle playing for Dortmund last week, fearing he had missed his chance to go to Qatar. Every country is far from disaster. Star Alphonso Davies is expected to lead Canada’s attack. (Darryl Dyck/Canadian Press)
Another concern for Herdman
Herdman has another, opposite concern: Several of his key players are Major League Soccer professionals and will face long breaks in action before the World Cup begins. Even worse, many miss the playoffs, extending the offseason. At Toronto FC alone, Jonathan Osorio, Mark-Anthony Kaye, Richie Laryea and Doneil Henry (who recently suffered a hamstring injury) will be home until early October. While a short recovery period may have been in order, six weeks out is too much, pushing players past the realm of rest and into the realm of rust. Football players are ridiculously fit, able to lower their elevated heart rate by 50 beats a minute, but this level of conditioning requires constant maintenance. So, crucial for Canada, is team spirit. The Canadian men have overcome CONCACAF to qualify for the World Cup in part because they are young and talented, but also because of the sense of purpose and unity that Herdman has instilled in them. They carried a literal sword around, inscribed in Latin: Nihil timendum est. “Nothing to be afraid of.” All of that is good when you have to beat teams like Haiti. Now they are set to face their toughest competition in decades – Canada has rarely faced a team with the quality and ambition of No. 13 Uruguay – spending their final frantic hours together before reuniting in Qatar to take on the world. No wonder John Herdman is a little sleepless.
