The Canadian Men’s National Team will head into their clash against Uruguay next week full of confidence following their 2-0 win over Qatar on Friday.
John Herdman’s side beat the 2022 World Cup hosts 2-0 in Austria thanks to goals from Cyle Larin and Jonathan David inside the opening 13 minutes. The Reds remained in charge throughout the match, managing eight shots on target to Qatar’s two and controlling 60% possession.
However, Tuesday’s test against Uruguay – whose current squad includes the likes of Luis Suarez, Darwin Nunez, and Rodrigo Bentancur – will be a completely different experience, even if Diego Alonso’s side were humbled 1-0 by Iran on Friday.
But Herdman isn’t phased. In fact, he’s excited to test his team against one of South America’s best as Canada’s first World Cup since 1986 looms ever closer.
“That will be a tough test,” Herdman said following Friday’s win. “But this is the stuff we dream of. We’ve been playing CONCACAF opponents for four years. All the players have been dreaming all their international career (of) playing teams of the stature of Uruguay, Brazil, Argentina. This is the stuff we’ve been waiting for.
“For us it’s a cup final playing against Uruguay, similar to playing against a Belgium or a Croatia (whom Canada will face in Group F at the World Cup). So there’s an excitement there. But again we have to temper that with the reality of the quality that they have and then we’ve got to put the work in these next three days.”
Tuesday’s match is Canada’s penultimate fixture before they open their World Cup campaign against Belgium on November 23, with a friendly against Japan to come just six days prior to that historical clash.
Credit: 90min.com