One of the all-time most successful incarnations of the Canadian men’s national team is being recognized with a spot in Canada’s Soccer Hall of Fame.
The Hall of Fame announced its 2014 induction class on Tuesday, and among the honorees was the team that shocked the soccer world by winning the 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup.
The team advanced out of the group stage thanks to a coin-flip tiebreaker, then upset Mexico in the quarterfinals, with defender Richard Hastings scoring the winner in golden-goal extra time.
The Canadians prevailed 1-0 over Trinidad & Tobago in the semis, thanks to some stellar goalkeeping from Craig Forrest, then claimed a 2-0 victory in the final against Colombia, with captain Jason deVos scoring the winner and Carlo Corazzin – the tournament’s top scorer – adding a second-half penalty.
“It was a group of players who came together and had a tremendous work rate, a tremendous bond as a group that translated into success on the field,” deVos told MLSsoccer.com earlier this year.
“I remember going into the tournament and not being given a hope of advancing out of our group, let alone winning the tournament. … We certainly used that as motivation.”
From the 2000 squad, Forrest (2007), Corazzin (2012) and deVos (2013) have all been previous inducted as individual players, as has Mark Watson (2012), who is currently head coach of the San Jose Earthquakes.
Other inductees into the 2014 class include players Geri Donnelly, Carmine Marcantonio and Isabelle Morneau, as well as referee Hector Vergara, who worked at the 2002, 2006 and 2010 FIFA World Cups.
