The World Cup excitement is reaching a fever pitch by the day for Canadians and it was more than palpable on Sunday morning when the Canadian men’s national team’s final 26-man roster was unveiled.
Another friendly awaits on Thursday when Canada takes on Japan in Dubai before traveling to Doha for its Group F opener against Belgium on Nov. 23. Some lingering questions have finally been answered with the squad announcement, although that doesn’t alleviate a couple of concerns.
Doneil Henry out, Joel Waterman in
The center back depth took another blow when Doneil Henry suffered an injury during warmups ahead of the Bahrain match on Friday. Henry was due to captain the team in the 2-2 draw before he was replaced by CF Montréal’s Joel Waterman, who made his national team debut.
Henry felt tightness in his calf and was pulled from the lineup as a precaution. The Canadian medical staff diagnosed the recovery time to be up to 14 days, meaning his World Cup status was in doubt.
But the veteran defender, as he’s often done throughout the past few years, had a bigger priority than his personal achievements. Henry made the difficult decision to withdraw himself from the World Cup squad to allow another player to crack the roster.
“It really shows the courage and what this brotherhood is about when a man can surrender his shirt and take that step forward to support the team in a different role,” said Canada coach John Herdman in his media availability on Sunday. “He's with us now, we’ll return him to his rehab. We have some mental performance people to help him deal with what is a really painful moment for him and he will work alongside me and the cultural team to help build the brotherhood and be a good sounding board throughout this World Cup.”
It speaks to Henry’s leadership and his importance in the dressing room that he made the sacrifice. The brotherhood is not just a tired cliche, either. This proves it’s real.
Henry’s injury means Kamal Miller and Steven Vitoria are the earmarked starters, with Waterman and Derek Cornelius backing them up. Alistair Johnston will likely be deployed in his usual hybrid role as a center back in possession and a fullback out of possession as expected.
There could be an added wrinkle with Henry’s injury. Atiba Hutchinson started at center back in a handful of games for Canada, including two of its final three World Cup qualifiers and he performed admirably.
“He’s bracketed in that center back position,” Herdman confirmed. “He still has a class IQ wherever you play him on the pitch and for me, he's definitely got that profile to be able to give us something in that position and his experience potentially puts him ahead of some of the other center backs.”
Liam Fraser surprise inclusion
Ultimately, though, Hutchinson’s primary role is still in the midfield. He’ll be tasked with helping Les Rouges calmly play through pressure against world-class opponents, so the 39-year-old’s experience and composure will be massive in that spot.
Joining Hutchinson in the midfield is Liam Fraser, a late surprise to the roster. Fraser has been thrown into the deep end on a couple of occasions for Canada, namely against the US men’s national team in Concacaf Nations League back in 2019, and versus Honduras in World Cup Qualifying this past January. Fraser was sublime in both matches and should be a reliable backup.
David Wotherspoon’s inclusion was a pleasant sight as well. The St. Johnstone midfielder tore his ACL last November and didn’t return to the pitch until last month. But two strong starts against Rangers and Motherwell over the past week clinched his place.
Wotherspoon and Fraser boarding the plane leaves Canada with eight midfielders. Mark-Anthony Kaye’s fitness remains a concern and Toronto FC teammate Jonathan Osorio performed brilliantly on Friday against Bahrain, but obviously requires more match practice before he can be called upon at the World Cup.
The potential for the return of the box-to-box midfielder from the Bahrain game is now a possibility with eight midfielders on the roster. That provides ample defensive cover to protect against possible counterattacks while allowing Osorio to foray into the final third without any guilt.
The World Cup rosters being expanded from 23 to 26 players benefitted a few players, but none more than Ismael Kone. The 20-year-old’s meteoric rise, from no professional experience a year ago to representing Canada at a World Cup, is a remarkable achievement. But the youngster has earned this.
“He has a think forward, turn forward, play forward mentality,” Herdman said of the CF Montréal phenom. “That takes a lot of courage and bravery and sometimes it only comes with youth. He's definitely holding that ‘if you're good enough, you're old enough’ tag.”
Kone’s goal, his first for Canada, on Friday didn’t do much to quell any excitement.
“His goal was, for me, a bit of an icing on the cake in that camp,” said Herdman. “Just to show that he's got the confidence to play behind lines closer to the backline and ensure that he can contribute in the goals area.”
Forward thinking
There were no surprises with the forwards, with all of the usual suspects from Alphonso Davies to Jonathan David and Tajon Buchanan cracking the list. Given that this is Canada’s strongest area of the pitch, Herdman will surely utilize all eight attackers in some fashion.
That’s been the modus operandi of Canada’s journey to their first World Cup since 1986. Every man has to contribute and carry the load. All 26 players worked tirelessly to reach this point, and they’ll need to deliver their biggest performances of their careers to help Canada make history in Qatar.
