The opponents on the court are the least worried about the Canadian men's team

Thanks to the exciting and talented group of players highlighted by Alphonso Davies, the Canadian men's team has a legal opportunity to qualify for the FIFA World Cup in Qatar next year.

Canada is currently struggling in the final qualifying round of the Central North America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF), which covers North America, Central America and the Caribbean. If Canada enters the top three in March next year and ends at the end of the eight-nation round robin group stage, it will end the only drought that dates back to 1986 to participate in the World Cup.

Since the 1998 World Cup in France, the Canadians have not yet entered the final round of the Central, North American and Caribbean qualifiers. At that time, it was difficult enough for Canada to play against dominant countries on the court in qualifying. The obstacles they encountered off the court during their journey—including quarrels with armed guards and fans throwing urine bags at them—are equally distressing.

This is the story of the last Canadian team that nearly qualified for the World Cup.

Canada entered the North American and Caribbean qualifiers in the third round, in the same group as Panama, Cuba and El Salvador. Everyone played against each other at home and away, and the top two kept going. Canada won five of the six games with a tie from August 30 to December 15, 1996, won first place and advanced to the final of the Central North America and Caribbean qualifiers with second place El Salvador. One round is called hexadecimal.

CRAIG FORREST, Canadian goalkeeper: We are cruising in that group. We played very well. We scored, only lost one goal and beat Salvador twice, so we have the confidence to enter The Hex.

CARLO CORAZZIN, Canadian forward: I don't remember having such a continuous game in the national team before, we achieved one result after another-convincing results-and just passed everyone.

Forrest: I was red carded [expelled] in Panama. This is the hottest match I have ever played. The red card is ridiculous, so when I left the stadium and walked down the tunnel, I was very angry. A military police blocked the locker room door, and I tried to push him open. Other Panamanian officials participated in it, and it became a big push game, and I just grabbed the man’s rifle. The other military police drew a gun and pointed it in my face. This is not the smartest move I have ever done.

The Canadian men's team had to endure many tricks when it visited Central American countries before. As we all know, a large number of local fans will gather outside the team hotel to make loud noises, so Canadian players cannot sleep the night before the game. In the third round, the trip to Canada was not smooth.

CORAZZIN: Something happened at every stop along the way, whether they deliberately delayed our luggage off the plane in Panama, and then the bus arrived 45 minutes late at the airport to take us to the hotel. In El Salvador, we were on the 12th floor of the hotel. On the morning of the game, it was really bad and the elevator didn't work. So, we have to walk all the way down in the morning, walk all the way back after breakfast, and then walk all the way down when we have to go to the stadium. After the game, we return to the hotel, guess what? The elevator works magically! The fire alarm sounded once at 3 in the morning. The bus that arrived at the airport to pick us up was an old yellow school bus. All the windows were damaged and there was no air conditioning. There is always something. It has never been smooth sailing.

Canada went to The Hex, a group of six countries, where everyone played against each other at home and away. The top three teams automatically qualify for the 1998 World Cup. After remaining unbeaten in the third round and beating its opponent 10-1, Canada is confident of qualifying for the World Cup.

CORAZZIN: We think we can enter the final round and prove that at least we are the third best team in North America and the Caribbean. It was a strong El Salvador team with (Raul) Diaz and (José Mauricio) Cienfuegos, we went there and won 2-0, so it made us believe that we can Some noise is made in The Hex.

EDDY BERDUSCO, Canadian forward: Mexico and the United States are clearly the top two teams in North America and the Caribbean. Therefore, it is a difficult task, because you know that they will seize two of the three berths. It's just a matter of fighting other people. But at the beginning of The Hex, we did expect us to advance

The schedule maker did not give Canada any benefit, because its first two games were against the two best teams in the region: Mexico and the United States.

BOBBY LENARDUZZI, Canadian coach: We performed well in the third round, but we had our worst hand at the beginning in Mexico and the United States

BERDUSCO: We didn't get out of the car with the right foot. Getting started in Mexico is difficult. Playing there is difficult, and Canada has been struggling at the Aztec Stadium (Mexico City).

Forrest: It was a heavy blow for us. We had to play those two away games outside the gate. We are done.

On March 2, 1997, Canada opened The Hex at the Aztec Stadium against Mexico. The Aztec Cathedral is one of the most respected cathedrals in the world of football. It hosted the World Cup finals in 1970 and 1986. This is also one of the most difficult places for the visiting team to play. The capacity is close to 100,000, and the noise of the internal fan is deafening. In addition, Mexico held the game in the afternoon, so the opponent can fully feel the influence of the hot sun. The stadium is about 2,000 meters above sea level, and the altitude-coupled with Mexico City's high temperature and poor air quality-makes it more difficult for opponent players.

Kolasin: When we played the first game, Nick Dasovic put a breathing strip on his nose, thinking it would help him. After that, he fell ill for three consecutive days because he breathed faster, breathed more, and was sick.

BERDUSCO: You have lost a lot of altitude. You really feel it, but it's hard to breathe.

CORRAZIN: This is the loudest place I have ever played. I remember yelling at a teammate 10 yards away when I passed the ball because he couldn't hear me, it was during warm-up. It is like a honeycomb, buzzing constantly, and as the game progresses, the sound is getting louder and louder. It is harsh.

Forrest: As a goalkeeper, altitude doesn't affect me as much as outfield players. I remember walking into the locker room and looking around during the intermission, the boys were all gassed. (Nick) Dashovic's mouth bubbled and the guys were vomiting. They are absolutely fucking. After the game, the guys coughed up and had to receive an intravenous drip. My God, I have never seen so many exhausted and sore players in my life. (laugh)

Incredibly, the game ended in a 0-0 tie at halftime. But Carlos Hermosillo scored a goal for the Mexican in the 51st minute and opened the gate. Mexico won easily 4-0.

LENARDUZZI: I left the court at the end of the first half and (Mexico coach) Bora Milutinović said to me, "Why don't we beat you?" Mexico killed us. They just beat us, but they didn't score, their fans were booing them, so I felt good at halftime. But I cannot look back and think that the final score does not reflect the progress of the game. It did, and we may lose more. CORAZZIN: Alex Banbury clearly broke through after the Mexico goalkeeper took a 1-0 lead, but he had too much time on the ball and thought too much, he did not switch. Then they turned around to score and we were discouraged.

Canada's next game was an away game against the United States at Stanford University on March 16, 1997. The Reds fell behind only 7 minutes later and never recovered, losing the game 3-0.

CORAZZIN: We went down very early and dug a hole for ourselves. In the beginning it was slaughtered twice in a row, and it was like,'Oh boy, this will be tough from now on.

Lenarducci: We didn't start well. Craig (Forrest) gave up a penalty, so they scored early, which is similar to what we encountered in Mexico. They are everywhere with us.

CORAZZIN: A large group of Canadians came to Stanford. I remember the disappointment I felt when I let them down. A lot of Canadian fans were waiting for us after the game. I felt bad because we were just hit and never really participated. This is outstanding to me, because we disappointed all those traveling fans.

Lenarducci: After the game, some Canadian fans chanted that I was fired. I remember thinking,'Wow. Oh my God, things changed quickly for me.

Canada's next two games were played against El Salvador at home in Burnaby, British Columbia on April 6, and were played in Jamaica on April 27, 1997. Both games ended in a 0-0 tie, which means that Canada did not score and only won two games. May score 12 points in the first four games.

CORAZZIN: We don't have hay in those games. Even though we were beaten by the United States and Mexico, we think these are two home games against a defeatable team, so if we win, we will be back on track. In that Jamaican game, we stumbled and fumbled and never scored again. We have our backs to the wall, we know this.

Lenarduzzi: We are out against El Salvador. We let them on the ropes, just hit one to go home. But we finally drew lots. This is our chance to get ourselves back on track.

Forrest: We are completely destroyed. We defeated them, whether it was El Salvador or Jamaica. Really, we need four to six points after the start, so only two points are a huge disappointment.

The Canadian team finally succeeded in the fifth game, defeating Costa Rica 1-0 in Edmonton on June 1, provided by Eddie Verdusco's goal in the 68th minute. This victory brought new hope to Canada.

BERDUSCO: Fernando Aguiar ran from the side to the finish line, then he crossed the six-yard penalty area, and I ran over to finish it. It was crazy, and was swarmed by (teammates) Martin Nash and Garrett Kush. After that game, there was more faith. We still know it will be difficult, but there is a feeling, "This may be a possibility."

LENARDUZZI: I don't remember the low morale before the Edmonton game, but we actually had to think,'Damn, we really dug a hole for ourselves here. This is a great goal and a great victory, because it brings us back to the combination. We scored 5 points and were deadlocked with several teams in the standings, so we were back in the game.

CORAZZIN: This victory brought us back to the midpoint with five points after five games. Not the best start, but we are still in it. We still believe, we still believe that we can get third place.

This was a huge victory for the Canadians, but they were unable to take full advantage of this momentum because their next game was not held in Jamaica until September 7, 1997. They eventually lost the game 1-0 at Kingston.

CORAZZIN: That was the game I remember the most. That is the reserve force. We need to win in Jamaica to get ourselves back on the hunt.

Forrest: We played pretty well, and we should win in difficult conditions because it was terribly hot. They are not the greatest party, so this is a destructive result.

The Canadians are still alive, but they barely persevered when their seventh game The Hex brought them to El Salvador on September 14. The day before the game, the Canadian went to Estadio Cuscatlán in San Salvador for the last training, but the stadium door was locked.

Team manager Les Wilson tried to pry open the door, but was greeted by two guards with machine guns. Wilson eventually managed to get the team into the stadium for practice, but before entering with the guards.

Forrest: They want to screw us up, and Rice has been dealing with this nonsense for years, so he has had enough. He stepped forward, rushed to their faces, picked up their machine guns, and started yelling at them. They talked in Spanish, pretending not to understand what Les was trying to say. But Les just pushed them away, looked back at us on the bus, and shouted, "We are going in."

Lenarducci: The people from Rice are very brave. But he could have caused international events.

BERDUSCO: Rice is willing to do anything for the team. When you see the guard holding the machine gun in front of you, yes, it's scary. But that is Les. He doesn't care. He is fearless.

Waiting for more "fun" for Canadians in the game the next day. San Salvador fans are notorious for throwing large numbers of projectiles at opposing players, including plastic bags of urine and dirty diapers.

LENARDUZZI: Alan Errington, my assistant coach, was sitting on the bench. Fortunately, he was sitting far enough away from me and I was not splashed. Allen was hit by a urine bag in the leg. I remember seeing diapers flying down from behind us, I guess they must be from a few days ago, because the smell is so terrible.

BERDUSCO: Whenever we approach the sidelines, they throw bags of urine at us. Even before the game, they started attacking us. When we stopped, they were throwing stones at our bus.

CORAZZIN: Mark Watson and I left the hotel for a walk after dinner. We were wearing sportswear, and the street kid came over and asked us for a jacket. Watty didn't intend to give it to him, but he unzipped his jacket, took off the white T-shirt with the Canadian logo on it, and handed it to the child. The child has just been full moon: he is wearing no shoes, he is wearing these rags.

On the match day of the warm-up match, above our air-raid shelter, the same child was hung on the chain fence. The shirt was no longer white—dirty and dirty—he cursed, spit on us, and used a urine bag. We threw the rest of the fans in urine bags. Vatti looked up at the child and started to get angry at him. Vatti was crazy. Outside of the game, they are great people. But on the day of the game, you are insignificant to them. The kid attacked Vatti, and Vatti collapsed completely. On the other side of that stadium, they will do you worse. They will throw batteries and stones.

Forrest: It was a very desperate country at the time. The civil war ended a few years ago, so you have to go to the stadium and drive past shooting and burnt buildings. It was a difficult place to play at the time. Their fans are very hostile and they will throw anything unfixed at you. But I like to play there-I like the atmosphere and the enthusiasm of the fans.

In terms of game progress, El Salvador took the lead and Alex Banbury equalized in the 25th minute. The two teams tied at halftime, but the hosts scored two early goals in the second half and scored another goal in the 88th minute.

There are three games left. Although the 4-1 defeat did not officially knock Canada out of the World Cup, the players knew that the game was over.

BERDUSCO: El Salvador came to play that game, moved the ball, attacked, they were all by our side. It is difficult for us to put everything together, especially with that group of people.

LENARDUZZI: In that game in El Salvador, we beat a team that we beat twice in the last round. It was like, "Damn, the wheel just fell off."

Forrest: Lost the game 4-1. People at the time knew that everything was over. We have been completely defeated, and we have nowhere to go.

CORAZZIN: In order to be hit hard in El Salvador, our hearts have been drawn from our chests. I remember sitting at the airport the next day. I was with Mark Watson and Frank Yallop and I said, "It's impossible now." The balloon burst and we knew it was over.

LENARDUZZI: To make matters worse, when we left the hotel and went to the airport, they didn't have enough space on the bus to put our luggage, so they asked some people to take them away and follow us in a truck. When we arrived at the airport, the players opened their luggage and found that they had lost something. Those guys robbed us! So, we lost the game, and most importantly, our pockets were emptied on the way home.

The eighth game of the Canadian team returned to Edmonton on October 12, 1997. It snowed a few days before the game.

CORAZZIN: The Mexicans are crazy. I saw them training a few days before the game. They looked like nasty snowmen-they were so tightly wrapped they couldn't even run because the weather was too cold.

LENARDUZZI: There is no snow, but there is dust on the ground. The Mexicans are completely different from our Aztec team. They hate the cold.

Trailing 1-0, Canada evened the score after Colasin scored in the 56th minute, and took the lead through Alex Banbury 6 minutes later.

Kolasin: It was a ball that was passed into the penalty area and someone bounced it away. I just took the opportunity to bet it would come to the back post, and then it fell there and I smashed it in.

But the Mexican scored a late goal and the game ended 2-2. This was a credible result for the Canadians, but they were officially eliminated from the World Cup competition.

LENARDUZZI: We led 2-1 in the second half, and then they finally equalized with a terrible late goal. If we win, our chances of qualifying are still small, but what can I say to gather strength in the last two games. But there is nothing more to say.

Forrest: Although the Mexican team performed well at the time, their away performance was not good. They only won one game away at The Hex. So we think we can get a result. We almost won. It was an interesting experience to see Mexicans trembling to deal with the cold, just as we always had to deal with the afternoon heat when we played with the Aztecs.

On November 9, 1997, Canada played the penultimate game The Hex against the United States in Burnaby. The Americans need a victory and help elsewhere to participate in the World Cup.

The U.S. team won 3-0 and found that the results of other games were the same. When they won the World Cup seats, they celebrated with about 2,000 American fans at Swangard Stadium.

CORAZZIN: It becomes very, very ugly. There are a lot of yellow cards, a lot of stingy from the United States, and a lot of reckless games have no rhythm-stop, start, stop, start.

LENARDUZZI: Receiving them here, allowing them to qualify on Canadian soil-this is nothing to Americans, but it leaves a sour taste in my mouth.

The Canadian team finished on November 16, 1997, when it lost The Hex 3-1 in Costa Rica. Although Mexico, the United States and Jamaica are eligible for the World Cup, Canada ranks last in The Hex with 6 points (1 win, 6 losses and 3 draws) and has the worst offense (only 5 goals) and defense (20 against 20 goals) ). Lenarduzzi resigned after losing in Costa Rica.

LENARDUZZI: Before Hex started, I told (the then Canadian Football CEO) Kevan Pipe that if we were not qualified, I would be done. I kept my promise because it was time, and it was a friendly breakup.

BERDUSCO: We went there just to save face. But guys know this will be a tough game because we are out.

Lenarducci: What's worse is that Costa Rica has also been eliminated, so there is nothing to play. This is just a dull and boring game, nothing excites anyone.

After winning the Gold Cup (Central and North America and the Caribbean) in 2000, Canada rebounded from its last appearance in Hex, but failed in the next five World Cup qualifier cycles. In 2021, the most talented Canadian team in history has once again entered the final stage of the qualifiers for Central, North America and the Caribbean, and hopes to play tickets for next year's World Cup.

Forrest: You look at today's team, we can't compare. This team has depth, options, threats and quality in every position.

LENARDUZZI: I’ve only now returned to the last round in North America and the Caribbean. I mean, wow. We are not even close, and we have some very good players in those teams. But nothing is better than the team we have now. Talent and fearlessness, and players like (Afonso) Davis, (Jonathan) David and (Tahun) Buchanan, we have never had a team so talented and dangerous.

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