Canada aims to ‘finish on a good note’ after FIFA World Cup elimination
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Canada will not advance to the knockout round at the FIFA World Cup after falling to Croatia 4-1 Sunday in Qatar, leaving John Herdman’s side without points through their first two games.
But according to captain Atiba Hutchinson, Canada still has plenty to play for in their final game against Morocco on Thursday.
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"We’ll learn from this and we have another game five days from now. We want to finish on a good note. We haven’t had any points on the board in a World Cup. So, we want to finish with three points and kind of hold our heads up after,” Hutchinson said after making his 100th appearances for Canada on the international stage.
Brampton, Ont.’s Junior Hoilett agreed, telling Matthew Scianitti of TSN that while the experience the team has gained from their first World Cup since 1986 is valuable, so is leaving Qatar with a win.
“A tough game for us [Sunday against Croatia], a tough result. We showed a lot of character and we fought until the very end. In the end, we’re disappointed with it, but we’ve got a lot of positives that we can take from our last two games. Getting that feel for what it takes to be in a World Cup. We have to hold our heads high. We showed a lot of heart there today and we just have to take the positives out. We still have one more game to go to go and get the result not only for us, but for the nation and for our families,” Hoilett said.
Alphonso Davies opened the scoring for Canada right out of the gate by heading home a Tajon Buchanan cross in the second minute. But Croatia scored two goals near the end of the first half and kept the pressure on in the second with two more, cruising to a victory that put them in a tie with Morocco atop Group F.
Marko Livaja and Lovro Majer had the other two goals from Croatia in the victory.
“I am disappointed in the result. It was not easy,” said Davies. “We did our best, we fought the entire game. We’re looking forward to the next game and hopefully we get some points.”
Despite the loss, Herdman said he was proud of Canada's effort through their first two games.
"A lot of pride in that performance, I thought in moments they showed they could compete on the world stage. Obviously to score our first goal and have that moment with the fans knowing that back home, east to west, that people were celebrating somewhere. It was a great moment," he said.