John Herdman said all the right things Sunday after Canada dispatched the United States at Hamilton鈥檚 Tim Hortons Field to move closer to qualifying for 2022 World Cup.
He warned against looking too far ahead, preferring instead to focus on Wednesday鈥檚 game in El Salvador. He talked about the commitment and skill of his players.
He even playfully put his fingers in his ears when a reporter suggested qualification was essentially a fait accompli.
鈥淯ntil those points are in the bag 鈥� and I鈥檓 not even allowing the players to talk about the (CONCACAF qualifying) table,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e just got to go into this with the same kind of attitude. Start again. El Salvador鈥檚 a cup final. The second we take our eye off that and we start thinking about the math, I think that鈥檚 the mentality that鈥檚 going to hurt us.鈥�
But the numbers bode well.
Come March, when the eight teams in the final round of qualifying in the region have completed their 14-game schedule, the top three will qualify for the tournament in Qatar. The fourth-place finisher will face an Oceania country in an intercontinental playoff to see who joins them.
Canada (6-0-4, 22 points) tops the standings with three games remaining after the visit to El Salvador 鈥� at Costa Rica on March 23, at home to Jamaica on March 26 and at Panama on March 29.
Canada could clinch a World Cup berth Wednesday, although it would take a combination of results.
Should Canada beat El Salvador (upping its total to 25 points), and Panama lose to Mexico, the U.S. lose to Honduras and Costa Rica lose or draw against Jamaica, the 40th-ranked Canadians would be through. That would open the door for Canada since Panama plays the U.S. in March 鈥� and under that scenario one of them would be unable to overtake Canada 鈥� while Costa Rica can鈥檛 drop any points if it is to reach the 25-point mark.
A more likely scenario could see Canada guarantee itself at least a fourth-place finish after play Wednesday.
El Salvador (2-5-3, nine points), Jamaica (1-5-4, seven points) and Honduras (0-7-3, three points) cannot catch Canada.
And Herdman鈥檚 team has a nine-point cushion over fifth-place Costa Rica (3-3-5, 13 points). A Canadian win Wednesday coupled with a Costa Rica loss or tie in Jamaica would mean the Costa Ricans could not catch Canada, assuring the Canadian men of at least a fourth-place finish.
A Canada tie in El Salvador coupled with a Costa Rica loss would also guarantee the Canadians at least fourth place.
Canada would then be well positioned to ensure qualification early in the March international window
At the other end of the standings, Canada currently has a four-point lead over the U.S. and Mexico (both 5-2-3, 18 points) and five points over Panama (5-3-2, 17 points).
While Herdman was trying to avoid looking ahead, he couldn鈥檛 resist a bit of a sales job as he celebrated both the 2-0 win over the 11th-ranked Americans and the renewed focus on football in the country 鈥� spurred by the men鈥檚 the men鈥檚 qualifying run and the women鈥檚 gold-medal performance last summer at the Tokyo Olympics.
In his post-game comments, Herdman cited Marcelo Flores, a 18-year-old Canadian-born forward, who is in the Arsenal setup and has already featured in the Mexican youth program thanks to his father鈥檚 bloodlines.
Canada Soccer would like to claim him.
鈥淚鈥檓 sure you鈥檝e got players like young Marcelo Flores (who) might be looking after this game and wondering whether he wants to play for Mexico or Canada,鈥� said Herdman. 鈥淭his is what we鈥檙e starting to provoke across the world. And these dual-passport players are looking out where they pledge their international future. All of this is important to our success.
鈥淏ut you know as well as I do, World Cup qualification, the financial opportunity that falls with that, if invested properly, can really set a country up for a long time. And then knowing we have 鈥�26 (the 2026 World Cup that Canada is co-hosting) in the bag, this country could really start setting itself up as a top-20, top-30 nation given our population and once this passion catches fire 鈥� I think we鈥檒l make sure the best athletes come to our sport and make sure that those with dual passports wear the Maple Leaf.鈥�
The rewards of World Cup qualification are substantial.
While FIFA has yet to detail the prize money breakdown for Qatar, it offered a total purse of US$400 million at the 2018 tournament in Russia, ranging from US$38 million for the champion to US$8 million for each of the teams that finished 17th through 32nd.
Canada Soccer鈥檚 normal operating budget features annual revenue of C$22 million to C$25 million.
Qualifying for the 2022 World Cup would also no doubt boost sponsorships, player registrations and profile 鈥� all welcome signs on the runway to the 2026 tournament.
Still, the Canadian players are following Herdman鈥檚 lead by focusing on one game at a time.
鈥淗onestly it鈥檚 been a mindset here where it鈥檚 not about counting points in the table and saying 鈥極h if we do that, we can qualify,鈥欌�� said fullback Richie Laryea. 鈥淚t鈥檚 more of we鈥檝e come this far, why not just keep going. Let鈥檚 just keep pushing and just do what we鈥檝e been doing from the beginning.鈥�
鈥淲e have to keep going,鈥� he added. 鈥淎t this point I don鈥檛 think it鈥檚 enough to just qualify. We want to make a statement. We want to be the first team (in CONCACAF) to qualify. We want to finish first in these qualifiers 鈥� Just set the bar high for ourselves to keep pushing.鈥�
鈥擭eil Davidson, The Canadian Press
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