Ahead of their first World Cup since 1986, Canadian Men’s National Team stars Cyle Larin and Tajon Buchanan have paid tribute to head coach John Herdman.
The Englishman took over in January 2018 following a seven-year stint in charge of Canada’s Women’s National Team. Since then, he’s taken the men to new heights.
First, Les Rogues went beyond the quarter-finals of the Concacaf Gold Cup for the first time since 2007 last year, only losing their semi-final to Mexico in the ninth minute of second-half stoppage time.
Then, more importantly, Herdman didn’t just guide Canada to only their second-ever men’s World Cup. He did it in style, with the CanMNT finishing top of the qualifying group, above both Mexico and the United States.
Overall, Herdman has an incredible 31-10-5 record with the CanMNT, winning 67.39% of his games in charge so far. That record will be tested as they face Belgium, Croatia, and Morocco at the World Cup, but just to be here is an incredible achievement for the nation.
“John’s been an important part of the national team and helping us qualify for the World Cup. And in my career too,” Club Brugge striker Larin told 90min during a virtual press conference recently. “In the beginning, it was a bit rocky, but we came together and sorted it out. But for Canada I think he’s been important.
“To bring a country together, to bring a lot of players together to believe in one goal and believe in each other, I think that was very important. And he gave us that belief, and we put it onto the field. And for me, he trusted me to go out there and score goals for the country, and develop and be a better player. And you’ve seen that throughout my career in the national team. And I just think I’ll keep getting better and better. And the World Cup will show just how John Herdman influenced us to believe in each other and go on the field.”
Brugge and Canada teammate Buchanan agreed with Larin’s praise of Herdman – especially on how much ‘belief’ the coach has given to the players.
“I think Cyle was spot on with that. Since I’ve been with the program for this year and a bit, he’s really given us that mindset that we could compete with the best,” said Buchanan. “Every time we stepped on the field, we were going to win a game.
“I think that was very important for me. Watching the national team in the past, sometimes that belief wasn’t there. And yeah, obviously he brought a country together. We did special things during qualifying. It’s very special and nice to see…
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