Canadian fans came to out-cheer all comers.
Canadians determined to out-costume and our-cheer their American counterparts
Vancouver soccer fans celebrated in the sun Sunday before heading into BC Place for the knockout Canada-Switzerland game.
Kevin Irving, 19, and his dad, Jeff Irving of Tsawwassen, started their afternoon at the Yaletown Brewing Company, stopped into the FIFA World Cup Fan Zone and were pumped to cheer on the Canadian women, who would later win 1-0 against Switzerland.
“We love it. I want to see them play again,” said Kevin Irving, decked out in a tall, red and white hat and a Canadian flag turned into a cape. “We want them to go as far as possible.”
“We want to outdo the support of the American fans that we saw the other night at the U.S.-Nigeria game,” said Jeff Irving. “It’s in our country. We should have more people out. They probably had 45,000. We(’ve) got to get 55,000 out. Hopefully we can turn it around. If we win tonight, it starts to roll.”
Lucy and Ivan Ozdolenovski were also competitively dressed, sporting sparkly red-and-white head bands and masks. “We were here for the U.S. against Nigeria and we needed to outdo the outfits and costumes,” said Lucy. “A lot of fans came over from the U.S. It was crazy. A lot of cool costumes.”
Wearing maple leaf drawings on their cheeks, Isabella Muzzolini, 12, Olivia, 10 and Tianna Spyridis, 12, were clear about what they wanted to see.
“We want to support our favourite team and country,” said Muzzolini, who plays midfield every Sunday for Coquitlam Metro-Ford Soccer Club’s U12 girls’ team. “We want to be there one day so we are coming to watch here. We want to get to the national level of playing for Canada.”
“It’s important to practice hard and never give up. That’s all you can do to get to the national level,” said Tianna.
Wearing matching T-shirts, Sarah Kocher and her 22 teammates from North Carolina Rapids Soccer Club were excited to catch their first World Cup game. They have been training hard and will play other U15 and U15 girls’ teams in Vancouver while in town.
Heading into a sea of fans streaming toward the stadium, Kocher said: “We never thought we would have an opportunity to see the World Cup. We are cheering for the U.S., but today we are going Canada.”