Canada’s Herdman arrives after a long journey
BACK in the World Cup for just the second time and first in 36 years, Canada arrive in Qatar as the designated underdogs – a role coach John Herdman (pic) knows all too well having played the part his entire career.
At the 1986 World Cup, Canada failed to score a single goal and there are some betting that the 500/1 longshots, who are grouped with the second ranked Belgium, 2018 finalists Croatia and Morocco, might not find the back of the net again in Qatar.
But then few would have bet on the boy from the hard streets of Consett in England’s industrial north east finding his way onto football’s most glamorous stage.
Herdman has plenty of respect for the challenge ahead but is itching for the fight.
“I think for the first time in a long time I have come to the place where I wanted to be as a coach and I know for my players, this is the moment they want to be in as well,” said Herdman, who will send his men out to face Belgium today.
“They feel we can genuinely get in and have a right fight with these teams and be that team that overachieved and find our X-factor.
“To upset some teams, I get out of bed for that.”
The career path of a football coach is often a nomadic one but Herdman’s journey has taken him to some of sports more remote outposts.
From Invercargill near the southernmost tip of New Zealand to snowy Edmonton in Canada’s Great White North, Herdman has coached kids, women and men, methodically building a reputation as an innovator and master motivator.
Such a road would have left many weary or jaded but Herdman remains in a perpetual state of wonder.
“I still have moments I am pinching myself when we arrived here in Doha,” said Herdman.
“This will be my first World Cup with the men’s team, my fifth World Cup in total, it’s going to be a hell of a ride.
“I’m going to learn a lot, I’m going to be rubbing shoulders with world class coaches like (Belgium coach) Roberto Martinez and for me that’s where I want to be on that razor’s edge and let people from Consett County Durham know that anything is possible.”