Racing Post

Canucks in at the deep end bacback oon gglobalob stage

Chris Rivers

FOR a nattion more synonymmous with sportingg success on skates thhan studs, a winter WorldW Cup would appear to fit the bill for an ambitious Canadda side making their first apppearance at the finals in 36 yeears.

However, any asppirations they had of making an impact in Qatar have slowlyy melted away as a result of a tough draw and off-field isssues.

The harmony of a squad who finished top of the Concacaf qualificatiion standings with eightt wins from 14 games – a ruun which included a firrst win over Mexico in 20 yeears – has been dented by pay and equal-rights dissputes.

Strike action led to the cancellation of a Juune friendly, followed by playerss losing their cool with officcials after a 2-1 loss to Honduraas, hardly ideal preparations for a team transformed underr former Canada Women’s coachc John Herdman.

The English-born tactician has bblended the successful sttalwarts of the Canada set-up with a promisingg new generation, led by Bayern Munich’s Alphonso Daviees. Herdman deployys the Bayern left-back fuurther forward to utilise hish pace and Canada’s speedy atttack, spearheaded by Jonnathan David and qualifyinng topscorer

Cyle Larin, has the potential to cause problems.

Set up in a 3-5-2 formation, Canada‘s counter-attacking gameplan worked to great effect in qualifying as they racked up 54 goals across three phases, while only conceding eight.

Their defensive record is particularly impressive given few of their defenders play at a high level domestically, while goalkeeper Milan Borjan is prone to the odd mistake.

Herdman has his side well organised, but this is a big step up in class against group rivals with much more tournament experience and Canada could find themselves out of their depth.

LThe first Moroccan coach to lead the Atlas Lion since 2016, Walid Regragui was a popular choice to replace Vahid Halilhodzic. However, the former defender has only previously coached in Morocco and Qatar, and faces a steep learning curve in international management.

• Well organised and tough to

break down

• Achraf Hakimi and Hakim Ziyech can be a potent combination on the right

• Plenty of top-flight European

experience

• Important players arriving out

of form, especially in attack • Walid Regragui lacks experience

in coaching at the elite level • Have never won their opening

game at a World Cup

WORLD CUP 2022 GROUP F

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2022-11-17T08:00:00.0000000Z

2022-11-17T08:00:00.0000000Z

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