Astronaut Chris Hadfield inspires Canada to new heights at World Cup

tomtidgewellNovember 25, 2022

Leading up to the competition, Canada was invited by Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield to speak to the group before the game and received out-of-this-world advice.

Canada’s British coach John Hardman addresses his players after the Qatar 2022 World Cup Group F football match between Belgium and Canada at Ahmad bin Ali Stadium in Al Rayyan, west of Doha, 23 November 2022 I will speak to you. Photo by Patrick T. Fallon /AFP via Getty Images

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Doha, Qatar — Canada shocked the world with their performance against Belgium in the 2022 FIFA World Cup opener.

Still, Canada got some worldly advice for the contest from Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, who invited him to speak to the group before the game.

It was a special moment for all of us. Basically, he taught us what it took to get in the frame of mind to do what he did,” Canada’s captain Atiba Hutchinson said Thursday. What he said was exactly what we were going through, so it really resonated with me, and I don’t think there’s anyone better than him who was in that room and helped me prepare for that fight.”

Canada have not played in the World Cup for 36 years, but a match against Belgium in the 2022 tournament has been held at the Ahmad Bin Ali Stadium, up the road in the Al Rayyan district.

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“It was a great idea from John[Canadian manager Herdman]to have someone of that size come out and talk to us,” said Hutchinson. “He could see with our eyes how much it meant to us.

When a country has not played in a tournament in 36 years, there are many unknowns facing opponents. But Belgium hopes that Canada will thus advance from the kickoff of the season opener and take the game to the World Cup semi-finalist four years ago and one of the tournament favorites for this year’s event. I shouldn’t have been.

Canada came out and dominated the game in a way few expected, following Belgium from the start.

Ten minutes into the match, Canada had a golden chance to open the scoring when a penalty was awarded after Tajon Buchanan’s shot hit Belgian midfielder Yannick Carrasco’s outstretched arm.

Alphonso Davies stepped in and kicked the kick, but it was stopped by goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois. Real Madrid’s standout player is considered one of the best players in the world and was frequently called upon to make big saves for the national team.

“I met Chris in 2013. We were on the same speaker station,” Hardman said Thursday. “He was the best in the business and he said I had to listen to him. When I saw him playing the guitar and singing on stage, I thought, ‘He can do anything.

“He said some things that really resonated with me at the time. dropped some change on how carefully he went on that journey.”

As a Pioneer, Hardman, who qualified for the World Cup for the first time since 1986, wanted the national Pioneers to come and talk to the team. A month ago I gave an inspiring speech on live TV in the UK. Canada has Hadfield who spent time on the International Space Station.

“Chris was in a fighter plane representing his country, so he knows what it means to represent this country,” Hardman said. “He knows what it means to risk his body.

“I brought him here to share his pioneering story of bingeing on that guy who did what he did. He’s a great human being, as great as he is.”

The Canadian went all out in the game. The well-traveled group had great voices, joined by many expats who call Qatar home.

Canadian defender Kamal Miller said: “I thought it was amazing to see the incredible number of travelers and the amount of Canadian flags. It was hard to find Belgian fans.” Told. “They carried us right away. From the moment we hit the pitch, the welcome we got gave me goosebumps.

“It felt like a home game. Honestly, it was kind of like the 12th and the crowd definitely played a role. That pushed us through the whole game.”

second penalty

Canada could have been awarded a second penalty in the first half, but a refereeing error caused VAR to rule out a possible foul by Jan Vertonghen on Buchanan in the box just after Davis saved the penalty. lost the chance to check.

Eden Hazard returned the ball to Buchanan in the Belgian box, denying the fact that the Canadian striker was in an offside position.

The assistant flagged Buchanan for offside, and the referee mandated that the play be blown off before Hutchinson was fouled.

Federico Bernardeschi, an Italian who plays for Toronto FC, was not satisfied with the referee’s error.

“What is this? There’s no point in having cutting-edge technology if you don’t impose these kinds of penalties… It’s impossible to make a mistake of this magnitude in a World Championship. A sport where the details make the difference.” With technology, there is no room for mistakes like this.”

Email: dvandiest@postmedia.com

Twitter: @DerekVanDiest

Postmedia football expert Derek Van Diest covers all kick-offs of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. subscribe today You can access all his coverage.