It was anything but a typical Wing Wednesday at the Westwood Pub.
Prince George soccer fans flocked to the local establishment today (Wednesday) to cheer on Canada during its World Cup opener against second-ranked Belgium, dropping a 1-0 heartbreaker in Qatar.
You could feel the energy amongst the crowd as Canada started fast creating havoc inside the opposition territory. Within the opening ten minutes, everyone in attendance was on the edge of their seat as Alphonso Davies, one of the country’s young stars was awarded a penalty kick but was turned aside by Belgian goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.
The reaction after a missed penalty kick by Alphosno Davies to keep @CanadaSoccerEN scoreless against Belguim at @WorldCupEN #WorldCup #FIFAWorldCup #CanadaSoccer #PrinceGeorge pic.twitter.com/eJ2sZJdXv1
— My Prince George Now (@mypgnow) November 23, 2022
From there, there was a sense of nervous energy among the patrons as both teams exchanged possessions. That energy turned to a brief spell of despair as in the 44th minute a mistake at the Canadian backline led to a precision goal from Michy Batshuayi.
In the second half, Canada continued to up pressure on Belgium but was unable to solve Courtois. The best scoring chance came in the 80th minute Richie Lareya headed the ball directly on goal only to be turned away by Courtois.
Despite the defeat, PG soccer enthusiasts are pretty upbeat about the John Herdman-coached squad which is in the same group as Belgium, Croatia, and Morrocco.
Kalvin Basi, who is originally from England told MyPGNow.com that the sport has come a long way in the past three-plus decades, noting that the volume of Canadians playing at the pro level is an added plus.
“Especially the young guys like Alphonso Davies. He came out through the Whitecaps as a young 15-year-old and started on the first team and then from there he went on. Like I said, the young blood is what’s making this happen.”
“Canada didn’t deserve to be down 1-0. But that bloody commentator but a bok on us I think when he said we needed to go into the half at 0-0.”
A very special guest is in the house today at the Westwood Pub @CanadaSoccerEN @FIFAWorldCup #FIFAWorldCup #PrinceGeorge #WorldCup2022 pic.twitter.com/fiPGEvodms
— My Prince George Now (@mypgnow) November 23, 2022
Although, Basi believes Herdman could have taken a little bit more time in deciding who took the penalty kick.
“I am a little disappointed they got Davies to take the penalty. Somebody with a little more experience, especially with this much pressure – on a young kid like that even though he has a lot of experience at Bayern Munich I still think one of the older players should have taken the penalty.”
Frank Manfredi is pulling for Canada on the world stage as Italy did not qualify for the tourney. He stated it was a cruel twist of fate to be on the wrong side of a game our nation dominating.
“That’s soccer for you. You can have pressure on one end and then one bad bounce or mistake goes in at the other end.”
“However, it was amazing to see how well they played. It is amazing that they are even in this tournament and because of that I am rooting all the way for them.”
This is the first time since 1986 Canada has qualified for the World Cup.
Nevio Rossi, who also watched the game with a group of friends at the Westwood likens this opportunity similar to what you would see when Team Canada laces up the skates at an international hockey tournament like the World Juniors.
“It’s monumental. It’s historic – it’s a world game, everyone in the world plays it (soccer) and it’s great to see Canada on the international stage.”
“If they keep playing like this, I like their chances.”
Canada’s next action in Qatar is against Croatia on Sunday at 8 am Pacific Time. That is followed up by their final Group Stage match against Morocco on December 1st at 7 am.
Some nervous faces as @CanadaSoccerEN trails Belguim 1-0 in the 2nd half of @FIFAWorldCup #WorldCup2022 #FIFAWorldCup #CityOfPG #PrinceGeorge pic.twitter.com/2GlGUMn2kT
— My Prince George Now (@mypgnow) November 23, 2022