“We are going to get our first goal in World Cup history,” Daniel Duff boldly announced through the pre-game din at the Bank Street pub.
It took a mere 67 seconds for Daniel Duff’s World Cup prediction to come true as the soccer-crazed crowd erupted inside Glebe Central Pub — along with the rest of the country — for Canada’s long-awaited first goal on the men’s world stage.
“We are going to get our first goal in World Cup history,” Duff (“like the beer!”) boldly announced through the pre-game din at the Bank Street pub about 20 minutes before Canada took the pitch to face Croatia for Sunday’s group stage match (an eventual 4-1 loss that ended Canada’s chances of advancing at the tournament).
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Duff, founder and president of the Capital City Supporters’ Group and head organizer for Sunday’s event, made a second bold prediction as he picked Tajon Buchanan for Canada’s ice-breaker.
That very nearly materialized in the game’s second minute when Buchanan streaked down the right flank and floated a lovely cross to star Alphonso Davies, who hammered home a sharp header for the Canadian men’s first-ever World Cup goal.
Canada failed to score a goal or record a point during its last (and its first-ever) appearance at the men’s FIFA World Cup in Mexico in 1986.
“I’m absolutely thrilled,” Duff said in the raucous moments before the game with the bar packed to capacity. “We’re turning people away at the door for the second match in a row. We’ve been putting these events on for qualification games for over a year and we have an incredible staff and partners here at this bar that we have turned into the cradle of football here in Ottawa. And, let me tell you, the cradle will rock today!”
Duff said Ottawa is enjoying a “football renaissance” and Glebe Central has become something of an “official headquarters” for the city’s soccer supporters.
“A lot of people here have a personal stake in this game. They’ve played or been involved in the sport for over 30 years. I’ve been organizing football for over 25 years, so this is a crescendo for me. It’s a big deal,” Duff said.
“We’re in the middle of a football renaissance in Ottawa. Our Atlético side has made it to the (Canadian Premier League) final, we had 15,000 fans out for that, which is a historic high. It’s electric there, too, so football is here to stay.”
It always helps having a hometown hero like Jonathan David for the locals to look up to, Duff said.
“Jonathan is an incredible player and the rest of the world is waking up to what we already knew,” he said. “Our players come with a humility that is sort of foreign to professional football, and because he’s such a humble guy, he doesn’t always get the attention. But the European sides are out for a lot of these Canadian players.”
Glebe Central owner Dan Rogers said the only apt comparison for Sunday’s crowd would be on St. Patrick’s Day.
“Canada did so well in the last game (against Belgium) so that’s really ramped up the excitement today,” Rogers said. “There’s a lineup out the door, the patio is full. … But I can honestly say we’ve never had this many people in here at 10:30 in the morning before.”
ahelmer@postmedia.com
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