DOHA, Qatar — Canada aim to surprise their opponents when they make their first appearance at the World Cup finals in 36 years, midfielder Jonathan Osorio said.
Canada will face second-ranked Belgium, an ageing but still impressive team, on Wednesday in their first World Cup match since 1986. Their other Group F opponents are on 2018 World Cup finalists Croatia and Morocco, who were unbeaten in African qualifying.
“We want to show that we are a football nation, that we can compete with the best in the world,” said Osorio, who plays for Toronto FC in the MLS.
“We want to surprise people because I think people still see us as underdogs. ‘It’s the World Cup, they should just be happy to be here.’ But that’s not our mentality.”
To compete against Belgium, Osorio said Canada would need to be tactically sound, play as a unit and choose the right time to apply pressure against players like the stellar Kevin De Bruyne.
“They have players that can hurt you with an inch of space,” Osorio said according to Reuters.
Belgium will reportedly be without Romelu Lukaku for the first two games of the Qatar World Cup after the Inter Milan striker failed to recover from a thigh injury.
The 29-year-old has played just four games in Serie A this season after picking up a thigh injury at the end of August.
“As players, we just prepare for whoever we stand opposite to,” Osorio said of Lukaku’s absence.
Canada, the first CONCACAF country to book a spot in the 2022 finals, have appeared at the finals once before, in 1986, when they crashed out at the group stage with losses to France, Hungary and the Soviet Union and failed to score a goal.
Jonathan David, the country’s second-best goalscorer during the qualifying campaign, said he would keep in mind the prospect of becoming the first Canadian man to score at the World Cup.
“Everyone has this little thought they want to score the first goal because it’s going to be history,” the Lille forward said. “Of course for me to score, it would be amazing.”
Meanwhile, Belgium’s aging “Golden Generation” will begin their final shot at World Cup glory against Canada on Wednesday, but do so without talismanic forward Romelu Lukaku, who has been central to their success in recent years.
The Group F game at the Ahmad bin Ali Stadium in Al Rayyan is a tricky opener for Roberto Martinez’s side against opponents appearing at first global finals for 36 years who will be fired up to spring a surprise.
Lukaku, who is set to miss his side’s first two games at least, is not the only player potentially out. Right back Thomas Meunier trained on his own on Sunday having seemingly recovered from a broken cheekbone last week, but the powerful striker will be the biggest loss.
Wednesday November 23
Group F: Morocco vs Croatia 12 pm CLT
Group E: Germany vs Japan 3 pm CLT
Group E: Spain vs Costa Rica 6 pm CLT
Group F: Belgium vs Canada 9 pm CLT
