Greg Beacham
Inglewood, California: Stephen Eustaquio scored in the second minute of second-half stoppage time, and Canada beat South Africa 1-0 on Sunday (Monday, AEST) for its first knockout match victory at a World Cup.
A tense match at SoFi Stadium appeared to be headed for extra time until Eustaquio — who plays for the nearby Los Angeles FC — put a stunning volley from outside the penalty area into the bottom corner of Ronwen Williams’ net.
Co-host Canada hung on with strong defensive play in the final minutes of the tournament’s first round of 32 match. Coach Jesse Marsch’s team advanced to face the Netherlands or Morocco in Houston on Saturday, July 4.
Marsch gathered his players in a huddle after the whistle and gave a spirited speech, declaring, “You guys are Canadian heroes! Canadian heroes for the future children of this country who play this sport. This sport has a big future because of you guys. You should be so proud of who you are. You should be so proud of this game.”
Canada played its first three matches at home in Toronto and Vancouver while appearing in only its third World Cup, but was forced to become the first World Cup host to play on the road when it lost 2-1 to Switzerland last Wednesday.
The Canadians were still the clear crowd favourite in the Los Angeles area between their travelling fans and thousands of supportive locals, including several in Eustaquio’s LAFC shirt.
“We never stopped believing,” Eustaquio said. “And I think the goal is really something that we deserved.”
Williams made five saves for South Africa, which played with remarkable heart while hanging in until the final moments in search of another historic win for the team known as Bafana Bafana. Canada had the best chances all day, but underdog South Africa stayed firm and created a handful of excellent chances of its own.
“We lost the game because there was a lack of power and speed in our team when I compare that with our opponent,” South Africa coach Hugo Broos said.
“We had a difficult game, certainly. But when we look back, we can be fairly satisfied with what we did. We are disappointed, and we wanted to win, but we don’t have to be too much disappointed. What we did was good, and I’m very happy and proud of my team.”
Canada finally broke through when Alistair Johnston’s long pass into the box was cleared directly into the path of Eustaquio, who chested it down, struck it purely and started to celebrate almost immediately.
AP
