Canada goals: Stephen Eustaquio (90+2)
Stephen Eustaquio’s last-gasp strike earned Canada a hard-fought victory over South Africa in the Round of 32 of the . Jesse Marsch’s men will now face the winners at Houston Stadium.
Bafana Bafana produced some eye-catching moves in the first half at Los Angeles Stadium, but were let down by their final ball. The Reds were denied twice in succession on the whistle’s cusp, Aubrey Modiba hooking Moise Bombito’s header off the line before Ronwen Williams did brilliantly to block Tajon Buchanan.
Canada resumed control after the restart. After Tani Oluwaseyi’s shot was excellently parried by Williams, Mbekezeli Mbokazi knocked it behind before the attacker could tap in the rebound. A huge roar went up as Alphonso Davies was sent on in the 75th minute, and he threatened South Africa with his pace and trickery. It was Eustaquio who settled the contest, however, catching a bouncing ball perfectly on the edge of the box to find the bottom corner.
South Africa will go home with their heads held high, having reached the knockout phase for the first time ever.
Hugo Broos, at the age of 74 years and 79 days, became the oldest coach in knockout-phase history. Oscar Tabarez, who had been 71 when he guided Uruguay in the 2018 quarter-finals, had held the record.
“We worked a lot to get this victory. We really wanted to give this win to all the Canadians. We just kept believing and kept pushing. It was an amazing goal, but when I shot I felt everyone shot with me. Everybody put a little bit of power on it and it went to the back of the net, so I’m very happy. We will try to make Morocco and Netherlands see our game and feel, if they go through, they’re going to get the hardest game they’re going to face in this World Cup. I think we did an amazing job and it’s going to be an amazing game next week.” Stephen Eustaquio, Canada goalscorer
Sources: FIFA Official
