Canada manager John Herdman says his soccer federation is ‘not serious about winning a World Cup’
Canada manager John Herdman urges his own football federation to get ‘real and fast’ after US loss because it’s ‘not serious about winning a World Cup’ – as funding battle continues
- Herdman bemoaned his federation’s lack of funding to help develop the chemistry
- The manager said the team had just three days to prepare for the game in Panama
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Canadian manager John Herdman said his association “doesn’t take winning a World Cup seriously” after his team lost 2-0 to the United States in the CONCACAF Nations League final.
Canada appeared to take a new direction in the second half, but with two goals down already, they couldn’t string together a consistent attack.
But their attacks put a lot of pressure on the American backline for a team that didn’t have much time for preparations.
In response to a question from Fox Sports’ Doug McIntyre, Herdman said the lack of funding on his part meant they might not be able to hold training camp in September.
It’s the preparation period. It does cost a lot of money to put things together for these windows,’ Herdman began.
In a post-game press conference, John Herdman criticized his federation’s lack of funding
Herdman said lack of funding means Canada ‘isn’t serious about winning a World Cup’
“I think it’s no secret that the organization has struggled financially, even during World Cup qualifying. You had buses raising money to make sure we have charter flights, safety on those charter flights.
‘I mean, that’s it. You know, we have the best generation of players we’ve ever had. And there’s more to come, you see. [Ismael] Kone just fell from the sky. Tajon Buchanan just came out of the blue, Alistair Johnson, like it’s coming.
“We have to solve this financially. We need to get serious about winning a World Cup. If you play at home, you have a chance to win it. You get a chance to get to a quarterfinal, a semifinal, and then get on that roll to win it. And we’re not serious.
“We have brought a World Cup to our country and we are not serious about winning. And you see how close that team is tonight. Tactically we were there. Chances, shots, we were there. Margins were so tight tonight, so tight.
So we have to get realistic. We have to be real and fast because these players deserve it. They deserve a chance. The country deserves it. All the people working to bring it deserve a chance. Let’s go after it. Were close by.’
Earlier in the press, Herdman also complained about the amount of preparation for this particular tournament.
“You say look, we’re going to win this thing with literally four days of preparation, four days,” the manager said.
‘And those first three days are focused on Panama, that’s a good team. And then two days in the US.’
Herdman praised the US’s ability to change tactics and their prolific setback
Herdman also said: “I think the big step when I go back to work is to say ‘we have to have that September window to want it and we know we have to work. Do we have the resources to do it , I’m not sure.’
Regarding this game, Herdman believes his team was as prepared as possible tactically, saying it was a “really tight game” while praising the U.S. for their ability to “switch quickly” and their success in set pieces.
Canada’s next steps begin this week in the group stage of the CONCACAF Gold Cup – with matches against Guatemala, Cuba and the winner of a preliminary match between Guadeloupe and Guyana.
Les Rouges are expected to easily win their group thanks to their results in the World Cup and in previous Gold Cups. Their first game kicks off on June 27 in Toronto.