Canada is preparing for its debut match against Belgium at the World Cup on the 23rd. The national team is already in Doha and this morning trained under intense Qatari heat.
MARCA watched on as Canada made ready for their match against European giants, Belgium. Eden Hazard, despite going through bad times at Real Madrid, is still highly respected and feared.
Tosaint Ricketts, who was capped 61 times by Canada, is one of Hazard’s great admirers. The Vancouver Whitecaps footballer is working as a pundit for TSM out in Doha. He spoke to Marca about Canada at this World Cup.
After being presented with a copy of Marca with Hazard on the front, the footballer smiled nervously as he pondered the damage Hazard could do to Canada and his former teammates. “I see him now and I get chills because I know what this guy can do when he gets on the left side and starts dribbling, dribbling and dribbling. When he cuts inside on his right foot, anything can happen. However, he was confident that the Canada team could deal with such a threat: “Canada has strong players; they’re young, they’re confident and they’re fearless so hopefully they can deal with Edin Hazard.
Ricketts pointed out that Canada’s qualification for the tournament for the first time in 36 years is testament to the hard work and quality of this current squad. “It’s been a long time, 36 years since Canada made a World Cup. It took many years to get back here, but now we’ve got a good group with players like Alphonso Davies, Tajon Buchanan, Stephen Eustaquio who are all playing at a high level and contributing to their teams in Europe.
Full of praise for Alphonso Davies
The Vancouver player was extremely complimentary about Bayern Munich’s Alphonso Davies, who trained on the sidelines and is a doubt for the first match against the Belgians.
“Yes, he’s special. You see what he does with Bayern. He’s the fastest player in the world and the best left back in the world, I think. He’s a special talent and he has a long career ahead of him.
Favorites to win the World Cup?
Ricketts is a big fan of Messi and revealed he thinks Argentina can go all the way this year. “I want Messi to win a World Cup. When he retires i want him to be consider the greatest and no one have any questions if about it. If he wins the World Cup, there will be no doubt that he was the greatest ever”, he said.