THOUSANDS erupted in cheers at Vancouver’s FIFA Fan Fest when Eustáquio scored the winning goal for Canada.
Some fans, who said they lined up at 9 a.m. PT to get a spot to watch the game, that the mood shifted when Alphonso Davies stepped onto the pitch.
“The energy in here was so crazy when he stepped in,” one fan said.
Another fan said the feeling when Eustáquio scored was “unreal.”
“Like nothing I’ve ever experienced before.”
Canada beat South Africa 1-0 in the 90+4 extra time and Canada advances to the round of 16 on July 4 in Houston, where it will play the winner of Monday’s match between the Netherlands and Morocco.
Defender Alistair Johnson, who helped Canada earn its second clean sheet at this World Cup, waxed poetic when asked in the post-game mixed zone by reporters to put this historic result into perspective.
“It’s one of those moments that you’ll never forget where you were. I think for Canadian sports history, it’s going to be a moment where you’re going to kind of know where you were when that moment happened, so that’s something that is not lost on us,” Johnston said.
“We know that this is not only
writing history in Canadian soccer, but in Canadian sport, and that’s something that’s really magical.”
