Why Windsor soccer fans say Canada's World Cup performance was about more than wins and losses
Despite the men's Canadian soccer team going winless in this year's FIFA World Cup tournament, fans who watched Team Canada take on Morocco from The Manchester Pub say this year's tournament has transcended beyond wins and losses.
Natalie Fantinic — who has played on the St. Clair College women's soccer team — was among those watching Thursday's game from the pub. She said, prior to this year's World Cup, she couldn't convince her children to kick a soccer ball with her.
"After our first game against Belgium, I had a couple of kids and the whole neighborhood playing at the park," said Fantinic.
"It's exciting. I think for everybody in Canada, this has made a difference."
Following earlier losses to Belgium and Croatia, the Canadian team was already ineligible to advance in the World Cup, regardless of the result against Morocco. Canada dropped Thursday's game against Morocco 2-1.
While The Manchester was at standing room only for Team Canada's first two World Cup games, there was much more room to move around Thursday as only the most diehard Canadian soccer fans left their homes to watch Canada's battle against Morocco at the downtown pub.
Despite Thursday's result leaving the Canadian men's soccer team still searching for a single-game, World Cup victory — 17-year-old soccer standout Aaliyah Faddoul said there are still positives to take away from the team's performance.
"There definitely is soccer fever in the air. I think that kids who didn't even play soccer now want to get on a team which is amazing," she said.
"I think it brings more attention to soccer. Soccer is a sport where kids can lose the thought of other stresses and just be free, play, work out and be healthy."
Faddoul, who will be heading to the U.S. to play soccer at the varsity level after graduating from Sandwich Secondary School in LaSalle, added the previous successes of the Canadian women's national team — along with the men's team making its first appearance at the World Cup in 36 years — can inspire a new generation of soccer upstarts.
"It's great to see that there's a higher level in Canada. There's places where I can strive to be. Not only me, but other young boys and girls."
Thomas Mavrantzas, who also watched Canada take on Morocco from The Manchester pub, said he's hopeful for the future and is proud to have seen his country "compete on a world stage."
"We already have young players that will be in their prime for the next World Cup," he said.
Mavrantzas added he always watches the World Cup — but this year's tournament marked the first with a team he could actually get behind with his full support.
"It's a different feeling," he added. "I really wish we could have went further."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Maple Leafs fall to Bruins in Game 3, trail series 2-1
Brad Marchand scored twice, including the winner in the third period, and added an assist as the Boston Bruins downed the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2 to take a 2-1 lead in their first-round playoff series Wednesday
Cuban government apologizes to Montreal-area family after delivering wrong body
Cuba's foreign affairs minister has apologized to a Montreal-area family after they were sent the wrong body following the death of a loved one.
'It was instant karma': Viral video captures failed theft attempt in Nanaimo, B.C.
Mounties in Nanaimo, B.C., say two late-night revellers are lucky their allegedly drunken antics weren't reported to police after security cameras captured the men trying to steal a heavy sign from a downtown business.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
New Indigenous loan guarantee program a 'really big deal,' Freeland says at Toronto conference
Canada's Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland was among the 1,700 delegates attending the two-day First Nations Major Projects Coalition (FNMPC) conference that concluded Tuesday in Toronto.
'Life was not fair to him': Daughter of N.B. man exonerated of murder remembers him as a kind soul
The daughter of a New Brunswick man recently exonerated from murder, is remembering her father as somebody who, despite a wrongful conviction, never became bitter or angry.