Canada 'broke personal-best records' in Belgium defeat - John Herdman
By Chris Smith
Canadian Men's National Team head coach John Herdman has praised the sheer levels of effort put in by his players in their narrow 1-0 defeat to Belgium on Wednesday.
In their first World Cup match since 1986, Canada pushed the Belgians all the way, dominating for large spells and outperforming their illustrious opponents in shots, xG, and big chances.
Star play Alphonso Davies passed up the CanMNT's biggest chance, missing from the penalty spot in the 11th minute. Canada were punished just before halftime with Michy Batshuayi scoring what proved to be the winning goal.
Still, that did little to dampen the feeling of pride within the Canadian ranks and in the aftermath, Herdman has revealed just how much his players put into the match.
"They broke personal-best records in their physical performance. I mean that was guys pushing genuine PBs," he said (via TSN). "It was actually quite special what we saw in terms of the high-intensity running and total kilometers. And then they've got to go do it again."
Canada cannot spend too long licking their wounds. Up next is a key clash against 2018 finalists Croatia on Sunday where defeat would surely spell the end of their second-ever World Cup campaign.
Instead, Herdman has called on his players to bring a similar level of effort against another European giant.
"It's those behaviors that we'll continue to work on. That's what the players see in the review meeting today," said Herdman. "And we've got to close some gaps going into this meeting with Croatia, who are a hell of a team."
The Englishman later added: "Recovery is what this is about. A real mental regeneration and physical regeneration to be able to just go and put it all out there against Croatia."
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