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Canada fans march to BC Place before Canada and Switzerland’s World Cup Group B match in Vancouver on Wednesday.Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press
Supporters of Canada’s men’s national team rode a wave of emotion Wednesday as the squad ultimately fell 2-1 to Switzerland in a pivotal World Cup match in Vancouver.
Greg Fairbairn, a latecomer to soccer, lit his first-ever red flare in a Team Canada mob before attending the sold-out game at BC Place with his wife and two boys.
“I told my family that no matter what the outcome, I was really happy to experience it with them,” he said after the game. “And I was.”
While still seated in the stadium, the Vancouver resident, who grew up playing hockey and football in London, Ont., bought a flight to Los Angeles to see the team play its next game.
Canada needed a draw against the higher ranked Swiss to top Group B and remain in Vancouver for a round-of-32 match on July 2. Wednesday’s loss dropped Canada to group runner-up and will send the squad to Los Angeles for its first knockout round on June 28, meaning less recovery time, added travel and none of the perks of being on home soil.
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Fairbairn, his wife Jessica, and their two sons, Theo, 8, and Henrik, 11, were among the crowd of thousands who convened near Science World early Wednesday morning to march to the stadium en masse.
“Not only is it an event that we get to do together, and hopefully remember in a positive way years from now, but it’s also just learning the sport and learning the culture,” he said.
Jeremy Tarnaske, who travelled from Ottawa for the game, wore a sequined red-and-white bucket hat, a Canadian flag draped over his shoulder and a crestfallen look on his face at the game’s conclusion.
“I’m trying not to cry,” he said from the sweltering stadium as people began filing out around him. “But we’ve come so far, and I love that the city’s super into it. It’s still an amazing atmosphere.”
B.C. Premier David Eby, who also took in the game in person, lamented the loss but said the second half made for an exciting watch.
“Tough game,” he said as he left BC Place. “Canada played well. I thought we were going to pull it out at the end.”
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Canada fans cheer and hold up signs with the number 8, to pay tribute to injured midfielder Ismaël Koné, prior to the first half of Wednesday’s match against Switzerland.Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press
Team Canada supporters, a raucous mob of red and white, had marched through city streets and brought into the stadium a commanding energy that persisted through to halftime.
That turned abruptly with a goal by Switzerland’s Ruben Vargas a minute into the second half that was followed soon after by another from Johan Manzambi. For a while, stone-faced silence was broken only by boos.
In Vancouver’s Granville Street entertainment district, Elisha Udosen predicted the team whose flag he had wrapped himself in would get one more goal to lose 2-1. That came true moments later, when Canada’s Promise David subbed in for Tajon Buchanan and scored with his first touch of the ball in the 76th minute, the crowd around him erupting. But it wasn’t enough.
“Now they have a tough challenge and they face reality,” said Udosen, a 25-year-old business student from Lagos, Nigeria, lamenting that Canada won’t play its next game in Vancouver. “Still, they’re moving on though, so not all is lost.”
The city was even more awash in red than usual, with both Canada and Switzerland supporters clad in crimson. Team Canada supporters met early Wednesday at the same pub they did for the previous match before marching toward the stadium.
This time, the Voyageur-led mob – with its jerseys and smoke bombs, its face paint and taunts – carried with it tributes to Ismaël Koné, the linchpin midfielder who suffered a gruesome leg injury last match and will be out for the remainder of the tournament. They included mylar balloons and thousands of placards bearing his number 8, which were held up during the singing of the Canadian national anthem.
(Koné was wheeled in about an hour before kickoff, receiving a standing ovation from those already in the stadium. He returned the applause and waved.)
David and Julien Guilloud were among thousands of Swiss supporters in Olympic Village prior to their fan march. The Swiss brothers had followed their national team from San Francisco to Los Angeles – with a Las Vegas party break in between – before their final stop in Vancouver. They saved for the trip for four years.
The pair agreed that Vancouver’s vibe surpasses the two American West Coast host cities, which they said were too spread out.
“Here we can feel the football: The football is on every street, on every square, in every bar,” said David Guilloud, who also went to the 2018 World Cup in Russia.
He figured their team was in for a tough go against Canada, saying before kickoff they hoped for a victory – “but maybe a draw would be good.”
With a report from Nathan VanderKlippe