An extended World Cup was always likely to cause this; and the best that can be said for Canada’s 1-0 win over South Africa is that the fans were spared extra time and penalties.
Stephen Eustaquio’s late goal aside, there was nothing to commend the match for anyone other than a fan of the team, and 90-plus minutes of football would be exhibit A in any case against the remaining 48 teams in the future, let alone adding more.
Still, at least Canada’s continued involvement has given the co-hosts something to shout about, until Morocco or the Netherlands bring them back to earth in the next round.
In a rare moment of calm, which is the only one to start the week, Brazil and Japan, and the aforementioned clash between the ‘African champions’ and the Netherlands, may be the best examples of a good game when play resumes at 1am on Tuesday (HKT).
Not that Canadian boss Jesse Marsch cares, and in typical North American fashion he had some interesting things to say after his team’s win, which is where we begin our brief look at what happened while you slept.
