Jakarta –
Canada pass to 2022 World Cup thanks to the role of players with immigrant backgrounds. A ticket to Qatar is a gift for Canada as the most immigrant-friendly country.
Canada qualified for the 2022 World Cup after a 4-0 win over Jamaica at BMO Field, Monday (28/3/2022). The hosts’ four goals were created by Cyre Larin, Tajon Buchanan, Junior Hoillet, and an own Adrian Mariappa.
The addition of three points makes Les Rouges firmly at the top of the CONCACAF World Cup Qualification standings with 28 points. Canada is three points ahead of the United States and Mexico in second and third and six points clear of Costa Rica in fourth.
They qualify for Qatar because it is safe to not finish outside the top three with one game remaining. The top three teams in the CONCACAF zone get direct tickets to advance to 2022 World Cup.
Canada has ended a 36-year wait to qualify for the World Cup again. This is the first time they have advanced to the highest event of inter-country football since the 1986 edition.
Maple Leaf Land currently has a golden generation squad with several players from immigrant backgrounds. Canada’s success in forming a strong national team cannot be separated from their country which is so friendly to immigrants.
The results of a poll from Gallup in 2021 placed Canada as the most immigrant-friendly country with an index value of 8.46. They beat Iceland (8.41) in second and New Zealand (8.32) in third.
|
(Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP) Foto: AP/Nathan Denette– |
Reply to Kindness from Immigrants for a Comfortable Place
Several immigrants have become the backbone of the Canadian national team to qualify for the 2022 World Cup. Alphonso Davies (Bayern Munich), Milan Borjan (Red Star Belgrade), Jonathan David (Lille), Ike Ugbo (Troyes) and Samuel Adekugbe (Hatayspor) are Canadian players with immigrant backgrounds.
Jonathan David was born in the United States and grew up in Haiti before moving to Canada. Ugbo and Adekugbe were born in England to a Nigerian family.
Meanwhile Davies and Borjan made Canada a safe place after fleeing the war in their home country. Davies Canada’s brightest talent today was born in a refugee camp in Buduburam, Ghana, when his parents left Liberia due to civil war.
When he was five years old, the Munich player moved with his parents to Canada thanks to a program from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
A similar story experienced by the captain of Canada, Milan Borjan. He emigrated to Canada at the age of 13 years. This happened after his parents, who are ethnic Serbs, avoided the war in Croatia.
 Kapten Kanada Milan Borjan (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press via AP) Foto: AP/Nathan Denette– |
Borjan is so grateful to Canada for giving him a more deserving life. The 2022 World Cup ticket seems to be Borjan’s gratitude to the state in the north of the American continent.
“Canada gave me everything, they gave me a better life, they gave me a good school. This is my way of giving back to Canada… Canada is multicultural, and we fight for what is given to us, and Canada gives us peace ,” said Borjan quoted from Mirror last January.
In addition to the names above, there are Atiba Hutchinson (Besiktas), Doniell Henry (Los Angeles FC), and Cyle Larin (Besiktas) who were born in Canada but to immigrant parents. Henry and Larin have Jamaican blood. Hutchinson has parents from Trinidad and Tobago.
Qualifying for the 2022 World Cup seems to be a gift from the tolerance for diversity that exists in Canada.
(pur/krs)
–
