TORONTO (AP) — The Canadian team intends to go to the World Cup armed. The team travels with a sword that was seized by Costa Rican authorities before last week’s qualifying match in San José.
“The sword is something that symbolizes this new Canada,” coach John Herdman said Sunday after securing World Cup qualification, something the country had not achieved since 1986.
The passage was guaranteed after a 4-0 win over Jamaica.
“I told these guys that we’ve always had a shield, but now we’ve created a sword, which has the phrase ‘Nihil timendum est’ engraved on it, which means ‘nothing to fear’ in Latin,” explained Herdman. “And so it is. the new Canada. That’s the attitude we want to play with. And we carry the sword to every ballpark to symbolize that we own the pitch and we are the new Canada.”
The tradition was thwarted during the previous week’s visit to Costa Rica. The newspaper La Nación reported that customs agents had seized the sword upon the arrival of the Canadian team on a chartered flight, due to “regulations on the type of weapons that can be introduced” into the Central American country.
The newspaper published a photo of the sword inside a black case with a red velvet lining. On the handle are the words: “Qatar 2022”.
Without the sword, Canada saw a 17-match unbeaten streak end. It fell 1-0 against Costa Rica.
“We got it, we had it back on the court yesterday,” Herdman said of the sword after Sunday’s victory on the court at BMO Field.
The team had not revealed the existence of the sword. Jason deVos, director of development for the Canadian federation, was hesitant on Sunday when asked about the charm.
“I can’t talk about it,” the former Canada captain said.
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