meet the Englishman bidding to end Canada's World Cup misery

Canada coach John Herdman
Former Sunderland academy coach John Herdman has taken Canada to the brink of World Cup qualification

Diego Maradona scored a wonder goal for Argentina in the 1986 World Cup, and England has a lot of memories of that tournament.

Canadian memories of that tournament in Mexico are different.

Three games with no points or goals. 1986 is the only time Canada have qualified for a World Cup.

Automatic qualification will be brought about when their status as co-hosts is confirmed.

The English coach who led the Canadian women's team to a pair of bronze medals at the 2012 and 2016 Olympics is now leading the men's team to a place in this year's finals.

They play in Honduras in the early hours of Friday. They lead the Concacaf qualification pool with six games remaining.

The United States and Mexico are in between Canada and fourth-place Panama. Only three automatic qualification spots are available, plus a hazardous play-off, and star man Alphonso Davies is missing.

The team that did it or the team that blew it is going to be the winner, according to Herdman.

  • Who will qualify for Qatar 2022?

'All the kids play football, that is the reality'

The loss of Davies is a big blow.

The rest of the Canada team that started the victory against Mexico in November, including Lille forward Jonathan David and Besiktas forward Cyle Larin, have all been named in a 25-man squad.

It shows the strength of youth development in Canada and the wider interest in football in a country that has traditionally focused on more established sports.

Canada is a hockey nation, but football is the most popular sport.

The reality is that all the kids play football. There is a very diverse demographic in the country. My first love is football and I'm an immigrant.

They haven't had a national team to rally around. The women's team has been successful but the men haven't.

It is a sleeping giant. It is ready to be seen as a genuine Canadian sports fan.

'A very resilient nation'

Canada celebrate beating Mexico
Canada celebrate beating Mexico in Edmonton

The images of Canada celebrating in the snow after their win over Mexico were unforgettable.

The Concacaf qualification schedule was not set up to help the team.

There are rounds of qualification against opponents whose home conditions are vastly different to Canada's.

It was 37 degrees in Haiti in June.

There are times in those games where you can check out. It is too hot, we have an excuse. The brain is playing with things.

It was time for our opponents to feel that.

The Mexico game was played in a place where the temperature was -9C and the snow was falling.

We could have played in a more hospitable climate, but we were pretty clear that this was a new Canada.

It is a very resilient nation that has grown up having to play in cold weather on plastic fields. We looked at it as an opportunity.

Gruelling challenges in the heat - and the cold

The United States will come to Hamilton on January 30 for a game with a capacity cut to 12,000 because of Covid-19 restrictions.

The temperature will be around 30C in Honduras and El Salvador.

70% of the players in the bridge camp are from Europe, the other 30% are MLS players who have been out of season for three months.

We will have two and a half days of preparation in Miami, we will get on a flight to Honduras, and have one day to prepare for the match.

The next day we are on a flight to Canada, which takes five hours and takes us from playing in 30 degrees down to -12. After the game against the USA we are back on a plane and heading back into Central America to play El Salvadoran again.

You can see the challenges of managing the Concacaf window when people say "Why haven't Canada qualified?" Three games in seven days and thousands of miles of travel.

The chip on the shoulder that drives him on

It has been more than 20 years since John Herdman left his job at the academy to take over the New Zealand women's team.

The 46-year-old would be an attractive candidate for a coaching role if he decided to return to his homeland.

The Canadian FA's contract with him is not due to expire until after the World Cup.

He said that there was a big motivator at the time, when he hadn't made it as a professional footballer.

In my earliest years in coaching, I was told that I didn't play at the highest level. It makes you work harder to prove you are at that level.

When people ask what my goal is, it is to win the next matches against Honduras, USA, El Salvador and get this team qualified.

Archive: Alphonso Davies - the Bayern Munich player who was a refugee

Alphonso the 'influencer'

The absence of Davies in this camp is being felt, but he is considered a "generational talent" and capable of transporting Canadian soccer out of a niche environment and into mainstream society.

He is an influential person because of what he has done on the field and through his social media presence.

I have an 11-year-old daughter who is obsessed with what her dad is doing on Tik-Tok. During her time in Canada, she never had an interest in soccer.

Fans that have been through 30 years of hurt are our demographic. They are waiting for us to slip up and say we told you so.

We have a generation of fans for whom this is new.

The hardcore fans are setting the tone but the sports fans are the future. They will fall in love with this sport.

Around the BBC iPlayer bannerAround the BBC iPlayer footer