Samuel Piette and James Pantemis will go to the World Cup

Posted On: November 13, 2022

Canada on Sunday announced the identity of the 26 players who will represent it at the World Cup in just over a week and there are six members from CF Montreal.

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Among the defenders are Alistair Johnston, Kamal Miller and Joel Waterman. He may have benefited a little from Doneil Henry’s injury but we have to take our hats off to him as he started his career in the Canadian Premier League and he has scaled all levels with courage.

As for goalies, James Pantemis also benefited from Maxime Crépeau’s injury in the MLS Cup final.

There are no surprises in midfield with Samuel Piette and Ismaël Koné continuing their meteoric rise this season and potentially playing a bigger role in Qatar than expected. Two years ago, the 20-year-old was still playing as an amateur at CS Saint-Laurent.

With six representatives, CF Montreal has by far the most players for the Canadian selection. Toronto FC follows with three.

touching moment

Herdman admits he had to make difficult decisions. One of them was telling Doneil Henry that he would not be taking part in the trip because he injured his calf while warming up for the game against Bahrain.

“Saturday was one of the toughest days of my coaching career because I had to break the news to him but he’s in pain right now. He’ll stay with us and help us in other ways while we’re here,” Herdman said emotionally in an interview with TSN ahead of his news conference.

On the other hand, as Herdman pointed out, Henry’s waiver opened the door for Waterman.

“To be able to share this news with a guy like Joel Waterman who has been a lumberjack for four years is a great, very Canadian story.

“He was probably told he wasn’t going to make it and he’s had quite a season with Montreal. It’s a nice part of the job telling a guy like that he’s going to the World Cup.”

Davies in shape?

The big question is whether the team’s star Alphonso Davies will be at his best. The Bayern Munich player suffered a hamstring injury last week and has not played since.

Herdman declined to comment on the health of his left side, but said there was nothing to worry about.

“We hope he is fine physically but we have the next player mentality. If he’s not ready, we trust the next player to replace him.

“We left Alphonso at his club so that he would have the best possible environment to get back in shape as soon as possible.”

Montreal Effect

As mentioned earlier, Montreal CF is heavily represented with six players, which is not inconsiderable for John Herdman.

“I think that’s a huge advantage because they fought together. They have strong chemistry and know their strengths as well as their weaknesses.

They developed together within the selection before ending up in Montreal in some cases, so they fit in very well with the group.

Among the Montreal representatives, of course, is young Ismaël Koné, who excelled in last week’s pre-season game against Bahrain with a great goal, his first with Canada. Herdman wanted to moderate expectations so as not to put too much pressure on him.

“He’s got pace and he’s picked up where he left off in September. He was dominant in the camp. He thinks ahead, he has courage and his goal was the icing on the cake for me.

“At a World Cup you have to present young players at the right time, because that’s an extremely stimulating environment.

“Experienced players like Kevin De Bruyne or Romelu Lukaku sense inexperience and take advantage of it.”