Canada head coach John Herdman expects other players from his World Cup squad to draw the attention of European clubs as defender Alistair Johnston was the first to sign a new contract.

The 24-year-old has been transferred to Scottish powerhouse Celtic Glasgow for CAD 4.98m from CF Montreal.

“When we arrived in Qatar, some of our players were unknown. I think a lot of them have built credibility, Herdman explained. Overall, we performed well together, but there were definitely some good individual performances throughout the tournament. »

When asked if there were more plays to come, he was full of praise for right winger Tajon Buchanan, calling it “a real blossoming of the tournament for the young man”.

Buchanan has already packed his bags for Europe when he made a $7million move from New England Revolution to Belgian club Brugge after the 2021 MLS season. An even bigger team is likely to wave.

Herdman also noted the work of defense attorney Steven Vitoria, calling him “a real rock for Canada.” Vitoria, 35, who plays for Portuguese club GD Chaves, started all three games of the tournament despite making a few mistakes here and there.

The Canada head coach also spoke about Jonathan Osorio and Junior Hoilett. At 30, Osorio is out of contract with Toronto FC and has never hidden his desire to play in Europe. Hoilett, 32, plays for Reading in the second Premier League. “I feel like we now have a chance to get more players into the top leagues. This is a crucial step for Canada. »

Canada will be one of the countries that will host the next soccer World Cup, which will grow from 32 to 48 teams. Mexico and the USA are also hosts.

The day after Canada’s World Cup elimination, Herdman was back at Canada’s training center in Umm Salal Ali helping his team pack.

We see us in March

Canada’s next games will be in March in the Concacaf Nations League. He meets Curaçao on March 23 and Honduras on March 28. Herdman has to watch the Curacao game off the pitch after being shown a red card in June.

Canada (1-1-0), who are currently three points behind Honduras (2-1-0) in League A, Group C, are aiming to qualify for the Nations League finals in the first division of the group, with the winners of the other three Groups.

The Gold Cup 2023, which starts in June, will follow.

According to Herdman, it was his sixth world championship. He has competed in three Women’s World Cups (two with New Zealand and one with Canada) and two U20 World Cups (with New Zealand).

“There’s a lot of things to consider,” he said of playing on the world stage. Looking back, I know we did some things really well during this tournament to keep the Brotherhood intact and get the team ready to play.

“And then there are other facets. You look at those little moments and you keep learning the thin edges, the really thin edges at this level.”

Those margins can make a difference, something Canada has learned working in Qatar.

To see in the video