Pink shoes! Pink shoes! I was yelling pink shoes at the computer screen. I didn’t know the name of the Canadian player. But it was all up to him. Canada was playing Venezuela in the quarter finals of the Copa America on Saturday. Ismaël Koné confidently kicked the sixth penalty into the corner of the net and sent Canada to the semi-finals, for the first time ever.
I went out after Canada’s victory. No blaring horns. No flags waving. No hollering. Nice and quiet. Just the way Canadians like it. I was surprised though.
Isn’t soccer big in Toronto? Of course it is. The weekend at Salsa on St. Clair was full of people with their country jerseys ready to cheer on their teams. Through this Euro Cup you can see cars draped with flags. Anytime a team wins, you can hear the celebration on the streets.
But what about the Canadian flag?
I feel like cheering for Canada. As an ethnic kid raised in Portugal Village in the 1970s, I didn’t always feel like I belonged. But when I look at the Canadian team today, I see a reflection of my own kids.
- Alphonso Davies came to Canada when he was 5 years old.
- Jacob Shaffelburg was raised in a soccer-loving family in Nova Scotia.
- Jonathan Osorio was born in Toronto and his parents are from Colombia.
- Haitian-born Jonathan David went to a school named after my favourite hero, Louis Riel.
- Stephen Eustáquio is from Leamington and takes me right back to Portugal Village.
Watching them play and put so much effort to create a world class soccer team from nothing, inspires me to wave the maple leaf.
But I’d be all alone.
Canadian flag waving makes some people uncomfortable. But if waving our flag can be a political statement, like truckers against lockdowns, it can also be a celebration of what we’ve accomplished.
And these Canadian kids have come the farthest.
So, wave your flag.
