The World Cup doesn’t offer many moments of serenity. When it does, there is something especially sweet about them. They feel like gifts, a chance to remember what it took to get here, and to dream about what might come next.
At Canada’s training camp Tuesday, the goalkeepers broke away, as they usually do. It was a gorgeous day in Vancouver. The grass was freshly lined. Max Crépeau, Dayne St. Clair, and Owen Goodman, all dressed in bright blue, began to warm each other up.
On a second pitch, where the rest of the team began their session, it was louder, more chaotic. It was Ismael Koné’s birthday, his 24th, and he ran a gauntlet of celebration. The happiness carried over into first kickabouts. A little more than 48 hours before Thursday’s must-win against Qatar, the excitement felt unrestrained.
The goalkeepers continued their quieter work. Paolo Ceccarelli, their coach, gave them snippets of instruction and easy encouragement. He leathered a warm-up volley at St. Clair and acknowledged that its pace might have outstripped the mood.
“You want a little less on that?” he asked.
“A little less,” St. Clair said.
Ceccarelli geared down, and the four of them, a band apart, settled into the rhythms of their routines: thump, thump, thump.
In the early days of this tournament, goalkeepers have found themselves the subject of hotter attention, the 18-yard box a proving ground more than a sanctuary.
Qatar held Switzerland to a surprise draw in their Saturday opener thanks largely to the heroics of Mahmoud Abunada, a 26-year-old making just his seventh international appearance.
He gave up an early penalty but made six saves to frustrate the heavily favoured Swiss. After nearly retiring from soccer because of back problems, he was in tears when he was named the Man of the Match. He dedicated the award to his family before he called his unforgettable day “the most beautiful moment of my career.”
Even though he’s long and lean, Abunada was particularly good at getting to the ground quickly, normally a weakness for taller keepers. His form is a little frantic and unconventional — he sometimes threw himself around like a bodyguard trying to stop an assassin’s bullet — but his best saves were low ones.
Canada will need to be creative to beat him.
On Monday, two more unsung goalkeepers became the unlikely subjects of global adulation.
Vozinha, Cape Verde’s 40-year-old backstop, shut out Spain, among the favourites to win the tournament. He plays club football in Portugal’s second division — he didn’t turn professional until he was 25 — and is relatively short by modern goalkeeping standards. But for 90 minutes, he played like a giant.
He was also named the Man of the Match, and he was also left in tears. In the way the World Cup can turn otherwise anonymous players into celebrities, his follower count on Instagram climbed from 50,000 to more than five million over the course of his remarkable game.
Mohammed Al-Owais, Saudi Arabia’s 34-year-old veteran of three World Cups, then claimed the spotlight with his own incredible performance in a 1-1 draw against Uruguay.
He made nine saves, the most of any goalkeeper in the World Cup so far, upsetting a favoured South American opponent for the second successive opener: Al-Owais famously helped his country stun Argentina in their first match in 2022.
Crépeau’s debut in last week’s opening draw with Bosnia-Herzegovina didn’t command anything like that level of notice.
He allowed a goal that wasn’t his fault but played against his strengths. It came on a set piece, a low cross from a Bosnian corner, and he was left to flail at it like a man trying to catch a bat.
But there was a different moment, lost in the magnitude of the occasion, when the 32-year-old showed why head coach Jesse Marsch chose him to start.
Already trailing 1-0, Canada was left chasing when Bosnia-Herzegovina broke out. Ermedin Demirovic ran down the middle of the pitch, free of Alistair Johnston and Luc de Fougerolles, both in fruitless pursuit.
Crépeau, known for his bravery more than any other virtue, came out to challenge Demirovic. They met at the penalty spot. Crépeau stretched across the grass, and he found a piece of the ball with his feet. It bounced just wide.
“Max, unbelievably alert, came out and made himself big,” a relieved Johnston said.
Had Demirovic scored, the game would have been out of reach. Instead, Cyle Larin scored, and Canada earned the draw. Its first point in men’s World Cup history might prove pivotal. A win on Thursday, and Canada will almost certainly go through to the Round of 32.
Fates are rarely decided in instants. Any result, good or bad, is the culmination of a thousand moments.
Crépeau had his. It didn’t capture the imagination the way other goalkeepers have so far. His performance wasn’t otherworldly, or an upset. He did his work. He was steady, and he gave his team a chance.
Thursday’s game will be a grander opportunity — for him and for Canada. It, too, will be the product of a thousand moments.
Tuesday’s training session was one of them, even if it felt blissfully free of consequence. Away from the cameras, away from the crowds, Crépeau made some tiny fraction of a difference with his fellow goalkeepers, on another day in their lifelong efforts to make themselves big.
