BURST
The vibe inside The Shipyards in North Vancouver swung from roaring, anthem-singing highs to anxious silence and back to eruptive joy on Friday, as hundreds of fans decked out in red-and-white watched as Canada won its first-ever World Cup point.
“Canada could have been more clinical, they could have won this by two or three goals. But I’m still happy they got the draw,” said spectator Bardia Malackzadeh after the host nation’s 1-1 finish against Bosnia and Herzegovina in Toronto.
“Even one point can give us enough to advance,” he added.
Transformed into Canada Soccer House, the covered pavilion at The Shipyards had filled up through the morning, with fans claiming red, white and yellow chairs, or settling onto the concrete floor in front of the big screen, and lining the upper deck overlooking the waterfront.
Babies were dressed in red shirts stamped with maple leafs. Couples wore matching jerseys, and the No. 19 Canadian star Alphonso Davies — sidelined with an injury — was everywhere. Fans climbed raised podiums to film the screen and snap selfies with the crowd behind them, beers and iced coffees in hand.
Richard Carr had flown in from Calgary for the weekend with friends, catching the Canada opener before Saturday’s Australia versus Turkey match. He turned up with four beers balanced in his hands and a cape fashioned from a white flag with a red cross.
He picked Vancouver over Toronto for the proximity, the friends he has in town and the weather.
“So far, it’s awesome,” Carr said.
Another fan with a Canadian flag over her shoulders was Jade Vaughan, who grew up in Vancouver, lived in Hawaii for 15 years and moved back to Canada just before the tournament.
“I love Canada and Vancouver is so amazing,” Vaughan said. “I’m really proud that we’re having this here. The city’s done such a good job, there’s so much pride.”
As the opening ceremony began and the flags of competing nations were carried out onscreen, the pavilion’s mood lifted.
Approached for an interview, one woman who identified herself by her first name, Patricia, asked to hold off — she wanted to watch for Portugal’s flag. Originally from Portugal, and in Canada more than a decade, she said she was happy to cheer for both countries.
“I come from Europe, where we do bigger-scale (sport) events, so I wish there was a little bit more,” she said. “But it’s still very good.”
Not everyone split their loyalties.
Eydi Abdolkhani, a Vancouver local, could barely contain himself.
“This is the best day,” Abdolkhani said. “Canada is playing, and this will be our win — the sweetest one, because it’s the first one.”
A group of five Australian friends had come over for the Australia games and wandered into Canada House to soak up the atmosphere, picking up a North Van local along the way.
“We’re loving the vibe,” said Henry Toczydlowski, who’s in Canada for the first time. “We’re just trying to embrace the World Cup fever.”
His friend Dylan Hopkins said North Van reminded him of home, and the group was already looking ahead to Australia’s match against Turkey on Saturday, then games in Seattle and San Jose, Calif.
“The people are lovely,” Hopkins said, when asked about his first impressions of Vancouver. “I love that they let you cross the road even when you’re not at the crossing.”
When the Canadian team walked out, the place erupted — whistling, clapping and with a roar that rolled across the waterfront. Fans sang the national anthem alongside the broadcast.
Then the game began, and the mood shifted. Bosnia and Herzegovina struck first, and Canada House fell quiet, hundreds of fans watching the screen in tense silence. A couple of near-misses from the Canadian team drew collective groans.
Roberta White, a local resident watching the game on the sunny benches, wasn’t worried about the score.
“We’ll pull through,” she said.
Halftime brought a release. A man juggled a soccer ball beneath a giant screen as fans sprawled on chairs and on the ground. Babies dozed in strollers, some wearing oversized headphones.
In the 64th minute, a “Let’s go, Canada!” chant rippled through the shipyards. Oversized black-and-white soccer balls bounced around the crowd during a break in play.
Then, in the 77th minute, Canada scored. The area exploded as fans leapt up, screaming and whistling. Strangers grabbed one another. It was everything the crowd had been waiting for since the opening whistle.
Six minutes of stoppage time followed, every one taut with hope that Canada might find a winner on home soil, but it didn’t come.
When the final whistle blew on a 1-1 draw, the crowd quickly began to thin.
It was a point, not the storybook victory many had come for.
But for one morning, a corner of North Vancouver had turned loud, hopeful and unmistakably part of the Cup.