The scoreline in 1984 read sa国际传媒 1-0 over Mexico in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, with the Canadians advancing to the 1984 Los Angeles Olympics in men鈥檚 soccer. sa国际传媒 hasn鈥檛 been back to the Games since.
鈥淭hat was a tremendous result for us,鈥� said University of Victoria Vikes head coach Bruce Wilson, who was captain of the 1984 Canadian team.
Can such a miracle on pitch happen again today when sa国际传媒 meets host Mexico in Guadalajara with the winner advancing to the 2020 Plus One Tokyo Olympics?
鈥淢exico is a CONCACAF power and it鈥檚 going to be tough,鈥� said Wilson. 鈥淏ut funnier things have happened.鈥�
They did in 1984. Wilson and fellow defender Ian Bridge of Victoria anchored the back line that got sa国际传媒 into the 1984 Los Angeles Games and a run that took it to the quarter-finals against Brazil before losing on penalties.
鈥淭he quarter-final was played in Palo Alto and there were 55,000 fans in Stanford Stadium. We got the jump, but Brazil tied and took it to penalties and we came within a heartbeat of making the Olympic semifinals,鈥� said Wilson.
Brazil went on to edge Italy 2-1 in the semifinals in front of 83,642 fans in Stanford Stadium before losing 2-0 to France in front of 101,799 fans in the Rose Bowl.
The great equalizer today is that there will be no fans allowed into the massive Estadio Jalisco in Guadalajara due to the pandemic.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a whole different atmosphere down there and being on the road in CONCACAF can be intimidating for sa国际传媒 because of the fans,鈥� said Wilson.
The game is in Mexico and the hosts will have many advantages, from weather to cultural familiarity, but zero attendance is in sa国际传媒鈥檚 favour.
鈥淭he 1984 qualifying game was to be played in a neutral site and Mexico wanted Los Angeles, because of the large number of Mexican fans that would have turned out there. But we said no, and insisted on another venue, and Fort Lauderdale was decided on,鈥� Wilson recalled.
Jamie Lowery of Port Alberni was part of the Canadian qualifying campaign in 1984, but was not chosen for the Olympics, although he was back in Canadian colours for the 1986 World Cup with Wilson and Bridge.
鈥淚 think we are good enough to get back to the Olympics, and also World Cup, and can鈥檛 pinpoint why we haven鈥檛 been back since the 1980s,鈥� said Lowery, a former player in the VISL with Victoria West and in the pros with the Vancouver 86ers.
鈥淲e now have players who are pros all over the world and also in the MLS, which is a decent level. We have more pro players in good leagues to choose from than ever before. There are elite youth academies and now a Canadian pro league [CPL] as a first notch to get to the next level.鈥� The time for excuses should be over, said Lowery.
sa国际传媒 goes into today鈥檚 game with a hole in central defence, with Thomas Meilleur-Gigu猫re of Island-based Pacific FC of the CPL out with injury and Minnesota United MLS-prospect Callum Montgomery of Lantzville hobbled.
The Olympics are an Under-23 competition, but the players are all pros. Honduras and sa国际传媒 topped Group A and the U.S. and Mexico did the same in Group B in the qualifier. The winner of today鈥檚 cross-over semifinals 鈥� the other is between the U.S. and Honduras 鈥� will earn the two CONCACAF berths into the Tokyo Olympics this summer.
sa国际传媒 faces Caymans, B3
