VANCOUVER, June 19 (Reuters) - Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney paid the nation's soccer team a locker room visit after they secured the country's first World Cup finals match win and commended the players for the character they showed after one of their teammates went down with a broken leg.
Canada romped to a bittersweet 6-0 win over Qatar in Vancouver on Thursday but the victory was tempered by a serious injury to midfielder Ismael Kone following a tackle from behind by Assim Madibo.
The Qatari
player was shown a red card and Nathan Saliba, who replaced Kone, scored moments later to make it 4-0 and celebrated by holding Kone's number eight jersey aloft before kissing it and making the sign of the cross.
"Let me just begin by acknowledging what you’re all feeling, I think, and the nation’s feeling, the terrible injury of Ismael ... and it’s in moments like that, that you see character in a real team," Carney, with the players standing in a circle around him, said in a video posted to his Instagram account.
"(Kone) applauds the fans coming off, he shakes the hands of the Qataris coming off. Saliba comes on, steps up, scores. You hold up his jersey and you celebrate around that, you keep your cool."
FURIOUS REACTION
The incident sparked a furious reaction from the Canada team, with players shoving their opponents and coach Jesse Marsch demanding to know why the tackle had not drawn an immediate red card. It was later upgraded from a yellow card.
The Canadian players quickly regrouped, however, and by the end of the night found themselves level on four points with Switzerland, their next opponents, in Group B and top on goal difference.
"You showed a level of character that some people never achieve in their life, and you showed it when the entire country and a good part of the world is watching. And if they didn’t watch, they will have watched by tomorrow," said Carney, who sat beside FIFA President Gianni Infantino as he watched the match.
"I’ll just say I couldn’t be prouder as a Canadian. And on behalf of all Canadians, I just want to thank you for everything you put in to get here."
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto, editing by Ed Osmond)
