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1-on-1 with John Herdman

How did coach John Herdman, a former schoolteacher from England, turn Canada’s perennial underdogs into a brotherhood of champions? He went straight for their hearts.

Every coach dreams of leading their nation to a FIFA World Cup. Few ever do. And none had led both men’s and women’s teams there—until John Herdman came along. In a little more than a decade, the 47-year-old coach from Consett, a hardscrabble town in England’s northeast, has lifted Canadian soccer to heights that once seemed unimaginable.

The ever-energetic Englishman got his start as a primary-school teacher, pulling double duty as a coach at Sunderland’s youth academy. Herdman pulled up roots and moved halfway around the world, taking a job with New Zealand’s women’s national team in 2006. He hopped continents yet again, to Canada, and took over the national women’s team here when leadership came calling in 2011. Under his direction, they secured back-to-back Olympic bronze.

Fortunately for Canadian soccer fans, Herdman is game for a challenge. In 2018, he took command of the men’s team, a move that was met with a mix of criticism and shock. Ranked 94th in the world? A 36-year World Cup absence? Led by a schoolteacher who had never played pro? Well, he showed them. Before his big trip to Qatar, Herdman discussed what it took to get Canada’s players (and fans) on his side, how he gets his own head in gear and the schoolyard games that bonded this year’s World Cup–bound band of brothers...

Read the full Q&A here

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