Whether he starts any games in Qatar next month, Maxime Crépeau will certainly get his share of the Canadian soccer spotlight this weekend – at least for one day.
Saturday is reserved for three of Canada’s Olympic champions as Christine Sinclair and Janine Beckie face off against Desiree Scott when the Portland Thorns meet the Kansas City Current in the National Women’s Soccer League championship game.
But less than 24 hours later, the lone Canadian remaining in the Major League Soccer playoffs will be looking to crown his first season with Los Angeles Football Club, with just 90 minutes – and second-year expansion club Austin FC in the Western Conference final – standing in the way of the franchise’s first appearance in the MLS Cup. The western champion will face either the Philadelphia Union or defending MLS champion New York City FC, who play later on Sunday in the Eastern Conference final, in the championship game.
For the Canadian international goalkeeper, who started four of the 14 final-round qualification games for John Herdman’s team on the road to Qatar, a championship would be the ideal way to head into the country’s first appearance in a men’s World Cup in 36 years.
But it would also be validation of his bold – and unpopular – decision to ask for a trade from the Vancouver Whitecaps less than 12 months ago. Fresh off being voted player of the season by the fans, Crépeau wanted a new challenge after appearing in just one playoff game in three years with the Whitecaps.
“I took that decision to ask for a trade in order to achieve bigger things, which now I’m two games away from winning the MLS Cup,” Crépeau said. “So it was kind of a calculated risk, calculated gamble, which you have to do sometimes.
“I wanted to have higher expectations on myself and on the team to win something with a great organization and the move to LA happened and I’m really glad.”
Those heightened expectations are to be expected now that he’s sharing a locker room with some of the biggest names in the sport, with five other international players also preparing to help their countries chase a World Cup in the Middle East next month.
One teammate who won’t be there is Giorgio Chiellini, with the long-time Juventus defensive linchpin swapping Turin for Southern California shortly after calling time on his international career once Italy failed to qualify for a second successive World Cup.
But one who will be is five-time Champions League winner Gareth Bale, who moved over from Real Madrid shortly after helping Wales end a World Cup finals drought that is almost twice as long as Canada’s, with the Dragons’ last appearance coming to an end in 1958 when Pele scored his first World Cup goal for Brazil.
Crépeau said that he and Bale had shared a laugh about both ending the long World Cup waits for their respective homelands.
“We were talking about the qualification campaign as well for both countries, that wait, the hype around the event as well,” he said. “And so I think both countries are really excited to be on that stage.”
How much he plays in Qatar – if at all – will be down to Herdman. Crépeau has played well this year, posting a career-high nine clean sheets, albeit playing in a system that is more defensive – and defensively able – than the one he had been used to in Vancouver. As a result, he’s seen fewer shots, with his 1.09 goals-against average placing him third in MLS.
But the incumbent in the Canadian goalkeeper shirt, Milan Borjan, has been no slouch either, starting every game and conceding just six goals in 15 games as first-place Red Star Belgrade takes aim at a sixth successive league title. That’s on top of him starting 10 of the 14 final-round qualifying games, conceding just four goals and making several crucial stops to preserve important victories.
While some observers of the Canadian national team talk about Crépeau as being the likely starter when Canada co-hosts the World Cup in 2026, the man himself says four years is a long time, and as he showed this past off-season, he’s not simply willing to bide his time.
“The goal is to play for your country, that’s the ultimate goal,” he said. “There’s not one player that will not say the same. Your goal is to play for your country. Obviously there’s a long road into that next four years, but I’ll start first with the game this weekend and then we will talk in the future.”
Crépeau adds that he and Borjan have a great working relationship, pushing and supporting each other, and that can only be good for the team as a whole. However, as far as Herdman has let on to him, the job of starting goalkeeper is still very much open.
“There’s no spot guaranteed in our squad but in the meantime, you’ve got to earn that spot as well,” Crépeau said.
While Canada still has friendlies against Bahrain and Japan before it can plan its opening World Cup match against Belgium on Nov. 23, the shadow of off-field drama has followed this team since its cancelled friendly match against Panama last June after a dispute over World Cup bonuses and benefits.
Crépeau says that the players stood their ground in the standoff, and though he doesn’t expect it to be a distraction once the team touches down in Doha, he adds that it was important for he and his teammates to draw a line in the sand now, given Canada’s increased stature in the global game.
“I do believe we are at the bigger table now,” he said. “We’re at the bigger table and so we have to treat it this way on every single level. We’ve got to bring our level up to [the level of Germany, Brazil and England] the top-10 overall in the world.
“Well, we are not in the top 10, but this is the end goal, right? And so we’ve got to bring our standards on and off the field to these standards.”
Raising the standards comes naturally to Crépeau it seems. Canada may have been away from the top table of world soccer for a long time in the men’s game – some might say forever – but he is far from overawed. Despite heading into a tournament to take on the second-ranked Belgium, 2018 runner-up Croatia, and 22nd-ranked Morocco – all who might be forgiven for looking down on Canada, ranked 41st in the world – Crépeau is still feeling optimistic.
Asked what a realistic goal for Canada might be, he simply doubles down.
“Realistically, we want to go all the way and win it,” he said. “You don’t go to Qatar just to have a smile on your face and just to be part of it. We want to do make an impact and really go at it.”