Canada's Richie Laryea attempts a shot on goal as Mexico goalkeeper Alfredo Talavera dives for the ball during the CONCACAF Gold Cup semi-final on July 29, 2021, in Houston.Michael Wyke/The Associated Press
Despite being thousands of miles away from his loved ones, last Sunday’s selection to the Canadian men’s World Cup squad was still very much a family affair for Richie Laryea.
While the fullback was in camp in Qatar when the final 26-man roster was announced, his father was outside Toronto’s BMO Field, underneath a billboard announcing his son’s selection, for a TSN interview.
Meanwhile his wife Melanie and son were busy filming a TikTok reaction video to commemorate the moment, with three-year-old Elijah – wearing an Alphonso Davies jersey – screaming “Daddddeeeee” as TSN host Lindsay Hamilton announced his father’s name.
As someone who grew up watching the World Cup with his Ghanaian-born parents – most memorably the 2010 edition when the Black Stars were arguably just a Luis Suarez handball from making the semi-finals – it seemed a perfect circle-of-life moment.
“I definitely remember watching them with my dad just because it’s the World Cup, we’re a football family and he’s a football fanatic,” Laryea says.
Having grown up as a fan of Barcelona, and in particular of midfielder Andres Iniesta – who scored the winner for Spain in the 2010 World Cup final – now it’s the 27-year-old’s turn to take centre stage.
His selection to Canada’s first men’s World Cup squad in 36 years is very much the icing on the cake to cap a very turbulent 2022. After finally getting a move to Europe after three successful years with Toronto FC, Laryea made just five appearances for Nottingham Forest in the Championship, the second tier of the English soccer pyramid, one rung below the Premier League.
He was very much a regular for John Herdman’s national team, however, starting 11 of the 14 final-round World Cup qualification matches as Canada finished in first place in the CONCACAF region.
And even though he contributed just 117 minutes of playing time to the cause, Nottingham Forest achieved promotion back to the Premier League for the first time this century, edging Huddersfield Town in the playoff final at London’s famed Wembley Stadium last May.
As a player who grew up in a Toronto household with a Liverpool FC-supporting mother and a father and brother who both root for Arsenal, the chance to play a role, however small, in the success of a storied English soccer team was something to savour for Laryea, even though he was in street clothes on the day.
“For me to be a Canadian, a kid from over here to be at Wembley, with a team like Nottingham Forest that’s so rich in history in England and to able to be there when my team achieves promotion to the Premier League, it’s a big deal,” Laryea says. “It was a good moment and my wife and son were there as well, so it was a perfect moment, apart from me not being able to play.”
Nottingham Forest, of course, is famous in European soccer lore for its back-to-back European Cup wins in 1979 and 1980 under legendary manager Brian Clough, who was the inspiration for the hit book/movie The Damned United. Coincidentally enough, Laryea said he watched the movie at college, where he roomed with three Englishmen.
“It’s pretty funny how it came full circle,” he says, looking back.
With Forest looking to bolster its chances of staying in the Premier League, it signed more than 20 new players last summer. With playing time already limited, Laryea and his agent negotiated a loan move back to Toronto, where he was able to get 10 regular-season games under his belt in a playoff-less year for the team.
“I don’t regret anything. It was a great experience in Nottingham,” he says. “Obviously I’m only [at TFC] on loan so we’ll see where that goes.”
But that’s a situation that can wait until Canada’s involvement with this World Cup ends, whenever that is. Next up is Belgium, on Wednesday, a subject that is the sole focus of Laryea’s attention right now.
“It’s been such a crazy year for me and my family that we we’ve told each other that we’ll just focus on what’s ahead of us right now and what’s ahead of us right now is the national team.”