Rebecca MacFarlane, an ex-pat from the Toronto area, and her partner, Adam O’Reilly, who is from Ireland, attend the Canada-Ireland game in Perth, on July 26.Supplied
When his daughter scored on a penalty kick in 2021 at the Olympics in Tokyo, John Fleming was unable to be there because of COVID-related restrictions. He watched from his home in London, Ont., as Jessie found the right corner of the net in the 74th minute against the United States.
It was the lone goal in the semi-final match, which propelled Canada’s national women’s soccer team to a 1-0 victory and a berth against Sweden in the final, where Canada secured its first gold medal.
“It was disappointing not to be there,” Fleming said Friday morning from New Zealand. “You always want to support your kid and the team in person.”
Fleming and his wife, Michelle, and Jessie’s younger sister Elysse travelled to Australia this month to watch Jessie and her teammates compete at the Women’s World Cup. Along with them is Elysse’s boyfriend, Logan Hwang, whom she met at the University of British Columbia. Both run track for the UBC Thunderbirds.
Fans of the Canadian team have gone to extraordinary lengths to show their support in Australia.
A number of other Canadian players’ families and fans have made the long journey to get Down Under. It is a schmozzle to reach there. From Toronto, the trip includes a flight to Vancouver, a flight to Sydney and then another to Melbourne, where Canada has already played and will play again. In between, there was also a match in Perth, which is on the other side of the country.
Including layovers it takes 26 hours to get from Toronto to Melbourne, plus a 14-hour time difference, which means you arrive two calendar days later. The distance is more than 16,000 kilometres. The time-zone difference and distance vary from other cities in Canada, but it is always an extremely long haul.
“It is a whirlwind,” said Hwang, who departed from Vancouver with Elysse. “After we landed in Melbourne we took a 30-minute nap that lasted about seven hours.”
The Flemings attended the 0-0 tie with Nigeria in Melbourne on July 20, and then flew four-plus hours to Perth for Wednesday’s 2-1 triumph over Ireland. From there, the group took a side trip to Auckland – another 6 1/2 hours by air – and will return in time for Monday’s critical game in Melbourne against the Aussies. The winner will advance to the knockout round.
The Canadians fell behind early against Ireland when Katie McCabe curled in a remarkable corner kick that beat goalie Kailen Sheridan.
“You could see panic in the small group of Canadian fans,” Hwang said. Canada rallied in the second half and won on a goal by Adriana Leon.
Canadian supporters were far outnumbered by Irish fans in the crowd of 17,065 at Perth’s Rectangular Stadium.
“We were outnumbered by 95 per cent,” John Fleming said. “I was absolutely stunned. We walked around town early in the day and there were lots of Irish fans everywhere. I can barely talk now because I had to scream so loud.”
Larry Zima, from Edmonton, went to 21 games at the men’s World Cup in Qatar last year. “Essentially the whole time I was going from stadium to stadium,” he said.
This year he is in Australia with his wife, Carla. He put airline tickets to Australia in an envelope and gave it to Carla as a surprise gift to celebrate her retirement.
Larry Zima and his wife, Carla, attend Canada’s opening game of the World Cup in Melbourne against Nigeria.Supplied
They flew from Edmonton to Vancouver, Vancouver to Sydney and Sydney to Melbourne. At the last minute this week, they decided to go to Perth for the match against Ireland.
Online he has posted pictures of himself with his face painted in a purple heart and then again in a red Canadian flag. In another they both wear fur hats. Carla has been a little more moderate, mostly wearing Canadian colours with a maple leaf painted on her cheek. And then there are the antlers she occasionally places atop her head.
“My wife took my antlers,” Larry said. “I am no longer a moose.”
They each have three different jerseys and they rotate through them every game.
Larry wore a Quinn jersey for the match against Nigeria, a Kadeisha Buchanan jersey when Canada played Ireland, and will sport a Julia Grosso shirt at Monday’s big game with Australia. Carla donned an Ashley Lawrence top in Game 1, then a Christine Sinclair jersey and has picked out a Jordyn Huitema shirt for the Canadians’ final outing in the group stage.
Two of Larry’s sons played college soccer, but his love for the sport dates to a FIFA Under-20 game in Edmonton in which Sinclair scored five times in a 6-2 win over England.
He is now a member of a group that calls itself the Voyageurs as they follow Canada’s national teams around the globe.
On Wednesday they sat through chilly, wet and windy weather in Perth to watch Canada’s comeback against Ireland. “We were drenched,” he said. “Every time we thought the rain was over, it started again.”
He says there is a connection between Australians and Canadians and expects a rollicking good time when the teams line up against one another.
“Australian people are phenomenal.” Zima said. “They’ll be loud but I am not expecting any hostility. There are a lot of families with young Matildas at the matches. It will be fun.”
The Zimas’ original plans called for them to return to Canada on Aug. 6. They are now having second thoughts. They likely won’t leave if Canada goes on a long run.
“We could extend it,” he said. “We already have come all of this way.”
Rebecca MacFarlane moved from Southern Ontario to Australia 3 1/2 years ago. She is like other ex-pats who went there with a work visa, fell in love with it, and decided to stay.
She lives in Brisbane, the capital of Queensland, and works as a content manager for a website that caters to international students.
A while back, she met an Irishman named Adam O’Reilly who had also moved to Brisbane. They are a couple now and were among the nearly 76,000 spectators at Australia’s opening match in Sydney against Ireland. They then travelled to Perth for the Canada-Ireland skirmish.
Carlos and Elisa Grosso, the parents of Canada’s player Julia Grosso, travelled from Vancouver to Sydney to Melbourne, then on to Perth for Wednesday’s game against Ireland.Canada Soccer/Supplied
“The journey has been interesting for a sports fan,” said MacFarlane, 27, whose partner is a huge soccer follower. “It is engrained in me every day.”
Adam went to an Irish pub for drinks with friends before the game. Rebecca met him there later.
“I walked in wearing my Canadian gear,” she said. “All these guys gave me dirty looks. I never felt such hostility in my life.”
She was outnumbered by those rooting for Ireland but weathered the storm.
“I was a lone soldier in a sea of green,” MacFarlane said. “There was a good few of us, a small but mighty presence. It was all very fun and good spirited.”
On their Uber ride back to where they were staying, she may have engaged in some trash talk. “One hundred per cent,” she said. “It wouldn’t be a World Cup if you didn’t a little bit. I have to say I felt validated after Canada won.”
There are many others, parents, fans and ex-pats, who were unable to travel halfway around the world.
Melsadie Tate, Buchanan’s mother, is at her home near Brampton. She is from Jamaica originally and had a document snafu that prevented her from going to Australia. She tunes in to every match, however. “I wake up every hour on the hour,” Tate said. “I am afraid I am going to oversleep.”
Nichelle Prince’s mom, Robin, planned to go but was unable. One of Nichelle’s sisters got married last summer, and the other is about to take her vows as well. That leaves Robin to watch on television from Ajax, Ont.
“The other morning I watched the first few minutes of the game against Ireland and then went into the kitchen to make breakfast,” Robin said Friday. “When I came back, Ireland had scored. My stomach was in my throat.”
Canada's Christine Sinclair celebrates with Canadian fans.Canada Soccer/Supplied
Robin sends Nichelle messages and chats with her every few days.
“When she is away at a tournament I typically don’t talk to her that much,” Robin said. “I just let her talk. That is my MO. She is usually way more stressed than me and I respect that.”
Two years ago in Tokyo, Julia Grosso scored the winning goal in Canada’s 2-1 gold-medal victory over Sweden.
Her mom and dad were back in British Columbia – COVID rules.
Grosso, then 20, converted a penalty kick to break a tie after two halves and two periods of extra time failed to determine a winner.
“It was tough,” Carlos Grosso, her father, said this week from Perth. “We would have loved to be there. We were just unable due to the circumstances.”
He remembers the camera panning on Julia. Then it was over. “It happened so fast that I had no time to think.”
It did not take long for Julia to call her folks on FaceTime.
“It was joyful,” Carlos said. “There were a lot of family and friends with us. It was pretty loud.”
Ashley Lawrence signs a fan’s jersey after Canada's 2-1 win over Ireland.Canada Soccer/Supplied
He is at the World Cup now with his wife, Elisa. On Wednesday they got to see Julia’s cross end up in the net in the first half against Ireland, though it was counted as an own goal. Adriana Leon scored the winner that kept Canada’s hopes alive.
When not at games, the Grossos have cuddled with koalas, met kangaroos and explored downtown Perth. There, they also went to Canada House and mingled with other parents and fans.
There is also a Canada House in Melbourne. They are collaborative efforts between Soccer Canada and CIBC and serve as a rallying point for the families, friends and fans of the women’s team. The venues are decorated a la Canadian and bloody caesars and poutine are served.
The Fleming party also paid a visit.
John Fleming thinks back to the moment two years ago when Jessie took the shot that beat the Americans. “When she lined up it terrified me,” Fleming said.
They were too nervous to invite to many people over to watch that game with them. But within a half an hour 50 people descended on their house in London.
“We were losing our minds as you could well imagine,” he said.
Jessie missed Canada’s first game at the World Cup with a back injury but returned to the lineup on Wednesday. This time mom and dad were there to see it.