Canada’s first training session on Monday as part of its camp in Bahrain ahead of the Soccer World Cup was clouded by the news that goalkeeper Maxime Crépeau had returned to the United States, following an intervention surgery to repair a broken leg.
Crépeau was injured while playing for Los Angeles FC in the MLS Cup final on Saturday. The injury occurred during stoppage time, when the 28-year-old Quebecer ventured out of his penalty area before colliding head-on with Philadelphia Union forward Cory Burke .
The Candiacois, who left the playing surface on a cart, received a red card on the game for having interfered with a scoring opportunity. Backup keeper John McCarthy took over and secured the LAFC penalty shootout victory. He was also named the game’s most valuable player.
“I think we’re all stunned by this turn of events,” admitted Canada’s head coach John Herdman on Monday. We lost the services of (defender) Scott Kennedy earlier in the week and now it’s Max’s turn – it happened so late in the game, when he had to sacrifice his body. It was so sad to see.
“I think we were all shaken. The injury looked very ugly on TV. It was hard to swallow, not only for our staff, but for the group of players here. We were really concerned about the severity of his injury,” he added.
The LAFC said on Sunday that the operation performed on Crépeau’s right leg was a success.
Crépeau, who has won 15 career decisions for the country, was expected to act as backup goaltender behind Milan Borjan in Qatar, possibly alongside Minnesota United’s Dayne St. Clair.
Crépeau was to accompany St. Clair and CF Montreal goaltender James Pantemis for camp in Bahrain.
For his part, Kennedy was ruled out of the World Cup last week following a shoulder injury suffered during a game for his German club, SSV Jahn Regensburg.
The news was more encouraging on Sunday for Alphonso Davies, who left Bayern Munich’s Saturday encounter with Hertha Berlin clutching the back of his right leg. The Bavarian club then mentioned that Davies’ hamstring injury would prevent him from playing in their last two games before the international break, but it would not deprive him of a World Cup appearance.
“It was concerning for a few hours, that’s for sure,” Herdman summed up.
The Canadians, who are ranked 41st in the world, begin their World Cup journey in Qatar on Nov. 23 against No. 2 Belgium.
The camp currently taking place in Bahrain is reserved for players whose season is currently over. All but midfielder Liam Fraser (KMSK Deinze, Belgium) come from MLS. European clubs will play matches until November 14, the deadline set by FIFA for clubs to release their players for the World Cup.
Canada will face No. 85 Bahrain on Thursday in Manama. Then, when all the players are together, they will play a final preparatory match against Japan (no 24) on November 17 in Dubai.