Canada has a new hero and his name is Stephen Eustaquio.
After breaking the stalemate between South Africa with a 92nd minute goal to send Canada to the Round of 16, Eustaquio fought back emotions in his post-match interview as he spoke about his recent journey.
“Everything I do is for my family, for my parents, for my girlfriend, for my daughter, for my brother, for my friends back home, for all of them,” he said, with his head in his hands.
“Canada says thank you, Stephen,” the interview added.
The 29-year-old, who was named man of the match on Monday morning AEST, tragically lost both his parents recently.
His mother first passed away following a battle with brain cancer in 2023, before his father suffered a heart attack in 2024.
“We worked a lot to get this victory. We really want to give this win to all the Canadians,” Eustaquio said further.
“We kept believing and kept pushing. We couldn’t image it any other way.
“It was an amazing goal but when I shot, I felt everybody shot with me. Everybody put a little bit of power on it and it went into the back of the net.
“When it comes to a knockout at the World Cup, the belief brings a big part to it.
“Now we’re going to get Morocco or the Netherlands and who knows on a good day, we can make things happen.
“If we keep believing and keep working, things might go our now.”