Key events<\/p>\n
3 min A loose pass from Bombito allows Appollis to attack space in behind Johnston, but a poor touch quickly aborts the attack.<\/p>\n
Share<\/a><\/p>\n 2 min David feeds into Millar, in midfield, who goes wide to Laryea, and when Maseko challenges, Canada<\/a> go backwards, Mudau conceding a throw deep inside his own half. But it comes to nothing, the ball soon going behind for a goalkick.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 1 min Gosh, our camera angle is vertiginous to say the least; it\u2019s like White Hart Lane never left.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n 1 min Our knockout stages are away!<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n You can see the tension etched into the players\u2019 faces. They\u2019ve never experienced anything like this before; how will they handle the pressure?<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Anthem time\u2026<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Our teams are ready \u2026 and here they come! Our knockout stages are almost ready to begin, and if they\u2019re of similar drama to the groups, we\u2019re in for a treat; hell, we\u2019re in for a treat regardless. Football, my friends, is unstoppable, undeniable and undefeated.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n It\u2019s a big night for Jonathan David, a player lots of big clubs looked at adn passed on before he joined Juve. Can he push himself into the elite? A big performance here would be a statement.<\/p>\n jonathan david<\/a>Share<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cTalking of Celine Dion,\u201d says Peter Walker, \u201cdid you know she had come out in support of farmers by removing all the consonants from her name?\u201d<\/p>\n Badabing!<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Tangentially, as I\u2019ve done every time I\u2019ve covered SA, I\u2019m posting a playlist of favourite South African tunes. I\u2019d be shocked if you didn\u2019t find it some of the most thrilling music imaginable \u2013 though it fully comes to life in the club, not the headphones.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a014.45 EDT<\/p>\n \u201cQuick note to say that sorry, yes, Celine Dion is an icon here in Canada<\/a>,\u201d writes Scott Maynard in Yukon, Canada, \u201cespecially in Quebec and other French-speaking parts of the country. You may not agree with it, but that doesn\u2019t make it not the case! Suggested reading, \u2018Lets talk about love\u2019 by Carl Wilson, which is part of the 33 1\/3 series of books on music, and explores the nature of taste in the context of, you guessed it, Celine Dion \u2013 as in I hate this music, millions of people love it, what am I missing type thing.\u201d<\/p>\n Ha, I pitched write one of those on Goldie\u2019s Timeless, one of my all-time favourite albums, but someone else had got there before me. Otherwise, no need to apologise, I\u2019m not at all opposed to the principle, just eager to understand the reasons why.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n My TV feed has just shown a selection of the best goals so far. I think Promise David\u2019s for Canada against Switzerland<\/a> might be my aesthetic favourite \u2013 but there are loads I\u2019d pick above it once factoring in importance.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Canada, meanwhile, will look to dominate in wide areas, their full-backs supporting the wide midfielders and helping serve the front two. Marking two strikers a man each \u2013 is a lot harder for centre-backs than sharing one between them, and I expect that to be the difference in this match.<\/p>\n Canada\u2019s Jonathan David warms up at Los Angeles Stadium. Photograph: Jared C Tilton\/FIFA\/Getty ImagesShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a014.39 EDT<\/p>\n Anyway, back to our game, where is it? I assume South Africa will sit deep, the two in front of the defence not moving much, especially at the start. But the full-backs will get forward, especially Mudau on the right, with Mofokeng prompting around the fringes of the box and, as the game develops, Mokoena and Sithole will look to move forward, hoping their 4-3-3 wins the midfield numbers-game against Canada\u2019s 4-4-2.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n In Tuchel\u2019s defence, I think he\u2019s picked a squad he thinks is best-placed to beat the best teams \u2013 by running and powering them off the pitch \u2013 but even within that, you need options and variety. Otherwise, teams know exactly how to prepare for you and you\u2019re essentially saying if things go badly \u2013 they suss how to handle the formation, say \u2013 the problem is still the players, who are replaced like for like.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n On UK TV, they\u2019ve been talking about England, noting that DR Congo play a low block. A bit of a problem if your manager has picked a team full of big-space players and seems strangely reticent to use his only real small-space expert. I\u2019m not surprised Thomas Tuchel isn\u2019t into Kobbie Mainoo \u2013 he\u2019s picked a squad big on physicality and low on craft \u2013 but why take him if you\u2019d rather play Jordan Henderson?<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Share<\/a><\/p>\n A Canada-related question for you: yesterday, my wife and I were discussing Celine Dion and whether she\u2019s an icon; my wife reckoned yes, I leaned no. So went to the OED, which says: \u201ca person or thing regarded as a representative symbol or worthy of veneration.\u201d I guess I need the first arm as well as the first, or we\u2019re letting too many into the category, and I\u2019m not sure she satisfies it; I demand transcendence!<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Oh man, my eyeballs are sweating and we\u2019re 45 minutes away from watching the teams come out. Can Stokes play football?<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Oh my goodness. Nothing to do with football, but everything to do with humanity: Ben Stokes, what a man. If you\u2019re near a telly with Sky, get it on \u2013 it\u2019s montage time.<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n This is fun:<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cA difficult match to call, right?\u201d begins Krishnamoorthy V. \u201cBoth are likely to be cautious and hence a 0-0 and extra time looks certain. I only hope this does not go to penalties – I dislike the penalty shootout. It is akin to a coin toss in a way. Let there be positive engaging quality match.\u201d<\/p>\n I fancy Canada<\/a>, who I think have the greater zest and the better better players, especially as we saw SA freeze against Mexico; I expect them tp attack the situation. But I disagree penalties is a coin toss \u2013 it\u2019s a test of technique under awful, wonderful pressure.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Share<\/a><\/p>\n Jesse Marsch makes four changes to the side that lost to Switzerland. At centre-back, Mo\u00efse Bombito replaces Luc De Fougerolles; in midfield, Stephen Eustaquio is in for Mathieu Choini\u00e8re; on the left, it\u2019s Tani Oluwaseyi not Ali Ahmed; and up front, Liam Millar is preferred to Cyle Larin.<\/p>\n Share<\/a>Share<\/a><\/p>\n One change for SA, Teboho Mokoena \u2013 for my money, their best player in the first two games, an admittedly subterranean bar \u2013 returning from suspension, so Thalente Mbatha drops back to the bench.<\/p>\n South Africa players enter the stadium for the warm up. Photograph: Kirby Lee\/ReutersShare<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a014.37 EDT<\/p>\n Teams!<\/p>\n South Africa (4-2-3-1): Williams; Mudau, Mbokazi, Okon, Modiba Mokeana, Sithole; Maseko, Mofokeng, Appollis; Makgopa. Subs: Adams, Chaine, Cross, Foster, Goss, Kabini, Makhanya, Matuludi, Mbartha, Moremi, Ndamene, Rayners, Sebelebe, Sibisi.<\/p>\n Canada (4-4-2): Crepeau; Johnston, Cornelius, Bombito, Laryea; Buchanan, Saliba, Eustaquio, Millar; David, Oluwaseyi. Subs: Ahmed, Choiniere, David, Davies, De Fougerolles, Goodman, Jones, Larin, Nelson, Osorio, Shaffelburg, Sigur, St. Clair, Waterman.<\/p>\n Referee: Jo\u00e3o Pedro Silva Pinheiro (Portugal)<\/p>\n Share<\/a><\/p>\n Updated at\u00a014.30 EDT<\/p>\n Preamble<\/p>\n Being a footballer is the greatest thing in the world, right? We all spend our lives doing something, and how wonderful it must be for that something to be something we love, surfing extremes of emotion with teammates who become family.<\/p>\n But there\u2019s a debt to pleasure, paid by players and those close to them, with childhoods sacrificed, relationships compromised and time disappeared; the game consumes everything, its indigestion somehow passed on to those being eaten. Nights like tonight, though, are what make it all worthwhile, two countries contesting a World Cup<\/a> knockout for the first time and a moment none who are part of it would have dared dream possible.<\/p>\n There\u2019s a Yiddish word, naches, that roughly translates as deep pride and joy in the achievements of people to whom you\u2019re close; it\u2019s one of the greatest feelings known to humankind, and sometimes, in extreme cases, those of us with no connection to its protagonists, are lucky enough to experience the love. When the teams walk out tonight, we will know it.<\/p>\n Both of them are fortunate to be involved. South Africa were unfathomably dreadful in the opening game and scarcely better in their second, then somehow found enough in their third to snaffle a win, while Canada<\/a> were also disappointing , a draw with Bosnia & Herzegovina and a defeat against Switzerland bookending a convincing win over a miserable Qatar. That is one way of looking at things.<\/p>\n Another, though, is to say that Bafana Bafana come into this game on a buzz, feeling great about themselves and ready to attack a chance they can\u2019t have expected. Canada, meantime, fired by hosting vibes, have been handed a winnable tie, knowing they\u2019ve enough going forward to exploit it. And for both, this is the opportunity of several lifetimes, the question how, fully cognisant of all it\u2019s taken for them to reach this point, they find, then balance, the composure and devil it\u2019ll take to do it and themselves justice; to launch those already soaring into another dimension.<\/p>\n Chances are, this isn\u2019t the best or most meaningful match we enjoy this week, but goodness me, not many will be as special.<\/p>\n Kick-off: 3pm EDT, 8pm BST, 5am (Monday) AEST<\/p>\n