Canada's World Cup Supporters Electrify Major Marches
The Voyageurs, Canada's national soccer supporters group, have mobilized thousands of fans across Toronto and Vancouver, with plans for a massive march Wednesday ahead of Canada's knockout match.
The day's top stories, food & events — every morning at 7. Unsubscribe anytime.
When Rob Notenboom first got involved with Canadian soccer supporters group the Voyageurs around 2005, he had no idea what it would grow into. Now the president of the organization, he says fans have embraced the men's national team during the World Cup in a way that's exceeded his "wildest expectations."
"Interest has never been higher. We can kind of barely keep up with it," he said Monday. Thousands of fans have joined Voyageurs-led marches through Toronto and Vancouver. On June 25, they'll march again to BC Place for Canada's match against Switzerland.
Notenboom said the Voyageurs will be honouring Canadian midfielder Ismaël Koné, who suffered a broken leg in last week's match against Qatar. They'll print out 3,000 copies of Koné's number 8 to display during the match and are working on a banner to hold up during the game in his honour. "The goal is to show players that supporters have their backs 100 per cent," he said. "Koné is the one that got injured, and yes, we want to make sure that he individually understands that we all recognize his sacrifice and what he's put into all this, but it translates out to the players as well."
Notenboom helped lead the march in Vancouver last Thursday and said he didn't realize how big the crowd was until he saw videos the next day. "It was just massive," he said. "It was really something. We're quite proud of that actually." The group had been planning its events in Toronto and Vancouver since around December, liaising with police and city and FIFA officials, but Notenboom said he did not anticipate the swell of support that came when the tournament kicked off.
Thousands of fans joined Thursday's march down the "last mile" to BC Place, dressed in red, chanting, drumming, waving flags and smoke canisters. Voyageurs organizers have been leading the crowds in cries of "allez les Rouges" and call-and-response chants. Notenboom said Wednesday's march, which assembles at 9:30 a.m. and departs at 10 a.m. from around Quebec and Central streets, "will still be huge." "There'll be tons of energy and the stadium itself will once again be this incredible sea of red," he said. Wednesday's kickoff is at noon. If Canada wins or draws, they will be playing their round-of-32 knockout match on home turf in Vancouver.
