By Our Special Correspondent at Toronto Stadium
CO-HOSTS Canada skated out of the jaws of disaster last night as super-sub Cyle Larin completely transformed a World Cup nightmare into a historic, beer-swilling party.
The hotshot forward was on the pitch for a mere 121 seconds before flashing an absolute rocket into the net to cancel out Jovo Lukic’s first-half header and secure Canada’s first-ever senior men’s World Cup finals point.
In front of a raucous, red-and-white sea of fans in Toronto, it looked like the same old story for the Canucks, who went into the tournament having lost all six of their previous games across the 1986 and 2022 editions.
When ex-Arsenal man Sead Kolasinac rose highest to flick on a 21st-minute corner, Lukic was waiting like a thief in the night to glance the ball past Maxime Crepeau and stun the host nation.
Without the lightning-fast Alphonso Davies starting from the whistle, Canada looked trapped in the headlights. Record-scorer Jonathan David had the crowd on their feet but shot straight at Bosnian keeper Nikola Vasilj, before Tani Oluwaseyi blazed an absolute sitter into orbit before the break.
When the teams re-emerged, Richie Laryea thought he’d bought a ticket to the history books, nutmegging Vasilj only to see the ageless Kolasinac make an unbelievable, desperate stop on the goal line to tip it onto the crossbar.
Minutes later, it was Bosnia who could have killed the tie entirely. Ermedin Demirovic ghosted clean through the back four, but Crepeau stood tall, executing a massive world-class smother to keep Canada breathing.
Sensing the game was slipping away, manager Jesse Marsch threw the dice in the 75th minute, hauling off Oluwaseyi for Mallorca hitman Larin.
It was a tactical masterstroke of pure genius.
Practically on his first touch, Larin spun his defender in a phone booth, created half a yard of space, and absolutely rifled a shot past a helpless Vasilj to set off an absolute eruption in the stands.
The Bosnians put up a wall of steel at the death, throwing bodies on the line as Tarik Muharemovic blocked another Larin goal-bound effort in a chaotic, pinball finale.
But when the referee blew the whistle, history belonged to the Maple Leafs. They finally have a point on the board, and it’s all thanks to the coolest substitute in town.