Jonathan Osorio of Toronto FC is one of the most veteran players in the Canadian men’s national team, having recorded over 60 appearances since they won the Concacaf Octagonal and qualified for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
After realizing on Friday that Les Rouges would be placed in Group F alongside Belgium, Croatia, and Morocco, Osorio will be able to accomplish a “dream.”
Their European opponents rely on two of the world’s best midfielders, with Belgium’s Kevin De Bruyne topping the list for Manchester City, and Croatia’s Luka Modric leading the way for Real Madrid.
According to Osorio while commenting on his dream of playing against Modric and De Bruyne, the 29year old said “Two midfielders that I admire, the two midfielders I admire the most in fact in the whole world,year-old.
He continued by asserting “I was a fan of Real Madrid growing up as a kid and so to play against Luka Modric is a dream. To play against so many good midfielders on each team and even in Morocco, is what you dream of as a player, as a person. As a footballer, you want to play against the best.”
But don’t anticipate Jonathan Osorio and his colleagues to be frightened as they return to the World Cup for the first time since 1986, ending a 36-year exile from the sport’s greatest event.
Their whole qualification campaign began in March 2021 and lasted over two dozen matches, commencing with first-round tests against Aruba and Bermuda and ending with eight of 12 points (home victories, road draws) against regional powerhouses Mexico and the United States.
“Now, looking forward, it just gives us belief that we can achieve whatever we set our minds to,” Osorio said. “Going into this World Cup, I know people from the outside see our group and don’t give us the best of chances. But with us within, within the team and the group, we know we can accomplish anything we set our minds to”
Osorio, who just hit his 50th goal for TFC in all competitions, joined the Reds as a homegrown player in 2013. As the Bob Bradley era gets underway, he’ll probably achieve 250 public appearances during the 2022 campaign.
All of this has led to a World Cup possibility, with group-stage games taking place from Nov. 23 to Dec. 1, with Morocco defender Achraf Hakimi (Paris Saint-Germain) another star on the radar.
