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Halford & Brough in the Morning

So. Many. Draws.

16 Jun 2026

Transcription

Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.

Chapter 1: What are the highlights of the World Cup matches so far?

18.678 - 25.977 Sam Dykstra

Are we, is this an award show or something? What's going on? What's happening here?

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26.158 - 31.692 Jason Brough

And now accepting the award is the son of the guy who played Huggy Bear. It's a big deal, 8 o'clock.

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32.583 - 49.284 Mike Halford

You are listening to the Halford and Brough Awards here on Sportsnet 650. Halford and Brough in the morning is brought to you by Sands & Associates. Are you drowning in tax debt? If you are, Sands & Associates can opt to reduce your debt by up to 80% with no upfront fees. Visit them today at sands-trustee.com.

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49.304 - 50.786 Jason Brough

You guys should do an award show.

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50.806 - 53.289 Mike Halford

I'm thinking about it. That'd be good. Based solely on the awards.

53.389 - 54.711 Grant Harvey

We've got the music.

Chapter 2: How did David Edgar feel about Canada's participation in the World Cup?

54.951 - 57.414 Mike Halford

Yeah. Now we need our awards and a show.

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58.135 - 59.637 Grant Harvey

Well, music is half the battle.

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60.055 - 74.667 Mike Halford

David Edgar, former Canadian international, is going to join us in just a moment here. He's calling games for BBC now. Going to talk a little more Canadian soccer. We'll do that in just one sec. Reminder, we are in hour three of the program, and this hour of the show is brought to you by the BC Construction Safety Alliance.

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75.128 - 82.774 Mike Halford

Making safety simpler by giving construction companies the best in tools, resources, and safety training. Visit them online at bccsa.ca.

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83.915 - 89.86 Sam Dykstra

We're coming to you live from the Kintec studios. Step strong with orthotics and footwear from Kintec.

89.941 - 108.165 Mike Halford

As mentioned, our next guest capped nearly 50 times for the Canadian men's national team throughout a decorated playing career, which includes stops Newcastle and Burnley. Now he's calling games for BBC and he joins us now on the Halford and Brough show on Sportsnet 650. It's David Edgar on the Able Auctions hotline.

Chapter 3: What was the emotional impact of the opening match for David Edgar?

108.185 - 109.587 Mike Halford

Good morning, David. How are you?

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109.853 - 112.215 David Edgar

Morning, guys. Thanks for having me on. I appreciate it.

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112.456 - 134.577 Mike Halford

Hey, thanks for coming on. We appreciate you taking the time. Before we get into the finer details of the opening match, I got to ask you, as a guy that represented his country 42 times and got to wear the captain's armband at the Gold Cup, and you're a proud Canadian international, what was it like being in Toronto for that match, now working on the media side of things?

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134.617 - 139.742 Mike Halford

But I imagine it must have been somewhat emotional for you watching Canada host and participate in a World Cup.

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140.6 - 155.487 David Edgar

Oh man, it was surreal. Yeah, it really was. I, yeah, you say being on the media side, I was there a couple hours before. So as a player, you're, you're kind of hotel bus straight into the change room and you don't get to really soak up much of the atmosphere, but.

156.547 - 167.726 David Edgar

I was there a couple hours before, soaking it up as much as I could, looking at the stadium, seeing the fans, and then witnessing all of the red jerseys come in. We were kind of worried.

Chapter 4: How has Canadian soccer evolved over the years?

167.746 - 181.069 David Edgar

Obviously, you'd seen reports about how many Bosnians and stuff were going to be there, but seeing it come in with the red jerseys and then afterwards being able to walk with them to the train station, it was just an incredible experience from start to finish for myself.

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181.167 - 202.231 Sam Dykstra

Are you kind of like us in that you actually find it hard to believe that Canada is hosting a World Cup? These are World Cup games that we're seeing. It just seems like the program has come such a long way and soccer in the country has come such a long way, not only in terms of the team, but also the fan knowledge of the game as well.

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203.352 - 233.839 David Edgar

Yeah, 100%. Like you said, we were so nonchalant as a nation about hosting it as opposed to the other two countries. And then it just happened and it's bang and it's hit football fever crazy across the nation, I think. But yeah, it's, it's, it's, it's been, it's been really cool to watch that obviously seeing the fans, really becoming engaged in the players. I got an Uber with some fans.

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233.859 - 241.091 David Edgar

They've all got jerseys on. These are things I didn't get to see. You know what I mean? We're wearing a lot of Canadian jerseys, especially in Kitchener, which is just outside of Toronto.

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Chapter 5: What challenges did Canadian players face when representing their country?

241.612 - 250.527 David Edgar

You're not seeing a lot of Canada jerseys. Now they're everywhere. So it's just seeing where the programs come is all credit to the CSA and the group of boys.

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250.675 - 260.626 Mike Halford

So in order to understand where the program is right now, I think everyone needs to understand where it came from. And David, I'm sure you don't ask him about the Honduras.

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260.666 - 261.507 Sam Dykstra

Well, that's where we're going.

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261.647 - 282.271 Mike Halford

So I don't want to look for those that don't know. It was back in 2012 and the Canadian men's national team had a huge opportunity in World Cup qualifying out of CONCACAF to go to Honduras and potentially get a result and move on. And what was going to be seen as a big step forward for the program? It came to a crushing end in an 8-1 defeat, and you were there.

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282.351 - 296.211 Mike Halford

And again, I don't really want to harken back to these dark times, but I'm sure you've had enough time to compartmentalize it or at least figure it out. What do you remember about that loss, where the program was, and where you felt about Canada soccer at that time?

297.533 - 307.227 David Edgar

Yeah, the trauma's healed from that. I stopped hearing the vuvuzelas in my nightmares. But yeah, honestly, it was...

Chapter 6: What insights can David Edgar provide about the current Canadian national team?

307.679 - 323.186 David Edgar

it was a bit of a struggle back then. Obviously the programs come on leaps and bounds in terms of where the players are at and in terms of the clubs they're at globally, what the resources the players have. And that's just where we were at as a nation at that time.

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323.226 - 340.93 David Edgar

And had we have made that jump against Honduras, I think we would have, we would have kicked on especially cause we did have the players. We were missing a few in that, in that qualifying, but Yeah, it was extremely frustrating and a disappointing time. But you've got to go through dark times to come out. And we do it.

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340.95 - 357.396 David Edgar

It's not about individuals who were there at the time, like myself and players I played along. It's about where we're at now and how far we've come. Because you know what? Hopefully, there was players probably young. Well, I don't know. Some of those kids on that team now were probably looking at us

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357.73 - 362.716 David Edgar

And probably a little bit embarrassed at that result like we were and the rest of the nation was, right?

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Chapter 7: What tactical changes might be necessary for the upcoming matches?

362.776 - 380.295 David Edgar

And wanting to change that in the future. So it all plays a part. But yeah, we went through some difficult times. But every time I got to play for my country, it was just an absolute honor, whether it was obviously you want to win, but those games, you learn a lot about yourself as well.

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380.444 - 397.31 Mike Halford

I want to dive into that a little bit more, too, because you were capped 42 times by Canada. This is also while you're playing at Newcastle and Burnley. So there's always that tug of war between club and country. And I imagine it was made a little bit more complex back in the day because, you know, when you're representing Canada, there's a lot of travel involved.

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397.33 - 414.991 Mike Halford

There's a lot of flights and there's a lot of games, you know, playing. St. Vincent and the Grenadines or Haiti and some of the lower lights in CONCACAF and you're leaving, you know, clubs like Newcastle to do it. Can you just describe that struggle for us? Cause it's something that players are still going on through now that all that tug of war between club and country.

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415.832 - 416.693 David Edgar

Yeah. Yeah.

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Chapter 8: What lessons can be learned from this World Cup experience?

416.833 - 437.874 David Edgar

And it's, it's a little bit less now because of where Canada is in the rankings. But at that time it was laughable to, to some of the P the coaches and stuff in England that I was going to play for Canada. And it's, it's, painful to say but there would be times where I'd come back and I'd always answer the call and we'd go wherever and like you say I'd probably have to go to St.

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437.894 - 456.705 David Edgar

Lucia for a qualifier and you're back on a Thursday I might have started the game before I left but you're back on a Thursday you've got Friday to recover and they're not going to play you on the Saturday and before you know it in professional football you're out the team so that then has a knock-on effect in your international career so it

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457.597 - 472.686 David Edgar

We were at a time where we needed all of our players playing and playing at top clubs. And it was difficult. It was a difficult spell to grind it out. But, you know, along with many other guys, I'm not the only one. We always answered the call to come and play.

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473.392 - 492.821 Mike Halford

We're speaking to David Edgar, former Canadian international, now working for the BBC here on the Halford & Brough Show on Sportsnet 650. Okay, let's turn our attention to the ongoing World Cup. We kind of classified the 1-1 draw with Bosnia as fine. I think I had a large sigh before I said it, but I'm like, it's fine. It doesn't doom them in the group.

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492.841 - 499.692 Mike Halford

You would have loved to have seen three points out of it, but it was fine. Is that a fair assessment of what you saw and the result in the opening match, David?

500.473 - 519.519 David Edgar

Yeah, 100%. I think... You get away with probably just a lackluster performance in the first half. Then the subs are made in the second half. You come out a little bit sharper in the second half. but then that hydration breaking the subs and you're a different team and you, Canada is much more on the front foot. We've got some chances cleared off the line.

520.12 - 540.709 David Edgar

Those go in on a different day and you're clear in that game. So, um, I was happy with what I saw, especially in the, in sort of the subs coming on and making an impact. It shows the depth we have as a group, which is massive and something we didn't have in the past. So the people are coming on, waiting to come on and make an impact. Um, but yeah, fine. It's still history. Um,

542.039 - 563.263 David Edgar

It's disappointing because I would have liked to have seen what that place would have been like had we got three points or had we got a late winner. Because it was a spectacle seeing all those fans there in red. But like you say, it was important not to lose that game. And then obviously Qatar gets a good result against Switzerland. So it's all square now.

564.244 - 570.291 Mike Halford

Let's pretend you're the manager here. You're Jesse Marsh going into this second match. What alterations are you making to your starting XI?

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