Leamington-born midfielder draws coach’s praise on world stage

Stephen Eustaquio — Canada’s number 7 — has been mentioned numerous times during telecasts of Canada’s World Cup soccer games and even took praise from coach John Herdman, who said he’d not met anyone with such attention to detail.

Eustaquio’s journey to the World Cup stage is an unlikely one, but he’s making the best of his time in Qatar, earning the attention of soccer fans around the world.

Born in Leamington, he grew up in the Plumbrook area and attended St. Louis School early on, before his family pulled up their roots and moved to Portugal when he was seven.

But he’s never forgotten his roots here and had a choice to play for Canada or Portugal when the time came to make that decision. He chose Canada.

Local fans will have a final look at Eustaquio and his teammates on Thursday, December 1, when Canada plays their final round-robin game against Morocco at 10 am Eastern.

Canada lost 1-0 to Belgium and 4-1 to Croatia to effectively end any chance of advancing.

STEPHEN EUSTAQUIO