Team Canada’s World Cup hero, Stephen Eustaquio, was overcome with emotion on Sunday, June 28, after his stoppage time goal sent Canada to the Round of 16 with a 1-0 win over South Africa.
A TSN reporter caught up with Eustanquio, 29, moments after his goal to ask how he was remembering his family, including his late parents, in the moment.
“Everything I do is for my family, for my parents, for my girlfriend, for my daughter, for my brother, for my friends back home,” he responded through tears. “For all of them.”
Eustanquio lost his mother to brain cancer in 2023, then his father a year later.
The soccer star opened up about his parents’ influence on him in a 2024 story for The Athletic, published three months after his father’s passing. He looked back at the day his mom, Esmeralda, died, hours before he took the pitch for a match, not knowing what had happened. Stephen played the match as TV reports began to spread that Esmeralda died, before he found out when he was subbed out in the second half.
A year later, his father, Armando, felt a “pinch” near his shoulder. Doctors assured him his heart was fine, only for him to suffer a fatal heart attack three weeks later. Just days before his death, Armando was able to meet his granddaughter, Benedita, whom Stephen welcomed with girlfriend Constança Damião in April 2024.
The tragedies, combined with the joy of welcoming his daughter, forced Stephen to re-examine how he approaches his career on the pitch.
“Now that I’m responsible for a family, my responsibility is to give them conditions for the future,” he told The Athletic. “Right now, every training session I have, in every game I have, I might not be crazy about it but, at the same time, I understand that this is a big opportunity to go to another step where I can help my family, right?”
After the win over South Africa on Sunday, Canada coach Jesse Marsch praised Stephen, recognizing his star’s late parents.
“I couldn’t think of a more deserving human being for that moment,” he told reporters. “I’m really happy for him and I think from somewhere his parents are looking down and they saw that.”
Amid the celebration, Marsch, 52, also gathered his team on the field and told them, “you guys are Canadian heroes today.”
“Canadian heroes for the future children of this country who play this sport,” he declared. “The sport has a big future because of you guys. You should be so proud of who you are. You should be so proud of this game. You never lost belief. You went after it, point after point, moment after moment.”
Stephen seemingly agreed, crediting the team for the win, rather than his stoppage time heroics.
“We worked for it,” he told reporters. “We have a special group. We feel like we are brothers. When we fight for each other, when we play for each other, special things like this can happen. I am over the moon, but at the same time I don’t want to say that the job is finished.”
