Canada's Cyle Larin finds relaxation — and a competitive comparison — at the horse-racing track he grew up at

Three mornings before the greatest substitution in Canadian men’s soccer history was made, Robert Boreland said goodbye to his son, who left dad’s workplace for his own. As Boreland watched his now 31-year-old boy walk toward his car, he turned to a visitor and had quite a prediction. 

“This game is where he really shines, you know? These big games. They never gave him a chance to shine, you know?” Boreland paused for a moment, then with a sly grin offered: “Big game coming up, that’s when he’s at his best.”

“He” is Cyle Christopher Larin, who on Friday afternoon had to wait until the 76th minute before finally getting that opportunity his father craved for him, and on cue two minutes later vaulted himself into the annals of Canadian sports history. It took a while for Larin to get that chance to shine, but was he ever at his best when his best was required.

From there, you’ve probably read Larin’s post-match quotes: 

'I always prove them wrong': Canadian World Cup hero Cyle Larin defiant in face of constant criticism

Years of turmoil and the pressure cooker of sport all came out in that historic moment, and sitting in Toronto Stadium, shaking his head with a bemused smile was Boreland, who, of course, had an inkling it was coming. 

Robert and Cyle spent part of the previous Tuesday morning together at the stables at Woodbine Racetrack in northwest Toronto, where Boreland has worked since moving from Jamaica in 1982. Whenever Larin is home — and it isn’t much these days, what with a career that has kept him overseas for most of his adulthood — he is back at the track. The morning after shutting everyone up, Larin was back at Woodbine on Saturday before boarding Team Canada’s charter flight to Vancouver, where they’ll