Retired Brantford hairdresser’s love of the game goes back to his childhood in Italy

Toronto Star – In the spring of 1986, the last and only other time Canada qualified for the World Cup, Victor Faiella spent about six weeks perfecting a novelty hairdo to commemorate the historic moment.

With the help of his wife, Diane, the Brantford-based coiffeur and his model, Maureen Cowper, met twice a week to ensure the ’do — a crafty combination of bobby pins, cardboard, Halloween hair dye, a faux soccer ball made of Styrofoam, a wee Canadian flag and Cowper’s long hair — was just right.

“When you like something, you do anything to complete it,” Faiella, now 84 and retired, explained to the Star on Wednesday, hours before the Canadian National Men’s Team returned to the pitch to face off against Belgium — Canada’s first World Cup appearance in 36 years.

Faiella’s ode to his adopted home and the game he “lives for” became national news. He said friends from as far flung as Argentina and his native Italy called to say they’d somehow seen the elaborate coif.

Since then, Canadian soccer has made significant strides, as displayed by its tenacious effort against No. 2-ranked Belgium. This year, Faiella said, the team isn’t there to merely score a goal, a feat that eluded Canada in 1986, but to advance past the group stage to the Round of 16.

“We’re not equal with the rest of the world yet, but we’re getting there.”