On Sunday afternoon, Canada’s vice captain Stephen Eustáquio scored a superb stoppage-time winner in the World Cup round of 32 against South Africa to take his nation through to a round of 16 match against Morocco.Born in Canada, Eustáquio moved to Portugal with his Portuguese parents and his brother Mauro, at the age of seven. His play was nurtured through Portuguese academies and he has played over 100 times for Porto since signing for the club in 2022, but he is currently on loan at MLS side LAFC. For Eustáquio, aged 29, it has been a challenging journey to the top, and he lost both parents; his father Armando and his mother Esmeralda in the space of 13 months between 2023 and 2024.Here, his brother Mauro, a coach in his own right at Canadian Premier League team Inter Toronto, and a former Canada youth international, shares his pride at his brother’s achievements, while paying tribute to the sacrifices made by their parents to enable their children’s success.When we were growing up in Leamington, Ontario, Dad was a fisherman and Mom worked at the fish factory. It was basically the same place, but at different companies. Dad worked on one of the boats, helped catch the fish, which would then go to the factory and my mom would work on it.Mom and Dad worked long, hard hours by Lake Erie. As a fisherman, you gotta be out of the house by 3 a.m.. Then Mom’s shift started at 6 a.m. at the factory. We were dropped off at my grandma’s to catch the bus to school.As an adult, I can now see even more clearly how Mom and Dad invested everything in us. Between them, there was not a training or a game that they missed. Growing up in Portugal, Dad was never a professional footballer, but he played at a good level, and then he coached our teams when we moved to Canada.He taught us how to act, how to take care of ourselves, and how to be dedicated. My mom was the go-getter. There wasn’t a game that was too far for them. If we had to drive for two hours, she was there. If we had a game in the morning and another one in the afternoon, she was ready. She was bringing meals in the car. She was taking care of us. She would say: ‘Where’s the next one? How can we get there?’ She was the glue for our family.Mauro, left, with his father Armando, brother Stephen, and his mother Esmeralda at the Sanctuary of Fatima, Portugal. (Eustáquio family)There are two episodes that really bring home the effort they made.When we moved to Canada, we went to a travel team and Dad was the coach. But his English was very poor at the start. Now imagine trying to teach a sport to 15 kids, but your English isn’t the greatest and you are struggling to communicate.