Hometown World Cup soccer star rewards fans with meet-and-greet in Ajax, Ontario

Ajax celebrated their hometown hero Sunday morning, with nearly a hundred fans of all ages lined up at the temporally renamed ‘Derrek Cornelius Square’ for an autograph and meet-and-greet session.

Cornelius, who started four of the five games Canada played in the World Cup at centre back and nearly played hero in the knockout game against South Africa, was on hand with his family for the celebration at the square on World Cup Final day, with the square now back to being named after Pay Bayly Square, the legendary wartime code breaker and the town’s first mayor.

But for the duration of the global soccer tournament, the square was all about Cornelius, a born-and-raised Ajacian who is enjoying a stellar professional career, with stops in Serbia, Greece, Sweden, Major League soccer with Vancouver and storied franchises in Scotland (Glasgow Rangers) and France (Marseille), as well as 48 appearances for his country.

Highly rated during group play, he came very close to making his mark in the round-of-32 match against South Africa when he rose up to meet a cross off a Stephen Eustaquio free kick, only to see his header glance harmlessly in the ‘keeper’s arms.

Eustaquio’s stoppage time goal would serve as the winner as Canada advanced to the round of 16, only to be eliminated by Morocco.

“Things happen so quickly,” Cornelius said Sunday. “Obviously I wanted to score in that moment but my goal was to get the team over the line and win and we did.”

Cornelius is preparing to report back to Marseille after a season on loan to Rangers where he started brilliantly, scoring a massive free kick goal and getting plenty of playing time early in the season before getting injured. During his rehab he fell out of favour with the new manager at the Scottish Old Firm club and did not get back onto the pitch.

“It’s the ups and down of football,” he said. “You just have to get through this.”

Nothing beats playing in a World Cup, he added. “It’s difficult to take it down a notch after that. It was pretty crazy.”

“It was a great group of guys and we enjoyed being together.”

The square in Ajax was renamed while he was the national team so Sunday was his first time back home seeing it, with his parents, grandparents, friends and a long line of fans along for the occasion.

“It’s an incredible honour. Very humbling.”

Ajax Deputy Mayor Sterling Lee address the crowd and said the watch parties the town organized at the square became “more than just a place to watch football.”

“This became a community hub, a place for the community to gather.”

Cornelius thanked the community for showing up.

“This is something I’ll remember for the rest of my life.”