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SAO PAULO — Head coach John Herdman may be Canada’s soccer-poet — in that he speaks so lyrically he’s a veritable quote machine — but he’s not entirely immune to the ordinary superstitions of his profession.

Asked if he wasn’t occasionally struck by his magical team — the only Olympic squad in the women’s competition to emerge from preliminary play with a perfect 3-0 record — he all but gulped in horror.

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“It’s a cool group,” he acknowledged, this on the eve of Canada’s sudden-death playoff match against France on Friday. “And if we were in a final … but it’s only a quarter-final, we’re not there yet, and if we get into a final it’s going to be a hell of a push.”

Clearly, he didn’t want to jinx anything.

But then, because the Canadian team is an undeniably magical group — unusually cohesive despite a 17-year age range — and because he’s an honest man, Herdman admitted he’s had moments when he’s had to pinch himself.