In his first competitive match as head coach of Canada, Jesse Marsch had quite the opponent, facing off against defending FIFA World Cup champions Argentina.
By a 2-0 score, Argentina ended up topping Canada, who were able to keep the game close in their Copa America debut but ultimately ended the day with a defeat.
One of the talking points following the match was the lengthy halftime, with the Argentinian side taking longer than usual to emerge back onto the field at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Marsch believed the eventual victors were looking at match video footage to get a leg up on their opponents.
“When they were waiting, I knew that they were looking at video and they were analyzing how they wanted to play against us. Now, I wish again the referees would manage that,” Marsch said in his post-match press conference.
“If we were five minutes late, we’d get a fine. There would be a big problem. Let’s see what happens with Argentina, I think they have to be fined. How late were they? 20 minutes? 30?”
Julian Alvarez scored the match’s opening goal in the 49th minute, with Lautaro Martinez all but putting the game to bed in the 88th minute by giving Argentina a 2-0 lead.
“It was a long time. But they had that time to prepare how they wanted to play against us in the second half, which if we would have known ahead of time that we could have an extra 10 minutes then we could have prepared some things more,” Marsch said.
Marsch’s full press conference can be viewed below:
It will be tough for Canada to qualify out of Group A, likely needing results in each of their next two matches to advance to the quarterfinals of the 16-team tournament.
Canada returns to action on Tuesday night against Peru at 3 pm PT/ 6 pm ET. They’ll complete their group stage schedule on Saturday, June 29 when they face off against Chile at 5 pm PT/ 8 pm ET.
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