Jesse Marsch shown up by Lionel Messi as ex-Leeds United man waits for first Canada win
Jesse Marsch’s Canada got their Copa America campaign underway with a 2-0 defeat to Argentina
Ex-Leeds United coach Jesse Marsch is still waiting for his first win in charge of Canada. The Canadians kicked off the 2024 Copa America in the early hours of Friday morning as they took on world champions Argentina at the Mercedes-Benz Arena in Atlanta.
However, they were powerless to prevent the Argentines from getting their defence of the trophy underway with a comfortable victory. Lionel Scaloni's side ran out 2-0 victors with goals coming from Julian Alvarez and Lautaro Martinez, with Lionel Messi being involved in both goals.
Before the game Marsch revealed that he believed he had the tactical plan to keep Messi quiet, but the eight-time Ballon D'Or winner ran the game against the Canada and was instrumental in handing the American head coach his second defeat in the job. After spending over a year out of the game, Marsch took the job in May with the 2026 FIFA World Cup, which Canada will co-host with the USA and Mexico, firmly in mind.
However, while has taken on a high calibre of opposition in the three games he has managed in the job, he hasn't claimed a win yet. Marsch lost 4-0 to the Netherlands earlier this month in his first game in charge before holding France to a very respectable draw in Bordeaux.
He was unable to prevent his first competitive game going the way most people expected, though, as Argentina displayed their attacking might. Marsch will be hoping to find more success when Canada take on Peru in Kansas City on June 25. The Canucks will then round off their group with a clash against Chile on June 29 in Orlando.
"This is what I say about Messi," Marsch said after the game. "I've coached against him several times and I feel like we've had a good match plan and we've executed a lot of good things. He's so good, he's that good that he still makes plays. The two balls he makes on the two goals I think are world class. Amazing, it's awful. It's amazing.”
He added: "Big picture is we, I thought, had a good performance and especially when we were able to execute our tactical plan, we made it very difficult on Argentina and really could have had some goals, could have had the lead," he said.
"I said to the team afterwards that we take this game, but we also take the three matches. It's been unfair to them in some ways to be put in a situation to expect to have early success with a new manager in a new situation when we have to play these levels of opponents. But I think we've learned a lot from it and mostly we've learned that we can play. We can play with these teams."
Marcelo Bielsa's Uruguay have been drawn into Group C and they'll take on Panama in Florida in their first game of the tournament. That game will be played in the early hours on Monday morning.
Uruguay are in the same group as the hosts USA meaning Leeds' Brenden Aaronson could come up against the former Whites boss when the two nations do battle on July 1. Aaronson's tournament begins on Sunday, when the USA face Bolivia at the AT&T Stadium in Texas.