Jesse Marschselector of Canadasemi-finalist of the America Cuppraised this Sunday Argentinatheir next opponent, but he assured that his team is not “afraid” of facing this important challenge. “We know how good Argentina is because we have already played against them (in the opening match of the tournament). But we were also successful against them at certain times. I said that we probably have to play a perfect match and maybe even that is not enough,” he reflected to the media after his team’s training session.
“We understand how good Argentina are but we are certainly not afraid. They have certainly lost only twice in five years and Messi is the best who has ever played football. But we believe we have a chance and that is how we are preparing,” he added.
The Canadian team trained on Sunday at The Pingry School in Basking Ridge, a town in New Jersey located about 60 kilometers southwest of MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, where the semi-final will be played on Tuesday.
Good feelings in the opening match
Canada, making its debut at the Copa América, faced Argentina in the opening match of this edition. In that match, the Albiceleste won 2-0 with goals from Julián Álvarez and another from Lautaro Martínez, but Marsch’s team left a good impression despite the defeat.
“It’s helpful that we’ve already played Argentina because there are fewer unknowns. But good teams, the closer they are to titles, the more capable they are of stepping up a gear. So I expect Argentina to put in their best performance yet on Tuesday,” he warned.
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The coach also said that they were able to celebrate the milestone of getting through to the quarter-finals, where they eliminated Venezuela on penalties, but he also pointed out that immediately afterwards they started thinking about Argentina.
“We enjoyed the moment after the game. But going back to the hotel we knew that with that short window (between games), even if maybe a couple of glasses of champagne or a beer or whatever, we had to eat something, sleep, travel the next day and be mentally ready for a big challenge.”
