Canada hasn’t scored much on its way to the semifinals of this year’s Copa America in the United States – but don’t look for apologies from American coach Jesse Marsch
Jesse Marsch has led Canada to the Copa America semifinals(Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)
Canada’s journey to the Copa America semifinals has been marked by a lack of goals, but American-born coach Jesse Marsch isn’t making any apologies.
Ismael Kone netted the decisive goal in the sixth round of the penalty shootout, following a third save by Maxime Crepeau, securing Canada’s soccer victory over Venezuela on Friday. The Canadians triumphed 4-3 on penalties after a 1-1 draw in the quarterfinals, denying Venezuela a place in the Copa America semifinals for the first time since 2011.
Despite being only the fourth team to progress from the group stage with just one goal, Canada advanced again after a goalless stalemate against Chile took them to the knockout rounds. “People will talk about should we score more goals or whatever,” Marsch said. “We should score more goals. But those are two pretty strong performances against very good opponents. You can see that this team is building.”
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Jacob Shaffelburg found the back of the net in the 13th minute for Canada, before Salomon Rondon equalized for Venezuela in the 64th minute.
The win sets up a rematch for 48th-ranked Canada against Lionel Messi and Argentina, the world’s top-ranked team and reigning Copa America champion, on Tuesday at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey. Argentina had defeated Canada 2-0 in the group stage.
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Canada defeated Venezuela on penalties(Copyright 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved)
Both teams scored three times in the shootout, leading to the additional round. After Crepeau brought the pro-Venezuelan crowd of 51,080 to a hush by blocking Jhonder Cadiz’s attempt, Kone coolly slotted his shot past Rafael Romo to clinch the win.
Marsch praised the young players, saying: “I heard some of the guys saying afterward I should have had him shoot earlier because he’s got ice in his veins. They were right. Probably should have had him shoot earlier. But when we needed him, he stepped up.”
In a dramatic moment with Venezuela down 1-0, Jon Aramburu launched a ball from his own penalty area, sparking a midfield duel between Rondon and Moise Bombito for the ball. Rondon seized control just as Crepeau, realizing his positioning error, dashed back towards his goal, but it was futile; Rondon’s chip sailed over Crepeau and bounced into the net.
Shaffelburg found the net after receiving an assist from Jonathan David, who had previously scored Canada’s lone goal against Peru with Shaffelburg providing the assist, this time driving a pass from David into the goal past the right post and Romo.
As the shootout progressed, both teams experienced their share of failures until consecutive successes led them into overtime. Canada’s coach Marsch didn’t hide his feelings post-match: “We were the better team. We deserved to win that match. The penalties, it’s mostly a flip of the coin. But we were the better team on the day.”
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Publish date : 2024-07-06 15:06:00
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