Canada and Uruguay have differing outlooks about how this Copa America has gone as they clash in the third-place match Saturday night in Charlotte, N.C.
In its first-ever Copa America, Canada finished second in Group A play and defeated Venezuela in the quarterfinals before falling 2-0 to Argentina in Tuesday’s semifinals. Both of Canada’s setbacks in Copa America came against Argentina.
The stunning showing has Canadians displaying a high interest in the soccer squad. That’s a pivotal deal in a nation that adores hockey.
“We want to inspire the nation,” Canada coach Jesse Marsch said. “We want to develop the sport in the country.
“We want people to remember this as a moment in time that changed the trajectory of what this sport is in Canada.”
Uruguay’s bid for a record 16th Copa America crown ended when it fell 1-0 to Colombia in Wednesday’s semifinals, also held in Charlotte.
Uruguay won its three Group C matches by a cumulative 9-1 score and then beat Brazil on penalty kicks in the knockout round. But the dominance ended against Colombia despite Uruguay having a man-advantage for the entire second half.
“We didn’t make the most of the moments during the first half when we could have equalized,” Uruguay coach Marcelo Bielsa said. “In these hard-fought matches, the details count. In the second half, we should have created more danger.”
There was certainly danger after the match as some Uruguay players went into the crowd and fought with Colombian fans. CONMEBOL, the South American federation running the tourney, has opened an investigation.
When it was suggested to Bielsa on Friday that sanctions could be forthcoming for Uruguay, the 68-year-old became highly agitated.
“The only thing I can tell you is that the players reacted like any other human being would,” Bielsa said. “If you see that there’s a process to keep what happened from happening. If you see that if what happened happens anyways, and that there’s supposedly another process — an escape hatch, let’s say — and both things fail, and you see your woman, or your mother, or a baby being attacked, what would you do? You’d ask whether they’re going to punish the people who defended themselves?
“What you should be asking me, if you had a minimum amount of sympathy, is if the players have received an apology from those who are responsible for caring for every single spectator.”
Marsch on Friday also was critical of how the tournament has been run, citing poor treatment of his team and criticizing the officiating. Refs failed to call a foul when Canada captain Alphonso Davies was taken down in the semifinal by Argentina’s Gonzalo Montiel and sustained a right ankle injury.
“For me, this tournament has not been professional,” Marsch said. “… You know, I watched what happened after the (Uruguay-Colombia) match and certainly I don’t know all the details, but certainly we wouldn’t want anyone’s families or any player’s families to be put in harm’s way.
“But I know if Team Canada, if our team would have responded like this, that there would be heavy sanctions because of the treatment that we received in this tournament. The whole time we’ve had our players be headbutted, we’ve had racial slurs thrown at our players live and through social media … We’ve been treated like second-class citizens.”
Marsch said he doesn’t know if Davies will be available Saturday night.
Uruguay defender Nahitan Nandez will return from a red card suspension tied to his vicious tackle of Brazil’s Rodrygo in the quarterfinals. Another key defender, Ronald Araujo, is out after injuring a leg against Colombia.
–Field Level Media
