TORONTO — Canada coach Jesse Marsch got an inkling of how Copa America might go off the field after meeting with CONMEBOL organizers before the U.S.-based tournament.
“They were telling me about weather patterns in different cities and they were telling me about facilities,” Marsch said in an interview Monday. “At one point I said ‘You guys don’t know what you’re talking about.’
“They didn’t even know I was American … They made the mistake of thinking that they were just going to bring all their people from South America and be able to run a tournament in a new country and they were going to be able to do it seamlessly. And they made a massive mistake in that. They didn’t incorporate enough people on the ground who actually knew what the environment and spaces that they were working in were actually like and how to get things done.”
Sunday’s Argentina-Colombia final in Miami Gardens, Fla., was delayed for 80-plus minutes by pre-match chaos at the gates of Hard Rock Stadium. After the final whistle of last Wednesday’s semifinal in Charlotte, star striker Darwin Nunez and Uruguay teammates, fearing for the safety of their families, went into the stands at Bank of America Stadium as fans brawled.
Uruguay coach Marcelo Bielsa, prior to the Canada semifinal, lambasted organizers for not doing enough to protect the families of his players seated behind the Uruguay bench, among other criticisms.
Marsch, speaking after Bielsa, also decried the tournament’s organization.
“For me, his tournament has not been professional,” he told the pre-game news conference, adding Canada had been treated “like second-class citizens.”
Copa America, run by the South American confederation CONMEBOL, was supposed to be a dress rehearsal of sorts for the 2026 World Cup, which Canada is co-hosting with Mexico and the U.S.
Hard Rock Stadium, for example, is slated to host four World Cup group-stage matches, a round-of-32 game, a quarterfinal and the third-place game.
Marsch believes the World Cup organization under FIFA will be “very different.”
“Their overall experience for running tournaments, I think, is at a much different level,” he said. “I think, especially here in Canada, that this will be run very professionally, very cleanly. And it will be great.”
Canada is hosting 13 of the 104 games at the ’26 World Cup, with seven in Vancouver and six in Toronto. Mexico is also staging 13 games with the U.S. hosting the remaining 78 games at the expanded 48-team soccer showcase.
“I just want to show up to a stadium where we have a home fan base … That will be a good feeling,” said Marsch, whose first eight games at the helm have been in Europe or the U.S.
Next up for 48th-ranked Canada are away friendlies against the 11th-ranked U.S. and No. 15 Mexico in the September FIFA window. Canada faces the U.S. on Sept. 7 at Children’s Mercy Park in Kansas City and Mexico on Sept. 10 at AT&T Stadium, in Arlington, Texas.
The matches are preparation for the 2024-25 CONCACAF Nations League, which Canada, Mexico, the U.S. and Panama — as the four top-ranked League A teams — will join at the quarterfinal stage in November.
Canada will play the best first-place team from Group A or B, which would be No. 52 Costa Rica or No. 53 Jamaica if the FIFA rankings hold true.
Since taking the Canada job May 13, Marsch has hardly stood still with games in the Netherlands, France, Atlanta, Kansas City, Orlando, Arlington, East Rutherford, N.J., and Charlotte.
After Saturdays’ penalty shootout loss to Uruguay in the third-place game in Charlotte, he flew north to take in Forge FC’s CPL game Sunday against visiting Pacific FC. Monday was a day of media obligations, with more to come Tuesday in Montreal.
Then he plans to return to his home in Italy, to plan what’s next.
He will leave with a smile from his first stint in charge of the Canadian men, knowing that the time he took to ponder his next move after being let go by England’s Leeds United in February 2023 — was well spent.
“I took my time because I can take my time,” he said. “And I don’t need to work. I love to work.
“And I wanted to make sure that whatever I did next, I was going to be able to represent the things that I believe in and that I was going to work with people that have similar kinds of passions and thoughts about what this experience should be. I couldn’t be happier that I found that place.”
VANCOUVER – The Vancouver Canucks announced Tuesday that defenceman Alex Edler will sign a one-day contract in order to officially retire as a member of the NHL team.
The signing will be part of a celebration of Edler’s career held Oct. 11 when the Canucks host the Philadelphia Flyers.
The Canucks selected Edler, from Ostersund, Sweden, in the third round (91st overall) of the 2004 NHL draft.
He played in 925 career games for the Canucks between the 2006-07 and 2020-21 seasons, ranking fourth in franchise history and first among defencemen.
The 38-year-old leads all Vancouver defencemen with 99 goals, 310 assists and 177 power-play points with the team.
Edler also appeared in 82 career post-season contests with Vancouver and was an integral part of the Canucks’ run to the 2011 Stanley Cup final, putting up 11 points (2-9-11) across 25 games.
“I am humbled and honoured to officially end my career and retire as a member of the Vancouver Canucks,” Edler said in a release. “I consider myself lucky to have started my career with such an outstanding organization, in this amazing city, with the best fans in the NHL. Finishing my NHL career where it all began is something very special for myself and my family.”
Edler played two seasons for Los Angeles in 2021-22 and 2022-23. He did not play in the NHL last season.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
The sixth-ranked Canadian women will face World Cup champion Spain in an international friendly next month.
Third-ranked Spain will host Canada on Oct. 25 at Estadio Francisco de la Hera in Almendralejo.
The game will be the first for the Canadian women since the Paris Olympics, where they lost to Germany in a quarterfinal penalty shootout after coach Bev Priestman was sent home and later suspended for a year by FIFA over her part in Canada’s drone-spying scandal.
In announcing the Spain friendly, Canada Soccer said more information on the interim women’s coaching staff for the October window will come later. Assistant coach Andy Spence took charge of the team in Priestman’s absence at the Olympics.
Spain finished fourth in Paris, beaten 1-0 by Germany in the bronze-medal match.
Canada is winless in three previous meetings (0-2-1) with Spain, most recently losing 1-0 at the Arnold Clark Cup in England in February 2022.
The teams played to a scoreless draw in May 2019 in Logroñés, Spain in a warm-up for the 2019 World Cup. Spain won 1-0 in March 2019 at the Algarve Cup in São João da Venda, Portugal.
Spain is a powerhouse in the women’s game these days.
It won the FIFA U-20 World Cup in 2022 and was runner-up in 2018. And it ousted Canada 2-1 in the round of 16 of the current U-20 tournament earlier this month in Colombia before falling 1-0 to Japan after extra time in the quarterfinal.
Spain won the FIFA U-17 World Cup in 2018 and 2022 and has finished on the podium on three other occasions.
FC Barcelona’s Aitana Bonmati (2023) and Alexia Putellas (2021 and ’22) have combined to win the last three Women’s Ballon d’Or awards.
And Barcelona has won three of the last four UEFA Women’s Champions League titles.
“We continue to strive to diversify our opponent pool while maintaining a high level of competition.” Daniel Michelucci, Canada Soccer’s director of national team operations, said in a statement. “We anticipate a thrilling encounter, showcasing two of the world’s top-ranked teams.”
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024
TORONTO – The Toronto Maple Leafs have announced cookie brand Oreo as the team’s helmet sponsor for the upcoming NHL season.
The new helmet will debut Sunday when Toronto opens its 2024-25 pre-season against the Ottawa Senators at Scotiabank Arena.
The Oreo logo replaces Canadian restaurant chain Pizza Pizza, which was the Leafs’ helmet sponsor last season.
Previously, social media platform TikTok sponsored Toronto starting in the 2021-22 regular season when the league began allowing teams to sell advertising space on helmets.
The Oreo cookie consists of two chocolate biscuits around a white icing filling and is often dipped in milk.
Fittingly, the Leafs wear the Dairy Farmers of Ontario’s “Milk” logo on their jerseys.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2024.
