Canada eye chance of ‘exceptional triumph’ against Argentina

Canada face one of the biggest games in their football history when they take on world champions Argentina in the Copa America semi-finals on  on Wednesday morning (Bangladesh time 6:00am) with coach Jesse Marsch eyeing a “special victory”.

Canada lost 2-0 to Argentina in the opening game of the tournament but Marsch believes they have improved in many ways since that game in Atlanta on June 20.

“If you just look at the amount of days that we’ve spent together, it’s almost like the 18 days we’ve had since has doubled the amount of time we’ve spent together,” he said.

“So we’ve invested in that time in making sure that we’ve tactically been clear, that the relationships on the pitch are clear and the understanding of how to handle all moments is better,” he said.

  ‘Fearless’ approach 

Marsch has repeatedly talked of his team needing to play with a “fearless” approach and he said that was by no means simply about being brave.

“For me, fearlessness comes from the clarity of understanding roles and knowing that within the roles if you make mistakes that people are going to be able to help support you in those moments, tactically, mentally, psychologically, in every way.

“The more that you can create an environment where they understand what we’re trying to achieve, where it makes sense to them and they know how to commit to it fully, the more engaged they are and the more they value it, the more they own it and the more they become fearless because they trust what’s being built. And so that’s what I try to do,” he said.

Argentina left-back Nicolas Tagliafico says the world champions are aware that Canada are more than just a hard-running, physical side.