🇨🇦 Has Canada grown enough to shock Argentina?
The Copa América semifinal is a rematch of the opening game. Will it go differently?
After Canada’s 2-0 loss to Argentina in the opening match of the Copa América the reaction was generally positive. Nobody ever could expect Canada to beat the reigning World Cup winners and Copa América champion, but the Reds didn’t get played off the field.
“We, I thought, had a good performance, especially when we were able to execute our tactical plan,” Canada manager Jesse Marsch said at the time. The execution of the tactical plan only happened sporadically, but Canada had its moments.
Now, things have changed. The teams see each other again tonight but instead of the opening group stage game of the tournament, it’s a semifinal. And instead of the standard being “Don’t get embarrassed”, Canada would like to be judged on whether or not it actually can win the game.
The other thing that has changed is simply how much Canada has been able to adapt to Marsch. He took over the team and led it into friendly matches at the Netherlands and France before that opening game against Argentina. Since then, he’s had two weeks to make more informed decisions about his team, and the team has had two weeks to better understand how he wants to play.
“I don’t know that it’s a different team as much as that we’ve developed more,” Marsch said Monday. “If you just look at the amount of days we’ve spent together, the time we played Argentina and then the 18 days we’ve had since, that’s double the amount of time we’ve spent together.
“We’ve invested, in that time, in making sure we’ve tactically been clear, that the relationships on the pitch are clear, and the understanding to handle all moments is better.”
Whether or not Canada is a different team or not is up for some debate.
“I think we’ve grown a lot and matured a lot in this tournament and I think we’re a completely different team from the one that came out against Argentina,” Canada defender Alistair Johnston said after the quarterfinal win over Venezuela.
What isn’t in discussion is whether or not Canada feels more comfortable now than they did a few weeks back. Marsch asked for aggression and got it against Argentina the first time around. Especially in a tournament like Copa América, finding the balance between recklessness and an edge can be tough. Canada showed it can play some mind games, drawing red cards in the final two group games and then managed its match against Venezuela in a wise way, continuing to seek scoring chances even after conceding an equalizer on an error.
“We’ve only been with the new manager now for just five or six weeks now. Argentina was our third match, this will be our seventh,” Johnston continued. “It does make a difference in terms of where we’re at, our confidence in our system, our comfort made a big difference.”
Perhaps no team in the world is more comfortable in what it does than Argentina - though fellow semifinalists Uruguay and Colombia each would make their cases as well - so disrupting Argentina’s attacking flow and limiting touches for Lionel Messi will be a huge challenge for Canada.
Yet, with an attempt already made this summer, Marsch said the first match benefitted his side far more than it will help Argentina with its own preparations.
“I think for us knowing the quality and level at which Argentina plays, it’s more of an advantage that we were able to play against them than that they were able to play against us,” Marsch said. “That’s how I would feel.”
🇨🇦 Ismaël Koné keeps cool for Canada, even as his star continues to rise
He also will feel the air of invincibility around Argentina has dissipated. Not only has Canada seen these guys before, but they’re now watching tape of a game Argentina narrowly advanced from after a rough quarterfinal showing against Ecuador.
Still, it’s Messi. It’s Argentina - the champs!
Nobody expected Canada to hang in the first game. Nobody expects them to get out of the semifinal and into the final this time around. Just how much better can Canada play? By how much can they exceed expectations one again?
Today’s game
Canada v. Argentina - 8p ET
Tomorrow
Uruguay v. Colombia - 8p ET
I'm curious to see if Canada will continue to play as aggressive as they did in the first game. I was impressed by how much they attacked. I just don't want to see them park the bus and play for penalties because it's a knockout game.