🇨🇦 Jesse Marsch, unintentional diplomat, takes a stand at the right time
The American coach of Canada said what he thinks about Donald Trump.
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When Wisconsin native Jesse Marsch took the job as Canada men’s national team manager, the main beef between his home country and the one he’d be working in seemed to involve … him.
Marsch was a candidate for the United States men’s national team job before Gregg Berhalter was invited back to fill the seat he had occupied at the 2022 World Cup.
Things have changed. Now, instead of Berhalter v. Marsch, it’s Trump v. Trudeau, at least for now. Recently elected U.S. president Donald Trump has consistently stated - verbally and in posts online - that he envisions Canada one day becoming the 51st state and is preparing to level 25% tariffs on goods from Canada and from southern neighbor Mexico.
Sports have provided a forum for Canadians to express their discontent, with crowds booing the U.S. national anthem at hockey matches - first in the National Hockey League and then at the NHL’s 4 Nations Face-off.
The U.S. and Canada played a pair of matches during that tournament, with the U.S. winning in the group stage on Canadian soil but Canada winning the final on American soil. Both contests were full of high drama before the puck dropped (the anthems, directors inviting politicians to attend or call the team), shortly after it dropped (several players started fighting seconds into the first game) and throughout the game (you know, the actual trying to score goals part).
This is what international sports are about: One nation’s representative team against the other. All the history between those countries, the relationships, the tiffs and the grievances become context. The laws of international trade are much more difficult to understand than the laws of the game.
While the 4 Nations games were thrilling, and the countries’ rivalry on the ice has produced many excellent moments,31 soccer remains the best international sport, the one most conditioned by those past incidents and the best reflection of a national mood.
The first meeting since Trump’s election could come as soon as next month in the Concacaf Nations League Final Four. Canada is in a semifinal against Mexico, while the U.S. meets Panama.
At an event Wednesday in Los Angeles to promote the tournament, Marsch was asked about being an American coaching Canada in the current political climate and if he saw parallels between what happened in the hockey tournament and what is soon to happen on the soccer field.
“These international tournaments for Canada mean something different now. As an American, I’d like to address the 51st state discourse, which I find unsettling and, frankly, insulting,” Marsch said. “Canada is a strong independent nation that’s deep-rooted in decency, really. It’s a place that values high ethics and respect - unlike the polarized, disrespectful and often, now, hate-fueled climate that’s in the U.S.”
(The video should begin from the point where Marsch is being asked about the political tension)
Marsch took the Canada job because it’s a good opportunity to be a successful professional soccer coach. Yet, he’s found himself in a situation in which he is an unintentional diplomat. While Marsh doesn’t speak for all Americans, he is an American with a job that gives him a direct line of communication to Canadians. He does speak for me, and I suspect he speaks for many other - though certainly not all - soccer fans in the U.S.
“For me, right now I couldn’t be prouder to be the Canadian national team coach, and I’ve found a place that embodies for me the ideas and morals of not just what football and a team is, but what life is,” he continued. “That’s integrity, respect and the belief that good people can do great things together.
“If I have one message to our president, it’s lay off the ridiculous rhetoric about Canada being the 51st state. As an American, I’m ashamed, right? Of the arrogance and disregard we’ve shown one of our historically oldest, strongest and most loyal allies.”
It was refreshing to hear Marsch offer those comments - not just because I agree with him but because he recognized and embraced the opportunity he has.
Cynically, you could also note he’s making his life easier. Setting himself apart as an American who loves Canada, supports its sovereignty and shares its values make it easier to deflect potential criticism that may come about his nationality when results don’t match expectations. Those moments will come, though so far in getting to the Nations League semifinals and to the semifinals of the Copa América, Marsch was the most impressive coach in the Americas in 2024.
“Obviously I was prepared to say something, but mostly it’s because it’s from my heart,” he later told TSN.
Reporters in LA followed up with Oguchi Onyewu, a former USMNT defender and current U.S. Soccer’s Vice President of Sporting, who represented the U.S. at the event, and with Mexico manager Javier Aguirre.
Rather than make a similarly strong statement, Onyewu was reluctant to take a position.
“We’re all here to promote the Nations League, and all of my comments are to promote the Nations League, SoFi Stadium and the strong competition that we have on this panel right now,” he said. “My main focus right now, and the U.S.’ focus is the competition ahead and hopefully coming back as a four-peat champion, knowing the competition is extremely stiff and that any four of these teams have the quality in the player pool to win the tournament.”
That may be true, but it’s was not the question of the moment.
When asked about the Mexico fans in the U.S., many of whom are living in fear of seeing their loved ones deported or themselves being forced to leave the country, Aguirre initially said he’d follow Onyweu’s lead. Then, he seemed to think better of it, bringing up his own background as the son of Basque immigrants who left Spain after the Civil War.