Jesse Marsch urged Canada to embrace the pressure of being co-hosts on the eve of their Group B opener and trumpeted his players’ pride at representing the nation, adding that when he was part of the US setup they had to sometimes “beg players to sing the national anthem”.
Canada will host their first World Cup game on Friday, with Bosnia and Herzegovina their opponents for the history-making match in Toronto.
Marsch, who became the first American to manage Canada upon his appointment two years ago and was the US assistant coach at the 2010 World Cup, said he loves the multiculturalism in his squad.
“When I first came, I had to learn a lot about what it meant to be Canadian,” he said. “Being a leader in this sport, I’ve always tried to create an environment where our differences make us stronger, not weaker. From the moment I stepped into the environment with this team, I was incredibly impressed by how much they loved each other, how much they were drawn to each other and how much, even though there were differences, their back stories had similarities: first and second-generation Canadian, Portuguese, French, Jamaican, Colombian, Scottish …”
The 52-year-old continued: “Every one of these boys is incredibly Canadian and the pride they have in putting on the jersey, representing the country, hearing the national anthem … in the US sometimes we had to beg players to sing the national anthem … these guys belt it out to the top of their lungs because they want to show the country how proud they are to be here, to be Canadians and to represent what Canada is.”
Marsch does not want his players to shy away from an occasion that is likely to be supercharged at Toronto Stadium, the smallest venue in the tournament. “We all know a home World Cup is special,” he said. “If you do this for a living, this is where you want to be. I came to Canada to lead them in a home World Cup; I wanted this responsibility. Nobody here is afraid of that. Actually, this is why we’re doing it. Yeah, it’s responsibility, yeah, it’s pressure, but that’s what we want, it’s meaningful. I love sitting on that coach’s box when the stadium’s full, the pressure is on and everyone thinks you’re an idiot.”
Marsch said both midfielder Ismaël Koné and centre-back Moïse Bombito will be fit to feature and offered a positive update on Alphonso Davies, Canada’s captain who continues to recover from a hamstring injury. “We did an MRI with him yesterday [Wednesday], it showed very positive signs that he is healing incredibly well – almost completely – so we’re getting ready to ramp things up,” Marsch said of the Bayern Munich defender. “I think having his private physio here has been very helpful and the concentration on his body’s needs every day. We’re really hopeful over the next days and week that we can accelerate things and give him a chance to contribute soon.”
Toronto’s fan festival for the opening match was evacuated halfway through Mexico’s victory over South Africa due to the threat of lightning, but Marsch dismissed concerns that weather could affect Friday’s match.
“All of us in North America are used to this … for Europeans it’s going to be a hot World Cup,” he said. “I remember back to 1994 … it was a hot tournament and it affected teams in a big way, so I think we have the benefit of some of those experiences, the Copa América, the Gold Cup, but there is no doubt as much as it’s a physical challenge, it’s a mental challenge. We have some familiarity with that … it’s going to be warm, but we’ll be ready.
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