Following fiery pre-match remarks criticizing what he described as American arrogance, Canada coach Jesse Marsch was reminded that his side still has ground to cover against its southern neighbor.
The latest chapter in the United States-Canada soccer rivalry went the Americans’ way, with Orlando City striker Justin Ellis scoring the only goal in a 1-0 USMNT victory.
The result gave Mauricio Pochettino a perfect four wins from four matches, while four previously uncapped players found the net during this international window.
Ellis, 19, was among them. The Orlando City forward scored his second USMNT goal after also finding the net on his debut against Peru earlier in the break.
For Marsch, meanwhile, it was his first defeat since Canada’s Round of 16 exit against Morocco at the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
The Wisconsin native again found himself at the center of attention as he faced his home country, days after making pointed comments about the American mindset and the way it is viewed around the world.
The United States finished its international break with a 1-0 victory over Canada
The win followed pointed criticism from US-born Canada coach Jesse Marsch
Marsch said Americans are shaped by propaganda and disliked around the world because they believe the United States is the best nation on Earth: ‘We feel like we deserve to be treated differently.’
‘We, as Americans, have been inundated with propaganda since we were young,’ Marsch told The Guardian. ‘We’re the No 1 country in the world, we deserve everything, we dominate everything, No 1 in every aspect of life.
‘This is what we’ve been told. So, when things happen and we don’t feel like we’re in control of it … we feel like we deserve to be treated differently because we’re Americans.
‘That is one of the things that infuriates the rest of the world about Americans. And Americans don’t know that if they don’t ever leave the country.’
Whatever merit those comments may have, particularly to anyone who has never started the day by reciting the ‘Pledge of Allegiance’ in an American public school, they do little to dispel the impression that Marsch remains bitter about being passed over by the federation he once hoped to lead.
Marsch was viewed as the leading candidate to take charge of the USMNT after the 2022 World Cup, but the job instead went to Gregg Berhalter for a second, ultimately ill-fated spell. The decision left a lasting sting for the former Leeds United manager, who has continued to face questions about the future of US Soccer and whether he might have a role in it.
Last March, the 52-year-old said he felt ‘devastated and angry’ by the rejection. After critics called the motivational speech he delivered to Canada’s players following their World Cup knockout win over South Africa ‘performative,’ Marsch told Time that he ‘doesn’t give a s***’ about them.
During that interview, he also volunteered a definitive position on the USMNT job: ‘Let me make it really clear: I will never coach the US national team. Ever. And that’s no problem. There was the possibility of me at one point, but I’m done with it. I don’t even care anymore.’
Despite those comments suggesting unresolved frustration, Marsch insisted during Monday’s pre-match news conference that he has ‘definitely not a grudge’ against the USSF. ‘People want to take it that way, which is fine,’ he added.
Ellis finished a straightforward cross from his Orlando City teammate Alex Freeman
As Marsch criticized his players, Mauricio Pochettino urged his debutants to remain humble
Canada was missing several key players, including Cyle Larin, Tajon Buchanan and Alphonso Davies, but Les Rouges still produced more shots than their rivals. None, however, could beat Nashville SC goalkeeper Brian Schwake.
The deadlock was broken early when Orlando City fullback Alex Freeman found his club teammate Ellis with a simple cross that required only a simple touch to land in the net.
Marsch, who expressed his anger throughout the match, blasted his players in the post-game, saying: ‘We can’t just look like a group of hard workers who don’t put it together enough.’
Pochettino called up 13 players who had never been capped before and gave debuts to all of them throughout this window. The last of those players, Cole Campbell, earned his first cap off the bench against Canada.
With Pochettino in the beginning of his second era, the coach was asked if he felt any differently of the new members of his roster.
‘I don’t feel differently, no. I’m worried,’ Pochettino joked. ‘They need to keep being humble in their clubs and they need to be desperate again to earn [the right] to come [to camp].’
The coach added, ‘I think if we keep that mentality, that mindset, I think everything is possible.’
