Marsch: 'Lack of discipline' led to U.S. Copa exit

Canada coach Jesse Marsch has spoken of his disappointment in the United States‘ poor performance at the Copa América as his side prepares to take on Venezuela in the quarterfinals at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on Friday.

The 50-year-old American coach led Canada to the last eight with a 1-0 win over Peru to finish second in Group A behind holders Argentina, while the U.S. failed to progress from the group stage after a 2-1 loss to Panama followed by a 1-0 defeat by Uruguay.

“I’d like to say that I’m only focused on what we’re doing here in Canada, but obviously I’m paying attention to the U.S. men’s national team as I always do, and like you, I’m sad,” the coach told “FOX Soccer Now.“

“I’m disappointed with the performances, the lack of discipline. There are a lot of things that I think we’ve tried to embody about the game in the U.S., and we’ve always believed in this group of players.”

The former Leeds United boss added that Gregg Berhalter’s side needs to find solutions to its problems.

“I’m not there every day, so I don’t have my finger on the pulse of what’s going on, but it’s certainly not what we expected coming into this tournament,” Marsch said.

Marsch was thought to be the leading contender for the USMNT job after Berhalter’s contract expired following the 2022 World Cup, but Marsch’s agent surprisingly announced in June 2023 that Marsch would not be getting the job. The following day, Berhalter was rehired by U.S. Soccer.

“My respect for U.S. Soccer is big, but I went through a process with them, right? And I’m not going to go into it, but I wasn’t treated very well in the process,” Marsch said after losing out on the U.S. job.

Canada will be hoping to advance to the semifinals with a victory over Venezuela, who finished top of Group B after winning all three of their matches.

Information from Reuters was used in this report.