Canada will be participating in its third-ever World Cup next summer, having automatically qualified as one of the host nations. Bypassing the qualification process, Jesse Marsch and the Canadian national team have had the opportunity to personally select their opponents for their World Cup preparations.
Tough Result Against Australia
Canada started this season’s set of international fixtures with impressive 3-0 and 1-0 wins vs. Romania and Wales, respectively. It was an inspiring set of victories for Canada, who did not concede in the process. However, the goal following these matches was to increase the level of opponent. Canada hosted red-hot Australia on Friday and lost 1-0 despite 61% possession, 17 shot attempts, and 8 shots on target.
Speaking yesterday, Marsch stated that he believed the team deserved a better result from the match against Australia.
“There was disappointment in the team that we didn’t get the result against Australia, especially given the way that we managed the game. We felt like we let it slip, and we have to learn from that and make sure that doesn’t happen at the World Cup. But overall, we knew that was still another step forward for us.»
A Big Test vs. Colombia
While Canada has experience playing against high-level South American opponents through their time at Copa America last summer, their game against Colombia is the most difficult opponent they have faced throughout their World Cup preparation so far. Marsch spoke highly of Colombia when speaking on today’s match and knew how important this fixture was going to be for their preparation.
«The players they [Colombia] have, the success they’ve had in recent years, the physicality that they’ll bring… all these things will feel like what a high-level opponent in the World Cup will feel like. So I think it’s a privilege for us to play against them, and we’re not just treating it as an experience. We’re treating it as a game that we want to go out and win. So that will be our focus.»
A victory for Canada tonight will be their first against a top-15 ranked opponent that is not Mexico or USA.
November and March International Breaks
Following tonight’s match vs. Colombia, Canada will face South American opponents Ecuador and Venezuela in the November international break. Marsch hinted at the idea of raising the bar even higher in the final international breaks before the World Cup.
«We’re going to continue to try to book matches that are at extremely high levels against European and other nations for March, for June.. We’re hopeful that once the teams start to qualify, the initial discussions that we’re having will be solidified.»
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