For 91 minutes, no one would have enjoyed this except the blazers over at US Soccer.
Jesse Marsch was left ‘devastated’ after being snubbed for the USA job in 2023. So he joined Canada. This was his chance to hop over the border and show his countrymen what might have been.
Instead, in this first game of the round-of-32, Canada and South Africa stunk the place out. That was until the ball broke to Canada midfielder Stephen Eustaquio in stoppage time.
He brought it down outside the area and then fired into the bottom corner. For Canada, it was the biggest goal in the country’s history. For the crowd in Los Angeles? A godsend. Until then, fans faced the prospect of sitting through extra time and penalties.
How Marsch enjoyed the goal, though. He tore on to the pitch to celebrate another slice of history with his team. Once he calms down, he will breathe a huge sigh of relief. Now the winner of Netherlands vs. Morocco awaits in Houston in the last 16.
This was the first time either Canada or South Africa had made it to the knockout rounds in a combined seven attempts. They were helped, of course, by the bloated format. And what a miserable advert this was for Gianni Infantino’s expansion project. The only saving grace? He had to sit through it up in the posh seats.
Stephen Eustaquio scored an injury-time winner as Canada beat South Africa at the World Cup
Jesse Marsch’s team is now into the last 16 of the World Cup for the very first time
Never before had a World Cup host nation played on foreign soil – that was Canada’s punishment for failing to top Group B.
As for Marsch? He had long dreamed of coaching a knockout game in the US but this wasn’t Plan A – belting out ‘O Canada’ and hearing boos. It is funny where life can take you.
The sight of Marsch singing the Canadian national anthem didn’t do much for relations between the 52-year-old and his compatriots. They were already strained after he missed out on the USMNT job and then claimed American players had to be ‘begged’ to sing ‘The Star-Spangled Banner.’
Most of this match hardly enamored Marsch to the US public, either. It was awful. Who could blame the crowd for booing large chunks of both halves?
It took 44 minutes for any real drama. First, from a Canada corner, Moise Bombito’s header was cleared off the line before Tajon Buchanan’s shot was saved. Moments later, Richie Laryea went down in the box. Replays showed that Khuliso Mudau’s boot brushed the ball.
But Marsch wasn’t convinced – he stormed on to pitch at halftime and had to be restrained. He should have been screaming for Alphonso Davies to warm-up.
The Canada captain missed the group stages due to a hamstring issue – despite Marsch insisting he was ready to play, just to mess with their rivals. The Bayern Munich star was ‘truly available’ for this one, apparently. But he did not make it off the bench until 15 minutes from time.
In the end, it was Eustaquio who made the difference.
