Canada's Marsch on red card vs. USA: 'If I had to do it, I would do it again'

Canada coach Jesse Marsch missed Jonathan David's 59th-minute deciding goal in Sunday's 2-1 win over the U.S. in the CONCACAF Nations League third-place game.

Marsch had been sent off five minutes earlier at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif.

"I was in transit," Marsch explained in an interview Monday. "Actually the elevator doors were closing and I heard an eruption. And then as the door closed I was like 'Well, I hope that's a goal for us.'"

It was.

Marsch, who was en route to a box to watch the rest of the game, was sent off for protesting the lack of a penalty call by Mexican referee Katia Garcia.

On the heels of a missed penalty in Thursday's 2-0 semifinal loss to Mexico when Mexican captain Edson Alvarez got a piece of Derek Cornelius in the Mexican penalty box, Canada and Marsch had had enough.

"I said this a little bit the day before the (third-place) match, the players made it clear to me that we needed to stand up for ourselves," Marsh said. "Obviously I was disappointed with the referee (Honduran Hector Martinez) in the match against Mexico. But they were angry. There's a difference between disappointment and anger. And they were very clear that they think that we need to do something." 

March saw red after Garcia waved play on after David hit the turf the second time in the U.S. penalty box.

Replays seemed to show David lost his footing as he attempted a quick turn to evade defender Max Arfsten. David had also gone down minutes earlier in the U.S. box under pressure from Tyler Adams with Garcia waving play on.

"The only miscalculation I made was I should have had that reaction for the first penalty. Because the second one wasn't a penalty," said Marsch.

Part of the reason for his ire was a conversation Sunday with the fourth official who told him the officiating crew was aware of the Thursday controversy, saying "so we'll make sure we'll handle this the way that we think is appropriate."

Marsch took from that any such calls would be checked by the video assistant referee,

"And when they don't go to VAR (the first time), that's when I should have made the statement," Marsch said.

The fourth official "talked me down," he added.

But Marsch showed his displeasure after the second non-penalty, running into the sideline box of U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino.

"It wasn't like I berated the referee or anything like that. I was just trying to make a statement to go to VAR," he explained.

"It's hard to understand in these situations, first why it's not called in the first place, second why they don't look at it at the very least. That's the whole point of VAR," he added. "And then of course, like the players are saying, you start to ask yourself with that play here, why is this treatment seemingly unfair?"

Ironically Marsh noted that the penalty Panama was awarded in the 2-1 loss to Mexico in the final "is less egregious than what happened to Derek with us."

"And I get the guys' frustration," he said. "If I had to do it, I would do it again. I would do it on the first one."

Marsch reckons he had received four or five red cards previously in his managerial career — and two as a player.

The goal he missed was worth seeing.

After Arfsten dispossessed Tajon Buchanan down the right flank in the U.S. end, the ball bounced off Niko Sigur and went to Mathieu Choiniere's feet. He slipped the ball to Buchanan, cutting into the penalty box. Buchanan went down in a challenge from behind just outside the box but managed to find Ali Ahmed who slotted the ball between two defenders to David just inside the box.

The Lille forward controlled the ball with his left foot, then tapped it to his right to make room for the shot before curling a left-foot strike past a diving Matt Turner.

The play, which started with a long ball from Ismael Kone just inside the Canadian half took some 21 seconds with six Canadians involved. Six Americans plus Turner were in the penalty box when the ball crossed the goal line.

National pride and bragging rights aside, the goal was worth $400,000 (all figures in U.S. dollars) to Canada Soccer, the difference between the third-place prize of $600,000 and the fourth-place payoff of $200,000.

Sunday's win drew kudos from Prime Minister Mark Carney, who reposted Canada's Soccer social media post — with the final score below the words "For Canada Always" with a Canadian flag and flexed bicep emoji — with the pithy message "Well played #TeamCanada."

Marsch offered his congratulations to Mexico for winning the tournament but says he leaves convinced that his is the top team in the region.

Next up is the June 7-10 Canadian Shield tournament 7-10 in Toronto where No. 31 Canada will face No. 25 Ukraine and the 46th-ranked Ivory Coast. That's followed by the CONCACAF Gold Cup, scheduled for June 14 to July 6. Marsch will miss Canada's opener there due to the red card.

Time is passing. After the Gold Cup, there are just five international windows left before the 2026 World Cup kicks off. 

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 24, 2025