Marsch, players sidestep drone questions ahead of U.S. match
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KANSAS CITY -- As the Canadian men's national team prepares to face the United States and Mexico in its first international window since finishing fourth at Copa América, the players and head coach Jesse Marsch faced questions about whether the program has benefited from using drones to spy on opponents.
“For us, the drone scandal is not a part of our preparation or even in our mindset,” Marsch said Thursday. “Our mindset has been entirely on getting back together enjoying our time together, the preparation for two important games.
“I haven't even heard the word drone, other than you guys in the media. We’re excited for these matches and we’re ready to go.”
The team’s accomplishments at Copa América came under scrutiny after Canada Soccer general secretary Kevin Blue revealed to the media in late July that there was “attempted drone usage” during the event.
Although Blue insisted the situation was “significantly different” from the scenario at the Paris Olympics – where women's head coach Bev Priestman and two team staff members were sent home for their involvement in flying a drone over New Zealand's practice – Canada Soccer commissioned a third party to investigate how spying on opponents’ practices became part of the culture at the organization.
“For me, as of now, I'm going to let the CSA do its investigation,” said captain Alphonso Davies on Thursday. “My main focus is the two games coming up to focus on that and to play to the best of our ability that we can.”
TSN senior correspondent Rick Westhead has reported extensively on instances of drone usage at Canada Soccer that apparently trace back to former men's and women's national team head coach John Herdman.
Current members of the coaching staff and players have also told TSN that they're certain the impending report will create distance between Marsch's time as Canada head coach and the actions of previous coaches. Marsch became coach of the national team in May.
Still, both Davies and all-time leading men's goal scorer Cyle Larin would not say Thursday if they had ever watched drone footage to prepare for an opponent. They also insisted nothing should diminish the players’ hard work, including qualification for the 2022 World Cup.
“The work that we did on the field every day in, and day out was the reason why we got into the [2022] World Cup and how well we did in qualifying,” Larin said. “We trained hard, we prepared well tactically, and we showed it on the field. When you watch the game, it's what we do on the field.”
“People talking about drones doesn't take away from how well this team is doing,” Davies added.
Canada will face the U.S. Saturday inside Children's Mercy Park in Kansas City before travelling to Arlington, Texas to face Mexico at AT&T Stadium next Tuesday.