The Canadian men’s national team will play in arguably the biggest match in their history Tuesday against Argentina in the Copa America semifinals.
Tuesday is yet another marquee day in TSN’s Summer of Soccer as ahead of Canada’s semifinal, Spain and France will meet in a heavyweight contest to decide who will claim the first spot in the UEFA Euro 2024 final.
Canada defeated Venezuela 4-3 on penalty kicks following a 1-1 draw in the quarter-finals, clinching a semifinal berth in their tournament debut. The Canadians faced Argentina in their first-ever Copa America match last month, falling 2-0 in a high-event contest that left the side with optimism they could stand against the world’s best sides.
“We’ve learned a lot from it. Mostly we learned that we can play. We can play with these teams,” manager Jesse Marsch said post-game.
“In the first half we did well defensively, and we had a couple of chances but at this level you have to finish your chances,” captain Alphonso Davies added. “If you make mistakes they punish you, and that’s what they did today.”
Canada held Argentina without a goal in the first half with the reigning world champions showing up five minutes late for the halftime whistle before turning the game around.
The tardiness of the Argentinians drew the ire of Marsch, but don’t expect the same gamesmanship this time around after Argentina’s coach Lionel Scaloni was handed a one-game ban for the final group round game after being late in the each of the first two games.
Lionel Messi finally helped break the deadlock in the 49th minute as he played through ball to Julián Álvarez, who provided the tournament’s first goal. Messi also assisted on Lautaro Martínez’s 88th-minute goal, which put the game away.
While the loss put Canada in an early hole at the Copa America, it also seemed to galvanize the squad and help set the stage for their run to the semifinals.
“Before we played these three matches, I said to the team that no matter what happens in the three matches, we have to come out of it stronger and develop ourselves and be more confident and have more belief,” Marsch said. “I think where we sit right now, as painful as it is to know that we let this game slip away.”
Canada earned three points in their next match with a 1-0 victory against a 10-man Peru side and also benefited from another red card against Chile, earning a 0-0 draw to secure their berth in the knockout round.
The Canadian men came flying out of the gate against Venezuela in their quarter-final, opening the scoring on Jacob Shaffelburg’s marker in just the 13th minute of the game.
The team failed to find a second goal despite a total of 16 shots, seven of which were on net. Salomón Rondón tied the game in the 64th minute for Venezuela when he caught Maxime Crépeau out of his net and chipped the ball over him from the middle of the pitch.
“People will talk about should we score more goals or whatever,” Marsch said. “We should score more goals. But those are two pretty strong performances against very good opponents. You can see that this team is building.”
Argentina, who went a perfect 3-0-0 in the group round without allowing a goal against, also required penalties to advance to the semifinals, surviving a major scare against Ecuador.
Ranked 30th in the world, Ecuador equalled Argentina with 50 per cent possession and tied the game in stoppage time. Despite Messi missing the opening penalty, Argentina managed to advance 4-2 on penalty kicks to keep their hopes of repeating as Copa America champions alive.
Messi entered last Thursday’s quarter-final as a game-time decision with a leg injury, but played the full 90 minutes, stating post-game he was pain-free. The Canadians will once again look to challenge the global superstar, who described the first match as “physically intense.”
The winner of Tuesday’s semifinal at MetLife Stadium will face either Uruguay or Colombia (LIVE Wednesday on TSN) in Sunday’s final. The loser will move into the third place match on Saturday night.
France, Spain open UEFA Euro 2024 Semifinals on TSN
An impressive Spain side will look to continue their strong showing at UEFA Euro 2024 on Tuesday as they face an accomplished, but struggling, France side in the semifinals.
Spain has 11 goals in the tournament so far, while France has just three – two of which came off own goals and the third being provided by a Kylian Mbappé penalty.
Spain also survived arguably the toughest quarter-final draw, facing host Germany in Stuttgart. Substitute Dani Olmo opened the scoring in the second half, but Germany’s Florian Wirtz answered in the 89th minute to push the game to extra time. Mikel Merino played the hero in the final minute to avoid penalties and keep Spain’s perfect record in the tournament intact.
France again struggled for goals in their quarter-final against Portugal, who owned 62 per cent of possession despite being outshot 20-15. The 2022 FIFA World Cup runners up managed to advance five to three on penalties, converting all of their attempts despite Mbappé having been subbed off and a failure to get Olivier Giroud subbed on before the final whistle.
“We’re in the semifinals and it’s something we shouldn’t take for granted, even if we may be used to it recently,” France coach Didier Deschamps said. “Now we go to win it.”
France, the 2018 FIFA World Cup champions, has reached the semifinals in three of its past four tournaments. Spain lost to Italy on penalties at Euro 2020, but crashed out of the 2022 World Cup in the Round of 16 with a loss to Morocco on penalties.
“Very few people gave us a chance and staying under the radar helped us start the tournament with confidence. Spain is a team to respect,” defender Marc Cucurella said. “I knew we had a great team and that’s how it turned out.”
The winner of Tuesday’s semifinal will face either England or the Netherlands, who meet Wednesday in the other semifinal (LIVE on TSN), in Sunday’s final.