The first Copa América semifinal will feature heavy favorites Argentina against an underdog Canada team.
As the reigning Copa América and World Cup champion Argentina looks to win its third major international trophy in a row, it’s hardly surprising to see the Lionel Messi-led team back on this stage. However, after defeating Group B champion Venezuela on penalties following a 1-1 draw in the quarterfinal on Friday, Canada has emerged as the tournament’s underdog in its inaugural Copa América.
Just six games have passed since May, when Canada’s head coach, Jesse Marsch, was hired, but his team is already playing in the kind of daring, attacking manner for which the American was renowned while coaching clubs in Europe.
Even then, Tuesday’s semifinal will have passed in just 19 days since these two countries’ 2024 Copa América opener, which Argentina won 2-0 because of goals from star forwards Lautaro Martinez and Julian Álvarez in the second half, both of which were set up by the incredible Messi.
Can Canada take advantage of the familiarity as Marsch and company attempt to pull off yet another incredible upset? Wes Morgan, Melissa Ortiz, and Jimmy Conrad from “FOX Soccer NOW” offered their opinions.
“Your first game in a Copa América is against the best team in the world—tthat’s hard,” Ortiz stated. And instead of giving up, the people in Canada held on. Even though they lost, they obviously learned from the match. And you could see that they were actually able to win [against Venezuela] and that they deserved to win once they were able to play, acquire confidence, and get more involved in the competition.”
Conrad compared Canada’s match against Venezuela to the opening match against Argentina, where the teams combined for 28 shots, 11 of which were on goal. He questioned if Argentina would be more prepared for this style of game, as seen in the second half of Messi’s first match.
Jesse Marsch’s methodology is characterized by a “gas-only” approach, requiring adjustments for high-caliber teams like Argentina. Conrad believes that it’s foolish to simply repeat the same strategy, as it would be naive to apply lessons from the first game and not apply them to the second.
Canada’s coach, Ortiz, believes that the team gains a key advantage as they have nothing to lose and have already faced the intimidation of facing Argentina in a Copa América match. He believes that Canada is now finding their identity more game by game, knowing from their last matches, especially against Venezuela, that they can press and push up high but not get caught too high. This will lead to a lot of tactical work in the coming days.
Morgan and his co-hosts believe that Marsch is intelligent enough to try the same strategy against Argentina on Tuesday, expecting a different result. They believe Marsch understands the caliber of the opponent and will respect Argentina’s best players. However, they also believe he wants to impose himself on the game, not absorb pressure and hope for a win. Morgan believes that Argentina’s performance in the Venezuela game was a good example of their potential going forward. They believe that football can be unpredictable, and Marsch’s approach is not expected to be the same.
