Jesse Marsch returns to Los Angeles with Canada, braced for a frosty homecoming | OneFootball

Jesse Marsch, the American coaching Canada, returns home as his side face South Africa at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles on Sunday at 21:00. The welcome could be icy, with the 52-year-old increasingly targeted in the United States.

Before the tournament he drew contrasts between his homeland and his new home. "Basically, Americans, we have big egos," he told La Presse.

Canada had hoped to stay at home after three games in Toronto then Vancouver, with a possible round of 32 and even round of 16 in British Columbia’s capital. Their 1-2 loss to Switzerland on the final group day changed that, so they now cross the border to face South Africa. Marsch had earlier called talk of Canada as America’s 51st state “ridiculous rhetoric”.

Wisconsin-born and Princeton-educated, he played for DC United, Chicago Fire and Chivas, and served as a US assistant in 2010-2011. Overlooked for the Team USA job in favour of Mauricio Pochettino two years ago, he took Canada in 2024 and was extended to 2030, becoming the first American to coach a foreign national side at a World Cup.

He also said that in the United States you sometimes have to beg players to sing the anthem, whereas his Canada squad sing it loudly to show pride. On Fox News, Clint Dempsey responded that he would not take advice from someone who has switched sides and now sings another country’s anthem. Marsch will sing Canada’s anthem on American soil.

Source: L'Équipe