Match Thread: Copa America Group A - Matchday 1 - Argentina v Canada - June 20, 2024 - 8pm local time (ET) / 5pm PT

[clamlinguine]

3 hours ago, Joe MacCarthy said:

Who was it that said Crepeau wasn't aggressive?

Well obviously he heard my critique and made adjustments. No need to thank me though, all the credit should go to Max. 

[Gian-Luca]

2 hours ago, Olympique_de_Marseille said:

Matthew Scianitti annoying me tonight with his question.

Duthie was annoying me more immediately post-game, but Scianitti may have topped him with his appearance with late night appearance with Jay Onrait when he said that "I spoke to Alphonso Davies after the game and he said that the team needs to change its attitude.  And attitude has to mean finishing".

Yes, that's right. Canada being unable to score against the two World Cup finalists (who are obviously very easy to score against, as we saw with Austria popping 7 past France the other day in the Euros) while shutting them out for three halves is down to their attitude. If only Eustaquio had a better attitude, he would have beaten Martinez with that point-blank header.

I've watched a lot of of post-game coverage from various outlets, and TSN have easily been the harshest. It's like they are being paid off by Tactical Manager to be as out-to-lunch negative as possible. Compare TSN's negativity to this, for example:

 

Edited June 21 by Gian-Luca

[GasPed]

15 minutes ago, JAVIERF said:

Messi strongly talked to our journalists about this Bombito fellow he almost breaks him in half his right leg

Not the first time (or the worst time) a Canadian CB has given him an impetuous challenge.  Welcome to CONCACAF, Leo!

[Unnamed Trialist]

4 hours ago, JAVIERF said:

Scaloni said "that the pitch was atrocious and they could have gotten injured both teams , the. US organization knew we were playing here 60 days earlier and they just placed the real grass 48 HS prior that's a SHAME! " 

Vergüenza: that's a DISGRACE!

The Bombito foul on Messi was rash but wasn't worse than the similar foul on Davies 2nd half.

[Unnamed Trialist]

3 hours ago, JAVIERF said:

Dibu Martinez  the best " Canada is a strong side with good and renowned footballers that made us difficult even when we were ahead " 

The worst " the pitch was a disaster you can't compare to the EUROCOPA when you play in places like this, the pitch was horrendous "

https://www.independent.co.uk/sport/football/england-denmark-pitch-euro-2024-b2566085.html

The pitch in Frankfurt last night received similar complaints so he's mistaken. 

[TGAA_Star]

Refereeing was so biased like how you have South American referees refereeing this match? Makes no sense because almost every call was in Argentina's favor clearly. What I want is more fair officiating. What I want are referees who are going to be fair and neutral or at least referees who are not South American. 

 

However, seeing the racism from Argentinian fans towards Bombito, I'm not surprised at all. Shows the class they have.

[Mattd97]

6 hours ago, JAVIERF said:

Davies missed a sitter in first half he kicked it row z inside the box very clear 

David 2nd half missed a sitter too

Eustaquio attemp well headed on was a world class save by DIBU 

 

6 hours ago, JAVIERF said:

Scaloni said "that the pitch was atrocious and they could have gotten injured both teams , the. US organization knew we were playing here 60 days earlier and they just placed the real grass 48 HS prior that's a SHAME! " 

 

6 hours ago, JAVIERF said:

Messi just trash talked about Bombito' s reckless unnecessary challenge on national television TYC SPORTS after the journalist asked him about his limp 

Sounds like a country full of whiners who don't know what a sitter is

[Unnamed Trialist]

1 hour ago, TGAA_Star said:

Refereeing was so biased like how you have South American referees refereeing this match? Makes no sense because almost every call was in Argentina's favor clearly. What I want is more fair officiating. What I want are referees who are going to be fair and neutral or at least referees who are not South American. 

However, seeing the racism from Argentinian fans towards Bombito, I'm not surprised at all. Shows the class they have.

The racism even from Argentine pundits in Spain is pathetic. 2 months ago in a Champions League match Germán "Mono" Burgos, who is a commentator with Movistar and used to be an assistant with Simeone, saw Lamine Yamal juggling before a match and said, "well he can always do that at intersections in Argentina if he stops playing", which was not only racist, but classist. And all the Argentines thought it was a neutral comment, unable to recognize the prejudice. Oh yeah, well guys do that in Argentina. Only that Lamine, apart from being just 16, was born in Spain to a mother from Equatorial Guinea (which was a Spanish colony) and a Moroccan father. The guy knew what he was saying. Luckily Movistar fired him, he was a disgusting slob anyways.

Argentines are very brilliant analyzing football and often speak extremely well, like Valdano, but they are smug as shit, racially totally lacking in diversity, and are, by far, the most hated people by other South Americans. 

[narduch]

Marsch saying Argentina should be fined for coming out late at the half.

[Cadeau]

2 hours ago, TGAA_Star said:

Refereeing was so biased like how you have South American referees refereeing this match? Makes no sense because almost every call was in Argentina's favor clearly. What I want is more fair officiating. What I want are referees who are going to be fair and neutral or at least referees who are not South American. 

 

However, seeing the racism from Argentinian fans towards Bombito, I'm not surprised at all. Shows the class they have.

Certain countries progressing (US, Mex, Argentina) are no doubt desired outcomes. Canada must keep progressing and plugging until we become undeniable!

[Sal333]

Although the score doesn't indicate it, our players (except Crepeau) were played off the field. If we had any other goalkeeper, the score would have been worse than the one against the Netherlands. Yes, yes, I know the goalkeeper is part of the team. It's the same thing with the French game. They outplayed us but Crepeau made it respectable. The difference between the last two games and the Dutch one is that Crepeau wasn't playing in that first game. That's point #1.

Point #2 it's three games now and our offense is as weak as a newborn baby. Our offence! The best in Concacaf barely managed what? Two shots on target in three games?

Point #3 a manager doesn't play the game but when good players don't deliver under his watch you have to ask if his tactics are any good. Buchanan, Davies, Larin and David are not doing what they're excellent at. Providing offence. And don't tell me David and Larin played well defending. I don't want David and Larin defending.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            Point #4  how many breakaways did Argentine have last night? 4? 5? I lost count. This is not a well organized team on the field. I was switching between the American and British broadcast. They couldn't believe the high line that Marsch had his backline play. Maybe the video coach should replay for him those breaks that Argentina had on a lone Crepeau.

I know the comeback. We played 3 of the top 7 footballing nations and the score was respectable in two of the three games. I counter with that's because Crepeau may have just earned himself a transfer to a team in one of the top 5 football leagues in the Europe. He was that good.

Sorry with the rant but I got tried of listening to Kristian Jack and the whole crew at One Soccer playing it up like these last three games were a good thing.

[JAVIERF]

2 hours ago, TGAA_Star said:

Refereeing was so biased like how you have South American referees refereeing this match? Makes no sense because almost every call was in Argentina's favor clearly. What I want is more fair officiating. What I want are referees who are going to be fair and neutral or at least referees who are not South American. 

 

However, seeing the racism from Argentinian fans towards Bombito, I'm not surprised at all. Shows the class they have.

1) in Euro you have European refs in Copa America you have refs from ...America from Pole to Pole.  

2) There isn't a hint of racism about BOMBITÓ as they pronounced it down here ,  but he is as NASTY as you can get and a BAD person too!! Why ? ( Simple , he made a clown of himself because he couldn't control a rebound or a pass ,  he went to the floor to injure LIONEL in the ligaments of his ankle but then his knee cap moved awkwardly, that's what a bad person do,  if he was a smart player he would t rush in and try to injure a fellow footballer to cover up his controlling mistake,  In the middle of the park ) 

Bombito I don't know what Canadians see about this fellow he isn't Paul McGrath nor Baresi!!! I would rather see him as right back but as LIBERO he Is a liability and he will get a red sooner than later

[Sal333]

2 hours ago, TGAA_Star said:

However, seeing the racism from Argentinian fans towards Bombito, I'm not surprised at all. Shows the class they have.

You should read up on Argentine history - especially during President  Domingo Faustino Sarmiento's term. Argentina like the other South American countries dealt in the slave trade. In the 19th century Argentina eliminated it's black population with racist laws and with it's war against Paraguay. They sent black Argentines to fight that war. Pouf in a matter of a few years blacks disappeared from Argentina. Anyway, this is not a History channel

Edited June 21 by Sal333

[JAVIERF]

3 hours ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

Vergüenza: that's a DISGRACE!

The Bombito foul on Messi was rash but wasn't worse than the similar foul on Davies 2nd half.

That was a revenge you don't understand,  You tried to injure him one of our guys will kick one of yours )  that is football law

[sebdeserio]

7 minutes ago, JAVIERF said:

1) in Euro you have European refs in Copa America you have refs from ...America from Pole to Pole.  

2) There isn't a hint of racism about BOMBITÓ as they pronounced it down here ,  but he is as NASTY as you can get and a BAD person too!! Why ? ( Simple , he made a clown of himself because he couldn't control a rebound or a pass ,  he went to the floor to injure LIONEL in the ligaments of his ankle but then his knee cap moved awkwardly, that's what a bad person do,  if he was a smart player he would t rush in and try to injure a fellow footballer to cover up his controlling mistake,  In the middle of the park ) 

Bombito I don't know what Canadians see about this fellow he isn't Paul McGrath nor Baresi!!! I would rather see him as right back but as LIBERO he Is a liability and he will get a red sooner than later

Paredes is all that and worst he's the worst part of football. 

[JAVIERF]

3 minutes ago, Sal333 said:

You should read up on Argentine history - especially during President  Domingo Faustino Sarmiento's term. Argentina like the other South American countries dealt in the slave trade. In the 19th century Argentina eliminated it's black population with racist laws and with it's war against Paraguay. They sent black Argentines to fight that war. Anyway, this is not a History channel

That's true mostly Spaniards or sons of Spaniards were ruling the country.  Also most mestizos population that were very poor at the time died in a leper pest in the most crowded cities nationwide ( Buenos Aires -Rosario- Mar del Plata ).  But also you have to add that those people were descendants of slaves of Africa that the Dutch and Portuguese sent to Brazil,  they escaped their captors and some went south ( Uruguay or Argentina ) some went north ( Venezuela Ecuador etc ) .  Argentina Constitution was against slavery.

[Unnamed Trialist]

I disagree with the above Sal post for a few reasons. I can understand it is a well-thought frustration post to a point by @Sal333 but it is a bit over the top.

Point 1, mistaken: France put no pressure on us up high, and not that much in the middle, their intensity was inferior and we had more play and chances. No comparison with Argentina's intensity last night. 

Point 2, correct.

Point 3, give him a bit of time, he started training with the players on June 3rd.

Point 4, I think you were probably right we could have hung back more, but it would have stretched our shape. The high line enabled our mids to get further forward, kept the press tighter. 

Point of comparison, Spain dominated Italy far more than Argentina dominated us. We showed much better than Italy did last night. That entire match was played in the Italy end, with 5-6 great Spain chances and certain players being humiliated on the field, Di Lorenzo at RB was terrorized from m. 1, and they had no football of any quality whatsoever. And it was still only 1-0 on an own goal.

We had plenty of phases, stymied them for large parts of the game, had chances, won corner kicks from both sides, meaning we were attacking. Got onto balls in the box. Had unlucky bounces against us too, that Tajon chance could have gone differently. Then we had about 8-10 dumb giveaways that would have meant continuity in attack, more ball, and less pressure on our backline. We could have done better. 

The only real risk was our higher line, because as we pressured high, and they could not play through the midfield, they adjusted and hit longer balls through, Paredes adjusted above all. So Max had to come up big about 3-4 times, and our defenders. 

Finally, if you are 1-0 m 85, you are still in a game with a chance at a result and are playing for it. That was the case. The only other thing I would ask for is certain players understanding what passing in possession means, the same guys who probably need a move up and out of their current clubs or leagues to have those kinds of demands put on them (Kone, Johnston, Millar even), or guys who just need to get more pro experience (Bombito).

Edited June 21 by Unnamed Trialist

[JAVIERF]

35 minutes ago, Sal333 said:

Although the score doesn't indicate it, our players (except Crepeau) were played off the field. If we had any other goalkeeper, the score would have been worse than the one against the Netherlands. Yes, yes, I know the goalkeeper is part of the team. It's the same thing with the French game. They outplayed us but Crepeau made it respectable. The difference between the last two games and the Dutch one is that Crepeau wasn't playing in that first game. That's point #1.

Point #2 it's three games now and our offense is as weak as a newborn baby. Our offence! The best in Concacaf barely managed what? Two shots on target in three games?

Point #3 a manager doesn't play the game but when good players don't deliver under his watch you have to ask if his tactics are any good. Buchanan, Davies, Larin and David are not doing what they're excellent at. Providing offence. And don't tell me David and Larin played well defending. I don't want David and Larin defending.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            Point #4  how many breakaways did Argentine have last night? 4? 5? I lost count. This is not a well organized team on the field. I was switching between the American and British broadcast. They couldn't believe the high line that Marsch had his backline play. Maybe the video coach should replay for him those breaks that Argentina had on a lone Crepeau.

I know the comeback. We played 3 of the top 7 footballing nations and the score was respectable in two of the three games. I counter with that's because Crepeau may have just earned himself a transfer to a team in one of the top 5 football leagues in the Europe. He was that good.

Sorry with the rant but I got tried of listening to Kristian Jack and the whole crew at One Soccer playing it up like these last three games were a good thing.

Agreed.  Scaloni and Lothar Martínez were saying that tactically Canada played similar to Saudi Arabia, a higher line and they were trying to close gaps and spaces.  David was next to Eustaquio and Koné to cover (and that left Larin fighting with Paredes and Romero/ Lisandro).

You need s defensive midfielder to free up Eustaquio to dictate tempo.  Maybe Bombito or Waterman and Piette could play there.  

 

[narduch]

21 minutes ago, JAVIERF said:

1) in Euro you have European refs in Copa America you have refs from ...America from Pole to Pole.  

2) There isn't a hint of racism about BOMBITÓ as they pronounced it down here ,  but he is as NASTY as you can get and a BAD person too!! Why ? ( Simple , he made a clown of himself because he couldn't control a rebound or a pass ,  he went to the floor to injure LIONEL in the ligaments of his ankle but then his knee cap moved awkwardly, that's what a bad person do,  if he was a smart player he would t rush in and try to injure a fellow footballer to cover up his controlling mistake,  In the middle of the park ) 

Bombito I don't know what Canadians see about this fellow he isn't Paul McGrath nor Baresi!!! I would rather see him as right back but as LIBERO he Is a liability and he will get a red sooner than later

Speaking of making a clown of yourself 

[JAVIERF]

10 minutes ago, sebdeserio said:

Paredes is all that and worst he's the worst part of football. 

It could be , but he wouldn't do that to try to injure a fellow footballer to cover up a mistake.  Paredes Is an elegant center midfielder former playmaker and he had to add some dirty deeds to his game to play center midfield.  He was transformed from Playmaker to holding midfielder in Italy.  

One thing about clumsy Bombitó , he shouldnt have gone to the floor! He got exposée as nasty and dangerous action as you can get .  Was better to stay up and either grab Messi or track him back since he is fast ,  he created that chance for Argentina that Lautaro was denied by s supernatural Creapeau 

[mpg_29]

24 minutes ago, Sal333 said:

Although the score doesn't indicate it, our players (except Crepeau) were played off the field. If we had any other goalkeeper, the score would have been worse than the one against the Netherlands. Yes, yes, I know the goalkeeper is part of the team. It's the same thing with the French game. They outplayed us but Crepeau made it respectable. The difference between the last two games and the Dutch one is that Crepeau wasn't playing in that first game. That's point #1.

Point #2 it's three games now and our offense is as weak as a newborn baby. Our offence! The best in Concacaf barely managed what? Two shots on target in three games?

Point #3 a manager doesn't play the game but when good players don't deliver under his watch you have to ask if his tactics are any good. Buchanan, Davies, Larin and David are not doing what they're excellent at. Providing offence. And don't tell me David and Larin played well defending. I don't want David and Larin defending.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            Point #4  how many breakaways did Argentine have last night? 4? 5? I lost count. This is not a well organized team on the field. I was switching between the American and British broadcast. They couldn't believe the high line that Marsch had his backline play. Maybe the video coach should replay for him those breaks that Argentina had on a lone Crepeau.

I know the comeback. We played 3 of the top 7 footballing nations and the score was respectable in two of the three games. I counter with that's because Crepeau may have just earned himself a transfer to a team in one of the top 5 football leagues in the Europe. He was that good.

Sorry with the rant but I got tried of listening to Kristian Jack and the whole crew at One Soccer playing it up like these last three games were a good thing.

Not sure I agree with this exactly. During the first half of the game last night I realized there IS something to Marsch's system that is making us generally more consistent and solid overall. We've had a decent 180mins out of 270mins against the No 1, 2 and 7 ranked teams in the world. That's basically unimageable for us at any point in history.

Not saying it's perfect. I'm not sure why the backline is playing so high other than possibly to keep the team in a relatively compact formation and not leave any space between our lines. That does risk long balls over the top but that still may play to our backlines advantage given their pace. Argentina looked stumped at times when they had the ball in how to play it through us.

Also when it comes to finishing I'm not sure there is any answer. We've always struggled to finish against better teams and honestly that may continue...

[JAVIERF]

3 minutes ago, narduch said:

Speaking of making a clown of yourself 

Yes I should not placed Bombitó and Paul McGrath or Baresi in the same sentence.  

Bad one thanks my hero !

[WestHamCanadianinOxford]

41 minutes ago, Sal333 said:

Sorry with the rant but I got tried of listening to Kristian Jack and the whole crew at One Soccer playing it up like these last three games were a good thing.

My mom used to tell us kids: "You aren't sorry if you keep doing it." 😄.

[Sal333]

18 minutes ago, Unnamed Trialist said:

 

Finally, if you are 1-0 m 85, you are still in a game with a chance at a result and are playing for it. That was the case. 

You gotta ask yourself why it was 1-0 after 85. Was it because of the way the team played overall or because - and now I'll use a hockey expression - Crepeau stood on his head?

[Sal333]

10 minutes ago, WestHamCanadianinOxford said:

My mom used to tell us kids: "You aren't sorry if you keep doing it." 😄.

So your mother accused you of lying all the time?