Marsch calls for Argentina to be fined for halftime delay
Published
Canada's manager Jesse Marsch sounded off postgame after Argentina was late in returning to the pitch for the second half the Copa America opener between the two sides Thursday night.
Canada waited on the field for roughly five minutes before Argentina finally exited the locker room. The two sides were locked in a scoreless draw entering halftime, but the defending champions struck early in the second half to grab a 1-0 lead.
After that goal by Julián Álvarez in the 49th minute, Lautaro Martínez put the game away with his goal in the 88th minute, securing a 2-0 victory.
"When they were waiting, I knew that they were looking at video and they were analyzing how they wanted to play against us. Now, I wish again the referees would manage that," Marsch said.
"If we were five minutes late, we'd get a fine. There would be a big problem. Let's see what happens with Argentina, I think they have to be fined. How late were they? Twenty minutes? Thirty?
"It was a long time. But they had that time to prepare how they wanted to play against us in the second half, which if we would have known ahead of time that we could have an extra 10 minutes then we could have prepared some things more."
Canada will continue their first-ever Copa America on Tuesday night against Peru, with Marsch once again seeking his first win since taking over as Canada's manager.