(Reuters) – Canada and Uruguay have differing outlooks about how the Copa America has gone as they clash in the third-place match on Saturday in Charlotte.
In their first-ever Copa America, Canada finished second in Group A and defeated Venezuela in the quarter-finals before falling 2-0 to Argentina in the semis. Both of Canada’s setbacks in the tournament came against Argentina.
Their strong showing has got Canada, an ice hockey-loving nation, showing a growing interest in its soccer squad.
“We want to inspire the nation,” Canada coach Jesse Marsch said. “We want to develop the sport in the country.
“We want people to remember this as a moment in time that changed the trajectory of what this sport is in Canada.”
Uruguay’s bid for a record 16th Copa America crown ended when they fell 1-0 to Colombia in Wednesday’s semi-final, also held in Charlotte.
Uruguay won all three Group C matches by an aggregate 9-1 score and then beat Brazil on penalties in the quarter-finals. But their dominance ended against Colombia despite them having a man-advantage for the entire second half.
“We didn’t make the most of the moments during the first half when we could have equalised,” Uruguay coach Marcelo Bielsa said. “In the second half, we should have created more danger.”
After the match some Uruguay players went into the crowd and fought with Colombian fans.
South American soccer federation and Copa America organisers CONMEBOL have opened an investigation.
When it was suggested to Bielsa that sanctions could be forthcoming for Uruguay, the 68-year-old became agitated.
“The players reacted like any other human being would,” Bielsa said. “If you see that there’s a process to keep what happened from happening, if you see that if what happened happens anyway, and that there’s supposedly another process — an escape hatch, let’s say — and both things fail, and you see your woman or your mother or a baby being attacked, what would you do?
“You’d ask whether they’re going to punish the people who defended themselves? What you should be asking me if you had a minimum amount of sympathy is if the players have received an apology from those who are responsible for caring for every single spectator.”
Marsch was also critical of how the tournament has been run, citing poor treatment of his team and criticising the officiating.
Referees did not call a foul when Canada captain Alphonso Davies was taken down in the semi-final by Argentina’s Gonzalo Montiel and sustained a right ankle injury.
“For me, this tournament has not been professional,” Marsch said.
“I watched what happened after the (Uruguay-Colombia) match and certainly I don’t know all the details, but certainly we wouldn’t want anyone’s families or any player’s families to be put in harm’s way.
“But I know if Team Canada, if our team would have responded like this, that there would be heavy sanctions because of the treatment that we received in this tournament.
“The whole time we’ve had our players be head-butted, we’ve had racial slurs thrown at our players live and through social media… We’ve been treated like second-class citizens.”
Marsch said he does not know if Davies will be available on Saturday.
Uruguay defender Nahitan Nandez will return from a red card suspension tied to his vicious tackle of Brazil’s Rodrygo in the quarter-finals. Another key defender, Ronald Araujo, is out after injuring his leg against Colombia.
(Reporting by Field Level Media; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
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