Marsch lauds Canada's Gold Cup commitment as USMNT wrestles with same topic

New York Times

16 hours ago

VANCOUVER, British Columbia – As the most important summer in Jesse Marsch's tenure in Canada to date gets underway in full, the men's national team head coach has made it clear: critical to success is the involvement of nearly his entire full-strength team at the Concacaf Gold Cup.
'Everybody knows how important this summer is and what it means for (the 2026 World Cup). I've explained my feelings about this tournament to the team over the last months, but I didn't really have to. They all said, 'We're coming, we want to win it.' That's a big statement, but that's how they feel. I'm glad I coach a team that feels that way,' Marsch said after Canada's first Gold Cup training session.
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Marsch is also not shy from lighting a fuse with his comments, and ahead of Canada's two June friendlies against Ukraine and Ivory Coast, he said, 'not one guy has said to me, 'I don't want to come to the pre-Gold Cup.''
The timing of Marsch's comments gave them a clear undertone, as they came following Christian Pulisic's opting not to participate in the Gold Cup for the U.S.
While Marsch doubled down on his comments on Friday – 'It's a unique, selfless group. I haven't been around many teams that have this kind of love and commitment to each other,' he said – he also insisted his comments were not a shot at the U.S. and its star.
'First, there's some dialogue like I'm addressing the U.S. team. That's not true at all. I want to make it clear: I don't care about the U.S. team. And I never want to coach the U.S. national team. I'm making that clear right now,' Marsch said. 'I was just talking about our team.
'The team believes in what's being created, because they're being rewarded for it and they're totally engaged by the whole experience.'
Marsch was also speaking after Pulisic publicly addressed missing the Gold Cup for the first time.
'Towards the second half and the end of the season, my body just started talking to me, and my mind,' Pulisic said Thursday on CBS's Call It What You Want podcast. 'I started to think, you know, what's going to be best for me leading into next year and going into the World Cup. Is that to play eight more games, get no rest at all, go straight into preseason and then grind another year, and go straight into the World Cup? That's not what I felt was best for my body.'
Pulisic said he wanted to be part of the U.S. friendlies against Turkey and Switzerland but not the Gold Cup, only to be rebuffed, as manager Mauricio Pochettino wanted one squad for the whole summer.
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'The only point I would make with that is that I did want to be part of at least the two friendlies,' Pulisic said. 'I did speak with the coaches, and I asked and I wanted to be part of the team in whatever capacity I could. They said no; they said they only wanted one roster, and that's a coach's decision. I fully respect that. I didn't understand it, but it is what it is. I wanted to be a part of that, but that's just the way things went. I had to make the best decision for myself, and also, in the long run, my team — although, clearly, some people haven't seen it that way.'
Even if Marsch is to be believed and was not taking a shot, the current trajectories of the Canada and U.S. national teams with less than a year to go before the World Cup present a stark contrast.
The U.S. has lost its last four matches under Pochettino, including a loss to Canada in the Concacaf Nations League third-place game. Without a full-strength team, it suffered back-to-back friendly losses against European opposition. The Americans looked listless while defending and without clear ingenuity in attack. Their recent play has raised serious questions about how prepared they will be when their World Cup begins on home soil in June 2026.
Canada, meanwhile, played one of its best games under Marsch in a 4-2 dismantling of Ukraine in a June friendly. Despite a loss to Mexico in the Nations League semifinals, Canada has still vaulted up to its highest FIFA ranking ever (30th) under Marsch's aggressive style of play.
Again, while Marsch insists there's no comparison between the two teams, it's hard not to read between the lines here: Canada is earning the results as of late in part because of the commitment Marsch sees in every camp.
Pulisic's absence is far from the only key one the U.S. must confront, though there are various reasons for the others. Midfielder Yunus Musah, right back Sergiño Dest and forward Josh Sargent are among the omissions, while two American starters, Weston McKennie and Tim Weah, will participate in this summer's Club World Cup with Juventus (Gio Reyna will as well, with Dortmund).
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Marsch's team may be closer to full strength but will still be missing a couple of key pieces. There's a center back starter, Nice's Moïse Bombito, who is undergoing wrist surgery, while Alphonso Davies is still recovering from an ACL tear suffered in Canada's Nations League third-place game – a source of consternation and conflict between Marsch and Bayern Munich.
Ismaël Koné missed Canada's Friday's training session to attend to a family matter, but is expected to return to participate in the Gold Cup. Meanwhile, Marsch cited Canada starter Alistair Johnston as evidence of his team's commitment: after a lengthy season in Scotland and the 26-year-old's wedding this summer, the Celtic defender is planning to arrive ahead of Canada's first Gold Cup game against Honduras.
'He's going to figure out a way to come basically straight from his honeymoon,' Marsch said.
There's a little irony in that Marsch himself will be forced to miss the first two group games. His sending-off in the Nations League third-place game resulted in a two-game ban from Concacaf. He'll return for the finale vs. El Salvador and whatever may follow.
'This, unfortunately, is not the first time I've been through this,' Marsch said. 'I always actually enjoy these moments, because it's an opportunity for the team to show leadership, to take ownership, to show that they understand in all ways how to take things over. Obviously, (Canada assistant coach Mauro Biello) and the staff and everybody will be able to manage things fine. But it's a chance for the team to really now show that this is our team, we know how to handle this, and we're going to execute.'
It's still too early to determine what the mass participation and buy-in will mean for Canada's results. But what's clear right now is Marsch has attained a level of willingness that should only strengthen team unity and tactical understanding with the World Cup approaching. Marsch's tactical demands are often contradictory to what his stars, such as Jonathan David and Tajon Buchanan, experience at the club level.
'If the vision is clear and they understand how they fit in and what it means in their lives and in their profession, these guys only want to think about how they can meet standards. That's a pleasure,' Marsch said.
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But the more time they're spending with Canada, the better the entire group should be to fight for Canada's first men's World Cup win.
'You could go to (David) and talk about how unique his situation is and how unique his mentality is,' Marsch said, referencing the fact that David is awaiting a high-profile summer transfer. 'Or you could go to guys like (defender Derek Cornelius), who has had a really long year. You could talk about (Buchanan) and technically he's owned by (Inter Milan) and he could be in the Club World Cup but he made it clear he wants to be here.'
Go back into Canada's recent men's national team history, and that desire wasn't always there. Stars have missed Gold Cups. But with the opportunity to win a first trophy since the 2000 Gold Cup, Canada's national team is looking at this summer differently.
'They all love being with this team,' Marsch said. 'They love the national team.'