Canada men's national team coach Jesse Marsch called his side's Copa America semi-final match against Lionel Messi and Argentina a “privilege” before confirming the defensive plan to limit the Argentine forward when they meet on Tuesday.
“We didn't do well enough with Messi in the last game, he could run too free at our goalkeeper,” Marsch said. “We won't man-mark, but we will certainly put emphasis on how to defend him. How to follow him will be very important, and things that make things difficult for him, like limiting his space, is our number one priority.
“We don't want him to run freely through our defensive line like he did in the last game, but we all know he's the best player of all time, we have a lot of respect for him and the stadium will certainly reflect that tomorrow, but it's always a privilege to play against a player like him.”
Argentina will have Messi in its starting lineup against Canada, adding confidence to Lionel Scaloni's offense and posing a challenge for the rest of Concacaf's teams in the tournament.
“Our players will be excited and eager to play,” added Marsch. “The challenge is great. We'll see if we can do better than in the first match.”
The two teams will meet on Tuesday for the second time in the Copa America, after the tournament opened on June 20 at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. Although Argentina won 2-0 in the opening match, Scaloni confirmed that the first result against the Canadians means very little in preparing for the semifinal.
“We do not know [if facing them a second time is an advantage or disadvantage]”Scaloni said. “It was like with Ecuador, the game was completely different from our friendly. Every coach takes notes and corrects mistakes. Every coach and team will do something different, we will be behind the ball and try to stop them from executing their plan.
“They have important players who are physically and technically good. They have a coach who transmits an aggressive style of play, they put pressure on you and make you play on the outside. They are a good team that has made things difficult for several teams. And we hope that tomorrow things go well for us.”
“With our weapons we hope that tomorrow things will turn out the way we want them to.”
Canada triumphed over Venezuela on penalties during the quarter-finals to qualify for the semi-finals, while Argentina also needed a penalty shoot-out to beat Ecuador, as the two teams prepare to compete for a place in the final on July 14.
“The goal when you play this tournament is to reach the final and play as many matches as possible,” Scaloni said. “First we managed to reach the semi-final and we hope to reach the final tomorrow.”
The winner of Tuesday's match will travel to Miami, Florida, to face one of the other two semifinalists in Uruguay or Colombia, while the loser heads to Charlotte, North Carolina, for the third-place match.
