NEWS
Fought hard, but not enough: Jesse Marsch laments bad luck
Despite a valiant performance, the Canadians are eliminated from the tournament. For coach Jesse Marsch, they still put up a strong fight.
For Jesse Marsch and his Canadians, a good home World Cup comes to an end, as the co-hosts are eliminated in the Round of 16 against Morocco (For the match report>>>).
Nevertheless, the true hockey nation can be satisfied with the tournament, having reached the knockout stage for the first time.
There, they won the Round of 32 against South Africa with a last-minute goal, and even in the 0-3 loss against the Moroccans, they were by no means without chances.
"We were the better team"
On the contrary, before the break, the Canadians were clearly the better team, and according to coach Jesse Marsch, even over the entire match, as he stated in the post-match interview:
"We were the better team, apart from a few moments! It wasn't due to a lack of intensity."
Morocco naturally has a lot of quality in the final third, "and we lacked a bit in creating good chances. But the match plan, the idea of how we want to play football, our guys who believe so much in themselves, to play against a team that hasn't lost for so long," he said, still proud of the performance.
The former Salzburg coach suffered along on the sideline in his usual emotional manner, and was emotionally charged during the interview as well: "We were the better team in the first and second half; they had exactly one play for the 1-0, and that was it."
Canadians can still draw a positive conclusion
In the end, Canada certainly had the opportunities to turn the game in their favor, but in the decisive moments, the class of the Moroccans prevailed.
Nevertheless, Canadian football, especially looking back at the last World Cup in Qatar four years ago, where they were eliminated without a whimper in the group stage after three defeats, can certainly be satisfied with the development and look confidently into the future.
For Morocco, on the other hand, the journey continues. The "Atlas Lions" can dream of writing a similar World Cup fairy tale to four years ago, where they were able to reach the semi-finals.
