(Reuters) – Uruguay needed a late equaliser and a penalty shootout to beat Canada in the Copa America third-place play-off on Saturday, but coach Marcelo Bielsa said the South Americans performed well below their ability.
Canada made several changes to their lineup leading up to the match and came out as a fresher team, causing Uruguay numerous problems.
Uruguay, ranked 14th in the world, was on the brink of a shock defeat to a team ranked 48th and making their Copa America debut, but Luis Suarez scored a stoppage-time goal to send the game to penalties, which Bielsa's side won 4-3.
“It was not a great performance. The draw was at best a marginally reasonable result. I think the opposing manager's decision to prioritise physicality rather than the usual starting XI would have worked better,” Bielsa told reporters.
“We used our usual starting line-up, even though we were tired. There were ups and downs. Both teams created equal chances, but to be honest, we didn't play well.”
“Regarding this third place, I think Uruguay is one of the best three teams in the tournament. Even if this tournament comes after a long season and fatigue affected the players, I thought that we could have played a little better than we did, considering the composition of our squad.”
Bielsa's colleague Jesse Marsch, who took over as Canada manager in May, said he was proud of the progress the team had made in a short space of time, adding: “The players are disappointed that we lost the games.”
“But I was very positive about them. We've been together for a little over six weeks. We went into this game, put some new players on the pitch, played for me against one of the best teams in the world and dominated the game.”
“We are a young team. If you look at the teams we are playing against, they are all experienced players, they play for big clubs and have a lot of experience of how to deal with situations. And we are still developing that.”
The American also praised Canada's reserve players for quickly adapting to his style of play despite receiving little playing time.
“It was great to see the new guys coming in and really articulating the style of play we have,” Marsh said.
“It's not that easy to build a tactical model in such a short amount of time, against such strong opponents and under such high stress, and then see them react, perform and execute at such a high level. So, again, this is a very positive sign.”
“It's a really great group. This team has incredible potential.”
(Reporting by Aadhi Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Jamie Freed)
