(Reuters) – Canada coach Jesse Marsch expressed disappointment with the United States' lackluster performance in the Copa America as the team prepares to face Venezuela in the quarter-finals at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on Friday.
The 50-year-old American coach guided Canada to a 1-0 win over Peru to reach the quarterfinals and finish second in Group A behind defending champions Argentina, while the U.S. lost 1-0 to Uruguay to fail to advance to the finals.
“While I would like to say I am solely focused on our activities in Canada, of course my attention is focused on the U.S. Men's National Team as always and I am as sad as you all are,” the coach said at a news conference on Thursday.
“I'm disappointed in the performance, the lack of discipline. I think there's a lot we've tried to embody in the game in the U.S. and we've always believed in these guys.”
The former Leeds United manager added that Gregg Berhalter's side need to find solutions to their problems.
“I'm not there every day so I don't know exactly what's going on, but it's definitely not what I expected coming into this tournament,” Marsh said.
Canada will be hoping to reach the semifinals with a win against Venezuela, which topped Group B by winning all three games.
(Reporting by Angelica Medina in Mexico City; Editing by Christian Radnage)
