Marsch Calls for Fine Over Argentina’s Half time Antics in Copa America opener

The Copa America 2024 began with a dispute as Canada head coach Jesse Marsch wants Argentina punished for its tardiness coming out of the locker room for the second half.

The reigning World Cup champions start with a 2-0 victory in the continental opener. A goalless first 45 minutes in which Canada largely subdued Lionel Messi, but had to oversee extra antics as the Argentines delayed their return to the pitch while the tournament debutants and the match officials waited for them.

Argentina’s mind games are in plenty and they just pulled one out of the baggage to gain an edge in key moments. This was enough to find the eventual match-winning goal just four minutes into the second half.

“Let’s see what happens with Argentina. I think they have to be fined. How late were they? You guys? 20 minutes? 30? I don’t know. It was a long time,” Marsch told reporters after the hard-fought defeat, according to Paul Tenorio of The Athletic. “But they had that time to prepare how they wanted to play against us in the second half, which if we would have known ahead of time that we could have an extra 10 minutes then we could have prepared some things more.”

Canada was also fumed with some of the decisions made by referee Jesús Valenzuela at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. The team will look to get back on their feet against Peru on June 25.