Canada's Copa América run sparks redemption arc for Marsch - ESPN

It's good to be Jesse Marsch right now. Earlier this week, he got to drop some quotes about the performance of the United States, a year or so after he was denied an opportunity to manage his home country's team. Then, in Arlington, Texas, on Friday night, he led his own team to the Copa América semifinals.

After a 1-1 draw in regulation, Canada defeated Venezuela 4-3 in penalties, earning a rematch against Argentina. They are the third Concacaf team to advance to the semifinals in their Copa América debut, following Mexico in 1993 and Honduras in 2001.

Both Canada and Venezuela played this match like they knew how important and rare the opportunity was. Both teams moved the ball with extreme verticality, quickly pushing it from one end of the pitch to the other. Venezuela played like there was a shot clock, attempting several long-range shots at the first opportunity; of their 16 shot attempts, only three were within 8 meters of the goal, and none was worth more than 0.2 xG.

Canada, meanwhile, continued a tournament-long issue, creating decent opportunities but sending them skyward. They attempted 16 shots worth 1.9 xG, but as they have all tournament, they struggled to finish. But Moïse Bombito, Ismaël Koné and stars Jonathan David and Alphonso Davies buried their penalty kicks in the shootout, and they're advancing because of it.

The 2024 Copa América has served as both a status check and a learning experience for ambitious North American squads. Mexico's dire performance, scoring one goal on the way to a group stage exit, was the latest step in an ongoing downfall for Concacaf's once-shining light. The United States' own group stage exit reinforced a sense of stagnation following an encouraging World Cup performance