Head coach Jesse Marsch looking for more from Canadian men after friendly loss to U.S.

Jesse Marsch wants to see more from Canada's men's soccer team.

While the head coach liked much of what the squad displayed in their first games following this summer's World Cup, at the end of the international window, he told the group there's still ample work to be done.

"My message to the team was that the performance was good. It was like a seven-and-a-half, maybe pushing toward an eight, right?" Marsch said on Tuesday after the Canadians fell 1-0 to the United States in a friendly matchup in St. Paul, Minn.

"I don't want to be overly critical because I think there's a lot of good going on. It's just you'd like to see a team on the pitch that's more decisive and ready to take moments. And we're not quite there yet."

It's been a historic year for Marsch and his team.

Canada earned its first win in a men's World Cup when it thumped Qatar 6-0 in Vancouver, then took its first win in the tournament's knockout round, defeating South Africa 1-0 in the round of 32. The storybook run ended with Morocco taking a 3-0 victory in the round of 16.

Canadian men's soccer coach Marsch says team hopes to crack top 24 in world rankings

Several Canadians posted performances across the tournament that earned them big moves, with striker Promise David heading to Brighton & Hove Albion in England's Premier League, midfielder Nathan Saliba joining La Liga's Villareal in Spain and vice-captain Stephen Eustaquio signing with Swansea City in the English Championship.

Marsch called 17 athletes who donned the Maple Leaf during the World Cup run — and nine who did not — into a national team camp last month for three friendlies.

The Canadians blanked Chile 1-0 in Toronto on Sept. 26, then took a 2-0 decision over Peru in Montreal on Saturday.

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