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Jakarta (ANTARA) – The Canadian national team will face Uruguay in the third-place match of the Copa America 2024 at Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, North Carolina, on Sunday at 07:00 WIB.

This match could be considered a redemption match for both countries that failed to qualify for the final match, in addition to ending their Copa America journey with a bronze medal.

Canada was not known to have been able to stem Argentina’s dominance after being beaten 0-2, while Uruguay had to accept a painful 0-1 defeat against Colombia.

Victory in the third-place match will allow either Canada or Uruguay to return home with a sense of pride and their heads held high.

Met twice

The 2024 Copa America third-place match between Canada and Uruguay will be the third meeting between the two countries.

Although they can be said to be on the same continent, the first meeting between the two countries took place at the Miami Cup in 1986.

In this match, Canada lost to Uruguay with a crushing score of 0-3 thanks to goals scored by Carlos Aguilera, Santiago Ostolaza and Jose Luis Zalazar.

26 years later, these two countries met again in a friendly match, on September 27, 2022 to be precise, and Uruguay once again emerged victorious thanks to goals from Nicolas de la Cruz and Darwin Nunez.

On the other hand, this semi-final match is Canada’s chance to make history by beating Argentina for the first time.

If Canada ultimately manages to win the match, it will be its first third-place finish at the Copa America.

Meanwhile, if Uruguay emerge victorious, Darwin Nunez and co will record their tenth third-place finish at the Copa America after last achieving it in 2004.

Also read: Jefferson Lerma’s goal takes Colombia to final against Argentina
Also read: Messi, Alvarez goals take Argentina to Copa America final

Next: Trying to create history

Canada now continues to strive to make history again after finishing their Copa America debut in third place.

Despite their status as a rookie team, Jesse Marsch’s team performed rather well in the preliminary round of Group A with a runner-up spot.

After losing the first match against Argentina 0-2, Canada then beat Peru 1-0 and held Chile to a 0-0 draw.

Then, another surprise was created by Jonathan David and his colleagues by managing to get rid of Venezuela, who performed well in the preliminary round of Group B by beating Ecuador 2-1, Mexico 1-0 and Jamaica 3-0.

In the quarter-finals, Canada eliminated Venezuela on penalties after a 1-1 draw over 90 minutes.

Canada’s dream of reaching the final in their Copa America debut finally came to an end in the semi-finals after a 0-2 loss to Argentina.

If they manage to secure third place, Canada will become the third Concacaf country to achieve this feat, after Mexico and Honduras.

Also read: Rookie Canada beats Venezuela to qualify for semi-finals
Also read: Bielsa takes full responsibility for Uruguay’s semi-final defeat

Next: Avoid Disappointments

Ahead of the third-place match against Canada, Uruguay would be looking to avoid disappointment by finishing the 2024 Copa America tournament.

Marcelo Bielsa’s team will certainly want to show again their good performance in the preliminary round of Group C of the Copa America 2024, where Uruguay managed to sweep all three matches, including beating the hosts United States.

In their first match of the group stage, Uruguay beat Panama 3-1 thanks to goals from Maximiliano Araujo, Darwin Nunez and Matias Vina.

Uruguay continued their positive trend in the second match by beating fellow South American side Bolivia by a crushing 5-0 scoreline.

Also read: Uruguay advance to quarter-finals after 5-0 goal feast against Bolivia

La Celeste faced fierce resistance in the last match against the host nation, the United States, but they managed to win the match with a narrow score of 1-0.

Additionally, in the quarter-finals of the Copa America 2024, Uruguay eliminated one of the favorites to win Brazil via penalty shootout after a 1-1 draw for 90 minutes.

Uruguay’s impressive performance finally came to an end in the semi-finals after losing to Colombia by a narrow 0-1 score. The match, marked by clashes between fans and players, can be considered a turning point for the Celeste.

The mental factor is essential for Uruguay against Canada, whether it manages to recover from the defeats and stifling incidents or sinks further into decline.

Also read: Nunez fights, Uruguayan players criticize lack of security guards

Next: Copa America 2024 Review

Ahead of the third-place match against Uruguay, Canadian national team coach Jesse Marsch singled out the 2024 Copa America organizing committee for being unprofessional.

Apart from this, Marsch also highlighted the performance of the referees in this tournament, who he said were not able to protect the players in competition well.

“You know, I agree with some things, and then I disagree with some things. For me, this tournament is unprofessional. There are too many shortcomings. And the treatment and the overall experience from a day-to-day perspective. You know, I watched what happened after the game and of course I don’t know all the details, but of course we don’t want anyone’s family or any player’s family to be in danger,” Marsch said.

“But I know that if Team Canada, if our team responded in this way, there would be severe sanctions because of the treatment we received during this tournament, where our players were head-butted, we were racially abused in person and through social media… We were treated like second-year citizens,” he continued.

Also read: Canadian coach remains proud even though he was beaten by Argentina in the semi-final

In line with Marsch, Uruguayan national team coach Marcelo Bielsa criticized Conmebol as the organizer and the United States as the host for the incident that occurred during the 2024 Copa America.

Bielsa pointed out the incident that occurred after the Uruguay-Colombia semi-final match, where there was chaos between Colombian fans and Uruguayan players.

“The only thing I can say is that the players reacted like any other human being. If you see there is a process to prevent what happened from happening,” Bielsa stressed.

“If you saw that what happened was happening anyway, and there was another process, an outcome, let’s say, and both of those things failed, and you saw your wife, or your mother, or your baby, being attacked, what would you do? You will ask, will they punish those who defend themselves?” he added.

Also read: Bielsa criticises Copa America organisers for chaos in the stands

Next: Predicting the composition

Canada is expected to field its best team using a 4-2-3-1 formation to face Uruguay and will have Maxime Crépeau in goal.

The back four are occupied by Alistair Johnston, Moise Bombito, Derek Cornelius and Alphonso Davies. Then the two midfielders are Ismael Kone and Stephen Eustaquio.

At the wing position occupied by Liam Millar and Jacob Shaffelburg, then Jonathan David as attacking midfielder and Cyle Larin as spearhead.

Uruguay are expected to continue using a 4-2-3-1 formation and will have to make several changes for the match against Canada.

It is recorded that there are at least three names that Marcelo Bielsa must replace, namely Nahitan Nandez, Ronald Araujo and Nicolas de la Cruz.

Also read: Edinson Cavani retires from Uruguay national team

Sergio Rochet will return to the goalkeeper position. The last four are occupied by Sebastian Caceres, Jose Gimenez, Matias Oliveira and Matias Vina. Then, the two midfielders are Manuel Ugarte and Federico Valverde.

The wing positions are occupied by Facundo Pellistri and Maximiliano Araujo, then Giorgian De Arrascaeta as attacking midfielder and Darwin Nunez as spearhead.

Here are the first eleven predictions for Canada vs Uruguay:

Canada (4-2-3-1): Maxime Crepeau; Alphonso Davies, Derek Cornelius, Moise Bombito, Alistair Johnston; Jonathan Osorio, Stephen Eustaquio; Jacob Shaffelburg, Jonathan David, Richie Laryea; Cycle Larin.

Coach: Jesse Marsch (USA).

Uruguay (4-2-3-1): Sergio Rochet; Sebastian Caceres, José Gimenez, Mathias Olivera, Matias Vina; Federico Valverde, Manuel Ugarte; Facundo Pellistri, Giorgian De Arrascaeta, Maximiliano Araujo; Darwin Nunez.

Coach: Marcelo Bielsa (Argentina).

Also read: Full schedule of the final and the match for third place of the Copa America 2024