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Jakarta (ANTARA) – Canadian national team coach Jesse Marsch admitted that he appreciated the opportunity to face world champions Argentina in the 2024 Copa America semi-finals, the United States, after their victory against Venezuela on penalties at AT&T Stadium, Cowboys, local Friday. hour or Saturday morning WIB.

Canada, who managed just one win in the group stage, surprised Venezuela, who were perfect with three wins in the group stage, with a 4-3 win on penalties after a 1-all draw -1 for 90 minutes.

As the first team, the Canuks have the opportunity to reach the final if they manage to beat defending champions Argentina on Tuesday (9/7) local time or Wednesday (10/7) at 07:00 WIB at MetLife Stadium , East Rutherford.

This is Canada’s second meeting against Argentina in the Copa America after losing the first meeting in the group stage by a score of 0-2.

“We will face the best team in the world in the semi-final. “We are very happy about it,” Marsch said on Saturday, quoted by AFP.

Also read: Copa America 2024 – Debutant Canada beats Venezuela and qualifies for the semi-finals

“We have to play the best game possible against Argentina and even that may not be enough,” he added.

The former Leeds United coach only took charge of the Canadian team in mid-May. However, seeing the performance of his team’s children, full of energy and pressure against Venezuela, made him feel that his team deserved to win.

“We were the better team and we deserved to win,” Marsch said.

“We believe more and more in ourselves and our confidence is increasing,” he added.

For his part, Venezuela coach Fernando Batista said his team, which won all three matches in the group stage, enjoyed this year’s Copa America, despite being eliminated in the quarter-finals.

Also read: Alvarez and Lautaro lead Argentina to open Copa America with three points

“I leave angry to have lost on penalties, without losing a match in 90 minutes, but I am proud of my players, who played superbly in the Copa America,” he said.

“I’m not surprised for Canada, because they were in a very tough group and finished ahead of Peru and Chile and they played Argentina,” he said. “It’s football and a penalty sent us home,” he continued.

“This team has more and more character… we have to work hard and focus on qualifying (for the World Cup), which is our main goal, we will continue to improve,” he concluded.

This news was published on Antaranews.com with the title: Canada coach happy to meet Argentina in semi-final