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Jesse Marsch knows he says things people don’t like.
He’s not going to stop.
“Look, I’m American. But I’m proud and really proud to be the coach of the Canadian national team,” Canada’s men’s soccer coach said Monday.
“And I think we know that whether people agree with them or not, sometimes I’m not afraid to say what I feel needs to be said or needs to be said.”
Marsch, of Racine, Wisc., drew fire this week for comments he made about the American mentality in a wide-ranging interview with The Guardian.
He told the newspaper that Americans are “inundated with propaganda” from a young age and “we feel we deserve to be treated differently because we’re American.”
Comments Canada’s meeting with the United States on Tuesday in Minn. It comes as the ongoing trade war between the two countries plays in the background as they prepare to face off in a friendly in the city of Paul.
Marsh ‘has a bit of a Canadian mindset’
“I understand that it’s not always a sportsman’s job to put himself in the spotlight in political circles and everything else,” Marsh said at a news conference Monday. “But I have a unique perspective, I’m an American, I have a little bit of a Canadian mentality, and I represent a really important role in the nation.”
“So I’ve taken it very seriously. And I do when I believe there are things that need to be said and defended. Do I cross the line sometimes? Yeah, probably. But so what? So what? If the team is ready to play on the weekend, then we should all be happy.”
Going into Tuesday’s game, Canada is ranked 27th in the FIFA world rankings and is coming off a 1-0 win over Chile on September 26. The country beat Peru 2-0 in Montreal on Saturday.
Jonathan David’s 12th-minute goal gave Canada a 1-0 win over Chile at BMO Field in Toronto.
The Americans are ranked 16th and are 3-0-0 in the current international window with wins over Chile, Peru and Mexico.
Both Canada and the United States were World Cup hosts this summer, and both were eliminated in the round of 16.
Tuesday will mark the first time the two countries have met since March 2025, when the Canadians beat the Americans 2-1 to finish third in that year’s CONCACAF Nations League.
That game was also played in a politically tense atmosphere when US President Donald Trump was thinking about making Canada the so-called “51st state”.
Marsh said the backdrop isn’t much different this time around.
“Now that we’re here, the big talk in America is Lake Ontario, Lake America, that kind of crap,” the coach said.
“At the end of the day, I don’t have to sit in front of the guys and say, ‘OK, guys, we’re playing the USA, it’s an important game, we’ve got to be ready and make sure we do our best.’ When we play the USA, they don’t need any reminders. . . . So, I think the rivalry is better than it was. Mostly because the two teams are good, right?”