Category: Canada

Canada stays alive at Olympics with incredible 112th-minute winner vs. France

Canada’s squad may be facing a six-point penalty, but a late winner vs. France showed how hard they can fight

The Olympics women’s soccer tournament has seen Canada go through one of the most bizarre major competitions any team has experienced in recent times, and the latest development in the saga was nothing if not dramatic.

Canada staged a late comeback against host nation France on Sunday, claiming a cathartic 2-1 win thanks to Vanessa Gilles’ goal 12 minutes into second-half stoppage time.

The bigger-picture story starts back on Tuesday, when New Zealand alleged that Canada used a drone to spy on a training session before the two sides contested the first match of the entire women’s soccer tournament at the 2024 Olympics.

That turned out to be the tip of the iceberg, as Canada’s attempts to contain the scandal went completely awry. Head coach Bev Priestman initially offered to not coach against New Zealand before being sent home by the Canadian Olympic Committee, while the scandal extended to the men’s side of the Canadian national team program.

While several threads remain unresolved, the Olympics required a quick resolution for the women’s tournament. The result? Priestman, assistant coach Jasmine Mander, and staffer Joseph Lombardi were banned from all soccer activities for a year by FIFA, and Canada was handed a six-point penalty for the group stage.

All of that set the stage for a strange situation: the defending gold medalists struggled with New Zealand before ultimately winning the opener 2-1, only for the point penalty to push them back to a minus-3 total in Group A.

With Canada’s point total effectively capped at three, any sort of advancement would essentially require running the table in a strong group that included hosts France and budding South American power Colombia.

Things were looking grim on Sunday, as France took a 1-0 lead into halftime thanks to Marie-Antoinette Katoto’s 42nd minute strike. Even a draw would mean Canada’s best possible point total in the group would be one, and would likely result in a fourth-place finish in the group and an early flight home.

The host nation seemed confident in pushing on for a victory, but Portland Thorns midfielder Jessie Fleming pounced on a 58th minute rebound resulting from a collision between France goalkeeper Pauline Peyraud-Magnin and defender Griedge Mbock Bathy.

It was, in other words, the first good news Canada had gotten since arriving in France, and it spurred the team to fight for its Olympic life.

While France created a handful of good looks at one end, Canada might have thought the opportunity had slipped away as Evelyne Viens’ 96th minute shot skipped wide.

Katoto probably should have ended Canada’s hopes only for Kailen Sheridan to conjure a magical save deeper in stoppage time, setting the stage for an emotional winner.

Jordyn Huitema’s powerful shot was denied by Constance Picaud (who replaced Peyraud-Magnin, who didn’t recover from the collision on Fleming’s goal), but Gilles — a center back who stayed forward in desperation — was on hand to steer the rebound over the line.

The Canadian players, who at this point appear to be blameless victims in the drone scandal, celebrated as if this were a gold-medal-clinching strike. With the game clock reading 90:00 + 11:16, Canada was somehow still afloat at the Paris Olympics.

It wasn’t just a purely cathartic goal, either. By defeating France, Canada is now in position to advance despite the six-point penalty.

A win over Colombia on Wednesday would guarantee the Canadians no worse than a third-place finish in the group. If France were to draw or beat New Zealand in the group’s other game, Canada would finish in second place, which comes with a sure place in the quarterfinals.

Watch Canada’s dramatic late goal vs. France

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FIFA hands Canada six-point penalty amid spying scandal

The defending gold medalists could now be looking at an early exit

FIFA has announced a six-point penalty for Canada’s Olympic women’s team amid an ongoing scandal over the usage of drones to spy on opponents.

In addition, head coach Bev Priestman and assistants Joseph Lombardi and Jasmine Mander were all hit with one-year bans.

The scandal exploded into view this week when the New Zealand Olympic committee publicly accused Canada of using a drone to spy on a training session.

In response, Canada apologized and announced that Lombardi and Mander had been sent home for their role in the spying. On Thursday, Priestman was also sent home after she was suspended by Canada Soccer.

Canada won its Olympics opener 2-1 over New Zealand on Thursday, but the defending gold medalist now faces a difficult path to advancement after the six-point penalty.

Canada now sits with minus-3 points after one game, making three points the maximum the team will be able to achieve. Wins over France and Colombia are likely required to give the team a chance.

A ‘systemic’ problem

Though the incident at the Olympics was the catalyst for the scandal, the issue of Canadian teams spying on opponents with drones is much more widespread then one tournament — or one team.

On a call with media on Friday, Canada Soccer CEO Kevin Blue said that using drones to illegally spy on opponents has been “systemic.”

“The more I learn about this specific matter, the more concerned I get about a potential long-term, deeply embedded systemic culture of this type of thing occurring, which is obviously completely unacceptable,” Blue said.

Blue also said that Canada’s men’s team attempted to spy on opponents during the Copa América this summer, though he insisted that head coach Jesse Marsch was unaware until after the fact.

A bombshell report from TSN this week said that Canada’s women’s and men’s national teams have routinely been spying on opponents for years.

Another report from TSN said that in 2021, then-men’s national team head coach John Herdman showed his team illegally obtained footage of a Honduras training session prior to a World Cup qualifier.

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‘Cheat better!’ – USWNT forward Purce responds to Canada spying scandal

“Did you think they weren’t gonna see the drone?”

U.S. women’s national team forward Midge Purce has expressed her disbelief at the expanding spying scandal involving Canadian soccer.

On Thursday, Canada women’s national team head coach Bev Priestman was sent home from the Olympics after two of her staffers were caught using drones to spy on New Zealand’s training.

But the issue is far more widespread than just the 2024 Olympics. On a call with media on Friday, Canada Soccer CEO Kevin Blue said that using drones to illegally spy on opponents has been “systemic” within the federation’s teams.

“The more I learn about this specific matter, the more concerned I get about a potential long-term, deeply embedded systemic culture of this type of thing occurring, which is obviously completely unacceptable,” Blue said.

On The Women’s Game podcast, Purce appeared as a guest alongside Sam Mewis, her former USWNT teammate. For Purce, the hardest part of the scandal to understand is how Canada could have allegedly cheated in a way that was so simple to catch.

“Let’s say it was in fact, intentionally cheating,” Purce posited. “Did you think they weren’t gonna see the drone? Like I’m just confused. Drones are loud. Like, cheat better! Call the Patriots — call Bill Belichick!”

Purce’s last comment — a reference to the notorious Spygate scandal in the NFL — obviously struck a nerve with Mewis, a diehard New England Patriots fan.

“Enough, this is going off the rails now. You’ve gone too far Midge!” Mewis retorted with a laugh.

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Canada Soccer CEO: Marsch unaware of spy attempt at Copa America

The scandal surrounding Canadian soccer only seems to be expanding

Canada Soccer CEO Kevin Blue has said there was an attempt at drone spying at the 2024 Copa América, but insisted that men’s national team head coach Jesse Marsch was only aware of it after the fact.

The federation has become embroiled in an expanding scandal over its use of drones to illegally spy on opponents.

On Thursday, women’s national team head coach Bev Priestman was sent home from the Olympics after two of her staffers were caught using drones to spy on New Zealand’s training on multiple occasions.

That was followed by a bombshell report from TSN claiming that Canada’s women’s and men’s national teams have routinely been spying on opponents for years.

In a call with media on Friday, Blue — who has only been in his position since February — admitted that the issue of spying appeared to be widespread among Canada Soccer.

“The more I learn about this specific matter, the more concerned I get about a potential long-term, deeply embedded systemic culture of this type of thing occurring, which is obviously completely unacceptable,” Blue said.

Blue said that the issue took place as recently as the 2024 Copa América, a tournament at which Canada had an encouraging fourth-place finish under new head coach Marsch.

“I’m aware of an instance of attempted drone usage during Copa América,” Blue said. “My current understanding is that the fact pattern of that instance is significantly different than what occurred here [at the Olympics], especially as it relates to the potential impact on competitive integrity.”

Blue added that Marsch only learned about the spying attempts after the fact.

“He explained to me that he denounced it immediately and forcefully, and has communicated that to his staff, both the existing staff and staff that were from previous coaching staffs that are still with us,” Blue said.

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Canada sends Priestman home from Olympics as spy scandal expands

The scandal is more widespread than it initially appeared

The Canadian Olympic Committee has sent women’s soccer head coach Bev Priestman home from the Olympics amid an expanding scandal involving spying on opponents with drones.

This week, the New Zealand Olympic committee publicly accused Canada of using a drone to spy on a training session on July 22.

In response, Canada apologized and announced that two staffers had been sent home for their role in the spying. Priestman, meanwhile, volunteered to not coach her team’s Olympic opener against New Zealand, which Canada won 2-1 on Thursday.

But hours after that match, the scandal took a major turn as Priestman was sent home from the Olympics — but not just for her staff’s admitted spying on New Zealand.

As Canada Soccer general secretary Kevin Blue said in a statement announcing a suspension of Priestman, there were more instances of spying that had been uncovered by the federation.

“Over the past 24 hours, additional information has come to our attention regarding previous drone use against opponents, predating the Paris 2024 Olympic Games,” the statement read.

“In light of these new revelations, Canada Soccer has made the decision to suspend women’s national team head coach, Bev Priestman for the remainder of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, and until the completion of our recently announced independent external review.”

Just minutes before Canada Soccer’s statement was released, a bombshell report from TSN said that Canada’s women’s and men’s national teams have routinely been spying on opponents for years.

The spying reportedly included Canada’s gold medal-winning women’s team from the 2021 Olympics.

“Most people see this as cheating, which it is,” a source said to TSN. “Some of our coaches just see it as a competitive advantage and justify it by saying everyone does it, which is also not true. Not everyone cheats and neither should we.”

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Canada tries to contain fallout of Olympic spying scandal

Canada has admitted to a second spying incident

Canada’s Olympic women’s soccer team seems to be aware it could face some real consequences for spying on New Zealand’s team with a drone.

On Tuesday, the New Zealand Olympic committee publicly accused Canada of using a drone to spy on a training session on July 22. New Zealand reported the incident to local police, who detained a staff member of the Canadian team.

In response, the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) issued an apology for the behavior of “a non-accredited member of the Canada Soccer support team.”

One day later, the COC said that a second spying incident had come to light, this one having taken place on July 19.

As a result, the COC took action. First it sent home Joseph Lombardi, an “unaccredited analyst” and assistant coach Jasmine Mander, who oversees Lombardi.

Canada coach Bev Priestman has voluntarily removed herself from coaching the team’s opening match of the tournament, which takes place Thursday against New Zealand.

The COC also said Canada Soccer staff would undergo “mandatory ethics training.”

In a COC statement, Priestman apologized and took responsibility for the actions of two of her staff members.

“On behalf of our entire team, I first and foremost want to apologize to the players and staff at New Zealand Football and to the players on Team Canada,” Priestman said. “This does not represent the values that our team stands for.

“I am ultimately responsible for conduct in our program. Accordingly, to emphasize our team’s commitment to integrity, I have decided to voluntarily withdraw from coaching the match on Thursday. In the spirit of accountability, I do this with the interests of both teams in mind and to ensure everyone feels that the sportsmanship of this game is upheld.”

Canada is the defending gold medalist, having defeated Sweden in the Olympic final in Japan in 2021.

The New Zealand Olympic committee has filed a complaint with the International Olympic Committee, and the COC said it would continue to review the matter and would take further action if needed. FIFA also announced that it has opened disciplinary proceedings against Canada.

In other words, this story is far from over.

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New Zealand: Canada used drone to spy on training before Olympic opener

The Olympics haven’t even kicked off, and Canada is embroiled in a spying scandal

Canada badly wants to defend its Olympic gold medal in women’s soccer, and is apparently willing to get into some murky territory to do so.

On Tuesday, the New Zealand Olympic committee publicly accused Canada of flying a drone over a training session in France, saying it was “deeply shocked and disappointed” by the incident. Canada and New Zealand will face off on Thursday in Saint-Étienne, one of two opening games in the women’s soccer competition.

“On July 22, a drone was flown over the New Zealand women’s football team training session,” read New Zealand’s statement on the matter.

“Team support members immediately reported the incident to police, leading to the drone operator, who has been identified as a support staff member of the wider Canadian Women’s football team, to be detained.

“The NZOC has formally lodged the incident with the IOC integrity unit and has asked Canada for a full review. Team Canada has issued an apology and is investigating the circumstances surrounding the incident.”

Canada apologizes over drone accusation

Later on Tuesday, the Canadian Olympic Committee offered up a statement of its own, admitting that “a non-accredited member of the Canada Soccer support team was detained by French authorities in Saint-Étienne following a complaint by New Zealand Football on July 22nd.

“The staff member is believed to have been using a drone to record the New Zealand women’s football team during practice.

“The Canadian Olympic Committee stands for fair play and we are shocked and disappointed. We offer our heartfelt apologies to New Zealand Football, to all the players affected, and to the New Zealand Olympic Committee.”

The nature of the incident has no real Olympic parallels, and any future punishment is unclear. FIFA and the International Olympic Committee both have some degree of control over the situation, while French police — having detained the staffer involved — may also play a major factor in the process.

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Marsch takes aim at U.S. Soccer as he denies interest in USMNT job

Asked about the USMNT job, Canada boss Marsch said “no thanks” with his whole chest

One of the biggest names being connected to the vacant U.S. men’s national team job has forcefully rejected such talk.

Jesse Marsch, who was appointed the manager of USMNT rival Canada just two months ago, laughed off a question about whether he’d be coaching against his current employer when the two sides meet in a September friendly.

“Come on, man,” chuckled Marsch at a Friday press conference ahead of Canada’s Copa América third-place match against Uruguay. “I’m not leaving this job. I have no interest in the U.S. job.”

Marsch took a pause before deciding to carry on and make his answer more clear: he’s not pursuing the USMNT job today, and probably wouldn’t want to pursue it tomorrow without significant changes at U.S. Soccer.

“To be fair, unless there’s a big shift in the organization, I don’t think that I’ll ever have interest in that job in the future,” insisted Marsch. “I’m really happy here. I couldn’t be happier, actually, in terms of what it’s like to work with the leaders in this organization, and what it’s like to work with this team.”

Marsch and U.S. Soccer have not quite managed to see eye to eye over the past couple of years. In 2023, with U.S. Soccer working out whether it wanted to bring Gregg Berhalter back or not, Marsch’s agent Ron Waxman publicly declared that his client “will not be the next USMNT manager.”

Marsch would later declare that he “wasn’t treated very well” in being evaluated for the job. In March, the 50-year-old coach outright said “I don’t want that job” when it came up on CBS’s Call It What You Want podcast, which he co-hosted.

This latest, more forceful rejection may well indicate some history between Marsch and U.S. Soccer sporting director Matt Crocker. In his previous job at Southampton, Crocker held extensive talks with Marsch over whether the ex-Leeds manager would take charge at St. Mary’s, only for a reported disagreement over contract length to scuttle any hopes of a deal.

It will also be a major reassurance to Canada Soccer. The federation’s financial problems are deep enough that it took patronage from the owners of CF Montréal, Toronto FC, the Vancouver Whitecaps, and other donors to fund his salary as what is officially called the “MLS Canada Men’s National Team Head Coach.”

In the meantime, U.S. Soccer has reportedly been turned down by former Liverpool coach Jürgen Klopp. LAFC boss Steve Cherundolo, on the other hand, was distinctly non-committal when asked whether the federation had made any outreach.

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Canada star Davies forced off with injury against Argentina

Canada lost its captain midway through the second half of the Copa America semifinal

Canada star Alphonso Davies was forced off with an injury in the second half of his side’s Copa América semifinal against Argentina on Tuesday night.

With Argentina up 2-0 midway through the half, Gonzalo Montiel put in a tough sliding challenge on the Canadian captain. Montiel caught the ball but his follow-through took him through the right ankle of Davies.

Referee Piero Maza waved play on, much to the chagrin of Canada’s bench and head coach Jesse Marsch.

Davies was able to walk off the field under his own power, but moved slowly and was clearly in a lot of pain.

The Bayern Munich star tried to limp back onto the field but immediately went to ground, and had to be replaced in the 71st minute by Jonathan Osorio.

Argentina would see out a 2-0 win, advancing to Sunday’s final against either Uruguay or Colombia.

Davies will be a doubt for Saturday’s third-place game, and will then have some time off before joining up with Bayern for the Bundesliga club’s preseason.

After the match, Marsch admitted he was unsure of the prognosis for Davies, who was set for x-rays.

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Argentina vs. Canada: How to watch 2024 Copa America, TV channel, live stream

It’s a David vs. Goliath matchup in the semifinal

Argentina and Canada are set for a rematch at the 2024 Copa América, but this time the stakes will be much higher than their initial meeting.

The two sides will face off in a semifinal on Tuesday at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, with Argentina heavily favored to reach the final for a second straight Copa and fourth time out of five.

Argentina defeated Canada 2-0 in the tournament opener on June 20, a game in which the Reds asked plenty of questions of the world champions.

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Canada used that match as a jump-off point, following that up with a win over Peru and a draw against Chile to reach the knockout stage. Jesse Marsch led his side to a shootout win over Venezuela in the quarterfinal after a 1-1 draw over 90 minutes.

After a perfect group stage, Argentina also needed a shootout to reach the semifinal, defeating Ecuador in the tiebreaker after a 1-1 draw in their quarterfinal.

The winner of this semifinal will face the winner of Uruguay-Colombia in the final in Miami on Sunday.

Here’s everything you need to know ahead of the match.

Argentina vs. Canada (Copa America semifinal)

  • When: Tuesday, July 9
  • Where: MetLife Stadium (East Rutherford, New Jersey)
  • Time: 8 p.m. ET
  • Channel/streaming: FS1 (Watch FREE on Fubo), TUDN, Univision, ViX (Watch on Prime Video)

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