Canada’s manager Jesse Marsch took a shot at Qatar head coach Julen Lopetegui after his team’s 6-0 World Cup victory came at a huge cost on Thursday night.
Key Canada midfielder Ismael Kone broke his leg in the game in Vancouver and was having surgery late on Thursday night after a bad challenge by Qatar midfielder Assim Madibo.
Kone’s shocked teammates clashed with their Qatari opponents while trainers rushed onto the field to treat the injured player. Marsch and his coaching staff clashed with Lopetegui and the Qatar dugout as they were protesting Madibo getting a red card.
Those scenes were repeated at the final whistle when Lopetegui appeared to confront Marsch, who threw his arms up and stormed off from the coach. And when he was asked in his post-match press conference about the incident, he had an abrupt reply.
‘I’m not spending one second (discussing it), it’s not worth any of our time to discuss,’ he said.
Lopetegui remained coy and would only say: ‘It’s between him and me.’
Qatar coach Jolen Lopetegui and Canada boss Jesse Marsch came to blows in their game
Marsch and Lopetegui exchanged words after Canada thrashed nine-man Qatar 6-0
Marsch did reveal, however, that Madibo entered the Canada locker room to apologize for his tackle that left Kone so badly hurt.
He explained: ‘Let me be clear, the player apologized to Ismael, came into the dressing room and apologized to him and Ismael told the team that had happened. So I don’t think that he meant such a gruesome tackle or gruesome situation.
‘But I don’t understand a reaction from their entire bench to try to start a fight about it being a red card when a clear foul just happened that broke a player’s leg.’
Marsch said that his players were shaken by the injury to their teammate, who will miss the remainder of the tournament.
‘His family is with him at the hospital. It happened right in front of the bench – everyone could hear the bone snap,’ Marsch said.
‘Your heart goes out to him, and everybody’s a little shaken by the experience, because of the nature of the injury and also because Ismael is a big part of the team.
‘You saw also that he was waving to the crowd and almost making everybody else feel at ease with the fact that he’s injured, and that’s an incredible statement about Ismael as a person, but this is (also) our team.’
The game was also Canada’s first ever win at a World Cup and Marsch said he hoped it is a day that will be remembered long into the future. Star striker Jonathan David scored a hat-trick and Cyle Larin and Nathan Saliba also scored along with an own goal by Mohammed Manai.
The Canada win was marred by midfielder Ismael Kone breaking his leg in the game
Marsch said that Canadians will never forget the country’s first win at a World Cup
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‘No one will forget this, and no Canadian will forget this day,’ Marsch said. ‘It’s an incredibly seminal moment for everyone to understand that there’s talent in this country, that there’s mentality, that there’s desire, that there’s a lot of things that make this country special.’
Canada round out the group stage against Switzerland next Wednesday with Marsch’s team on the brink of advancing into the round of 32.
For Qatar, meanwhile, they need a big win against Bosnia and Herzegovina to have any chance of reaching the knockout stages.
