World Cup fans and pundits all suddenly have their take on Canada’s animated soccer coach, who’s now responsible for the country’s only two World Cup victories in its history. TIME caught up with Marsch this week by phone – he’s in Houston, where his team is preparing to face Morocco in the round of 16 on July 4 – to talk about the uproar and more.
This interview has been edited and condensed for length and clarity.
Look, people have been wanting to share their opinions, and often ill-informed opinions, about how I behaved in different moments on the bench. Why I do a circle after the game. Why I celebrated with the fans when we won six-nil. But this is the World Cup. Everybody watches and everybody gets excited about it. And I do too.
I've seen the passion that people have for the sport in the country. In this World Cup specifically, we've needed moments. That's why I celebrated the six-nil so heavily, and that's why I chose to talk to them about being Canadian heroes. And by the way, I do believe that. It just came to my head because when I hugged Steph before we got in the huddle, I said, "You're a hero, man, you're a Canadian hero.” And then I kind of expanded on it, that they all are.
Well, it's hard to get your behaviors ingrained into the players the way that you want. When the weight of the games and the attention around the world is bigger than a lot of what our players are used to, instead of falling back on all the behaviors that I've tried to build with them, they fall back to behaviors they learn with their club teams or what they learned growing up. It's important that I stay on top of the details with them so that when we are in tough moments, we stick to what we want.
Can you tell us what your scouting is revealing about Morocco, which made the semis at the last World Cup?
If your players were heroes after reaching the round of 16, if you guys beat Morocco to reach a quarterfinal, what would they be then? Gods? What's the next level?
Switching gears for a moment, I wanted to talk to you about Grant Wahl, the great American soccer journalist who died at the World Cup in Qatar. He is greatly missed at this home World Cup. He covered you in college and the two of you grew close. What do you think he would be writing about this World Cup?
So I think that Grant would probably invest a little bit more into what he's known about me for years, and how it dictates how I lead, how I coach, who I am. And by the way, in the end, I don't even really care. People can have an opinion about me however they want. I'm not banging away on keyboards. I've never written a restaurant review, let alone a f-cking tweet about somebody's professional career. The people that write a lot of these things have too much time on their hands. They're not the man in the arena. How would they know what people go through in general anyways?
I'm proud to be an American. But I'm an expat. I live in Italy, I live in Mexico. I haven't celebrated the Fourth of July in I don't even know how long. We used to go to the parade when I was young every year. There used to be barbecues.
So what will I be thinking on July 4? I will be thinking, I hope I've done everything I can to give my team the best chance to win this match. There's nothing else to it. Even if people want to talk about why do I talk in the middle [of the field], or why do I get emotional on the bench, or whatever, it’s because this is who I am. This is what I care about. That's it. That’s it.
I like them because it gives me an extra chance to try to impact certain things that are happening in the games. We've actually, post-water break, been better in almost every half. There's either something where I can kind of get the players' mentality right, or there's a couple of tactical changes that we can make.
OK, I surveyed some of your old college teammates for a few questions. Here’s one: would Princeton have won the national title in 1993 if you hadn't missed that season, for academic reasons, due to prioritizing Sega hockey and your social calendar?
Someone did mention that you got a text from Wayne Gretzky after the South Africa game. What did it say?
Any other Canadian legends you’ve heard from? Mike Myers, Ryan Reynolds?
One pundit, former English soccer player John Cundy, was surprised that you kissed the Canadian crest on your shirt after the knockout stage victory in Los Angeles. "Kiss the badge?! I can't imagine [Thomas] Tuchel kissing the England badge," Cundy said. [Tuchel is German.] "He's American in America!" Any response?
On the criticism that the postgame speech was performative — were you aware the broadcast cameras were there?
You were an assistant coach for the U.S. national team in 2010 and 2011 and said before Canada’s first game at this World Cup, "Every one of these boys is incredibly Canadian. And the pride that they have in putting on the jersey, representing the country, hearing the national anthem… In the U.S., sometimes we had to beg players to sing the national anthem. These guys sing the national anthem, belt it out to the top of their lungs, because they want to show the country how proud they are to be here, to be Canadians and to represent what Canada is." Former U.S. star Clint Dempsey, a member of the 2010 U.S. World Cup team, took exception—he said he put his hand over his heart and prayed right before the game. “I can’t take this guy too seriously,” Dempsey said. “Stay in your own lane.” Any response?
In May you signed an extension to remain as coach of the Canadian team through the 2030 World Cup? Why did you want to stay?
Any message for Canada fans going into this game?
Any message to Jesse Marsch fans?
I don’t think that’s true. But alas – do you have any message to the haters?
I don't. Honestly, I do not waste a whole lot of time with people that know anything about me. There's nothing worse than stubborn, strong opinions from people that don't know anything about what they're talking about. That’s a terrible combination.
Hence then, the article about canada coach jesse marsch does not care what you think of him was published today ( ) and is available on Time ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( Canada Coach Jesse Marsch Does Not Care What You Think of Him )
Also on site :
- NASA launches bold mission to rescue a falling space telescope before it crashes to Earth
- Carlos Puyol, David Villa & more in attendance for Spain vs Austria 2026 FIFA World Cup clash
- SEA vs NY Dream11 Prediction Today Match, Dream11 Team Today, Fantasy Cricket Tips, Playing XI, Pitch Report, Injury Update- USA T20 League 2026, Match 17