TAKEAWAYS: Koné shines but key mistakes cost CanMNT as they fall to Argentina in Copa América semi-finals
In a David vs Goliath matchup, they needed everything to go their way, and even that might not have been enough for them to win.
Ultimately, that rang true for the CanMNT in their Copa América semi-final against Argentina, as they fell 2-0 at MetLife Stadium in Rutherford, New Jersey, on Tuesday.
Overall, the performance was quite good for Canada, who went toe-to-toe with the world #1 and defending Copa América and World Cup champions for a large chunk of the game, not looking fazed by a stage they had reached for the first time as a group. That was true both by the eye test as well as statistically, as it’d be unfair to suggest Canada were played off the park in their second meeting against Argentina this tournament, having faced them in the opening match back on June 20th.
But at the end of this semi-final, much as was the case in that first match, they were undone by some key defensive mistakes, as well as a lack of punch in their attack, and that was always going to be tough to overcome. Ironically, there isn’t a lot to split between what Canada did in their quarter-final win over Venezuela and how they performed in this game, for example, yet they didn’t just end up on the wrong side of the score this time, but weren’t particularly close to winning, either.
Naturally, credit has to be given to Argentina for that. As they once again showed, this is an elite team at the peak of their powers, and they know how to handle these games with remarkable efficiency. No matter what gets thrown at them, they know how to take it and turn it into their favour, and can beat you in different ways.
That’s why they’re heading to their third straight major tournament final, having already won the last two they’ve played in, and it’s hard to imagine them coming up short in that quest for a third.
As for Canada, it was another key learning moment for a young team, who will look back at this game as a reminder of what it takes to beat the best. They’ve gotten a taste of what it takes to beat some tough teams this tournament, but beating Peru and Venezuela and drawing Chile isn’t quite the same as defeating La Albiceleste, something they’ll remember when they push forward from here.
And for what it’s worth, they’ve still got a massive chance to take what they learned and move forward quite quickly, as their Copa América isn’t quite over yet - they’ll face either Uruguay or Colombia in the third-place match on Saturday.
Despite the sting of a loss, that does not take any shine of the #CanMNT's achievements at this Copa América, and it's important to remember they're not done yet - the 3rd place match is a chance to win a medal and to earn prestige+financial rewards, which is no small thing
— Alexandre Gangué-Ruzic (@AlexGangueRuzic) July 10, 2024
There, a lot is at stake for both teams, as medals will be given out to the winner, who will also earn some financial incentives. Plus, from Canada’s perspective, the fact that they’ll either get a test against a 12th-ranked Colombia side or a 14th-ranked Uruguay side is key, too, as they can look to prove what they learned in their two meetings against Argentina this tournament against a top side.
Because of that, this journey isn’t quite over for Canada, so they’ll now look to pick themselves up from this and move on towards that third-place match, which will be held in North Carolina.
Before then, however, here’s a look at some KEY takeaways from their semi-final loss to Argentina.
Routine slip-ups cost Canada in otherwise solid defensive performance:
All it took was one moment, and it felt like the game was over.
Yet, that’s the harsh reality of playing a side like Argentina. When you’ve got a player like Lionel Messi, who can break open a game in an instant, sometimes you only need one moment to win a game. Canada saw it first-hand in the first meeting between these two, as Messi ended up providing the secondary assist on his team’s winner, and then the primary assist on their insurance marker, breaking open the game with two moments of magic.
Because of that, Canada wanted to make sure to limit such moments in this game, and try to avoid them if possible. Having managed to make it until the 48th minute before breaking in that first game, they also wanted to make sure they kept Argentina quiet for longer this time, too.
Unfortunately, that didn’t end up being the case, however, as Argentina found their opener in the 22nd minute. Once again, it came from Julian Alvárez, who opened the scoring in the first matchup against Canada, and it’s also one that Canada will want back.
Especially given that it wasn’t Messi who broke them down, but instead Rodrigo De Paul, who to his credit had an excellent game and was likely Argentina’s player of the match. Having left too much space for De Paul after a pass through the middle, Canada then watched on passively as De Paul found Alvárez with a perfect pass, setting up a breakaway that the Manchester City forward wasn’t going to miss.
ARGENTINA STRIKES FIRST 🇦🇷
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) July 10, 2024
Julian Alvarez opens the scoring to give Argentina a 1-0 lead.#CA2024 pic.twitter.com/wBbN7Uv4cH
From there, Canada was always fighting an uphill battle, as it’s hard enough to beat Argentina, but even harder to do so when coming from behind against them.
Thus, it didn’t make it too surprising to see Argentina then find another in the 55th minute, as Messi ended up scoring his first of the tournament off a bit of a broken play. After a dangerous low ball into the box from De Paul was well-picked out by Ismaël Koné, he was unable to get much on his clearance as he was quickly surrounded by a few Argentina players, who forced him to turn the ball over to Enzo Fernández at the edge of the box.
There, Fernández managed to strike a ball toward goal, where Messi managed to deflect it into the net despite hints of offside, which were eventually waived away as it was revealed that Derek Cornelius was unable to step up in time after having originally challenged De Paul’s cross. Yet, that was the big breakdown on that goal - Canada didn’t step up enough as a team when the ball fell to Fernández, and they were punished for that passiveness by the best player in the world.
ARGENTINA SCORES AGAIN 🇦🇷
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) July 10, 2024
Messi extends Argentina's lead to 2-0. #CA2024 pic.twitter.com/ZKpBy8peUu
Ultimately, that’d be all Argentina needed to cruise comfortably to the finish line. They didn’t create much else on the day - an Alvárez shot rated at 0.40 xG was their only other high-profile chance, as all of their other shots were worth 0.17 xG or less, with both of their goals coming in at 0.67 xG.
FWIW, other than 2 mistakes on the goals, the #CanMNT held their own defensively
— Alexandre Gangué-Ruzic (@AlexGangueRuzic) July 10, 2024
They gave up 2.21 xG, but 1.34 xG came from Alvárez+Messi's goals - they otherwise gave up just 0.87 xG on 9 other shots
They make those mistakes against anyone but🇦🇷, and they're likely not burned
But that just shows the talent of this Argentina side. Canada made two preventable mistakes and they were punished - against most teams, they could’ve easily gotten away with one, if not both of those errors, but not in this game.
Yet, that’s what will frustrate Canada most. Having been so good defensively all tournament, to get broken down in such a way on a night where they defended quite well as a team will hurt, but that’s the reality of playing a juggernaut like this one.
Ismaël Koné returns to top form in big game:
It’s been a topsy-turvy Copa América for Ismaël Koné, who was supposed to be one of Canada’s key players heading into it. Fresh off an excellent performance against France in Canada’s final pre-tournament match, it seemed to indicate that the 22-year-old was ready to shine in this tournament, making him a player to watch.
Yet, it’s been anything but smooth sailing for him in this Copa América. First, he struggled a bit against Argentina in the opener, and then really struggled in the first half of Canada’s match against Peru, earning the hook at half time in that one.
After that, he didn’t feature against Chile, and then only came on for the last nine minutes of the match against Venezuela.
For a player who was supposed to be thriving in Canada’s midfield, it was a big surprise to see, as he was relegated to a bench role.
At the same time, there were a few factors to remember - he is still one of Canada’s youngest players in this team, this is the first tournament he entered as a full-fledged starter for Canada, and he was in the midst of completing a milestone move to French giants Marseille at the club level, which got over the line in the middle of the group stages.
Yet, it was a key reminder - for as cool and unflappable as Koné often is, which is a big reason why he’s gone from making his professional debut in 2022 to signing for Marseille, he is still human.
But the biggest thing anyone can do in the face of adversity? It’s not to hide from it, but to keep your head down and keep working, and to Koné’s credit, he did that.
He showed that in his cameo against Venezuela, where he looked lively before helping coolly dispatch Canada’s winning penalty in their shootout win, and then he followed that up with one of his best games in a Canada shirt in this Argentina match.
Having earned his spot back in Canada’s starting XI off the back of his play vs. Venezuela, he was a force in midfield on Tuesday, looking every bit like the player who had given France fits weeks earlier.
In possession, he was dragging Canada’s attack forward, constantly getting on the ball and playing line-breaking passes, helping push his team into the final third. Then, after his Canada struggled to do much in the final third with his service, he started pushing forward and making things happen there, too, nabbing a pair of shots as he tried to bring energy to the game late.
Instead of shrinking in possession, as he seemed to do at times in earlier games, he seemed to demand the ball, and then always seemed sure of what he wanted to do with it when he did receive it.
Along with a strong defensive performance, as he stood tall in front of Argentina’s stacked midfield trio of De Paul, Fernández and Alexis Mac Allister supported by Messi, and it was the sort of vintage Koné showings that many are used to seeing from the youngster.
Ismaël Koné was back to his usual self for the #CanMNT. Looked so confident on the ball, and was up for it defensively
— Alexandre Gangué-Ruzic (@AlexGangueRuzic) July 10, 2024
He completed 59/63 passes (94%), had 2 shots, 7 passes into the final 3rd, 3 tackles, 2 interceptions, 5 recoveries and won 6/10 duels
Ready for his OM move pic.twitter.com/e0ktqFl62X
And that’s massive, as Canada will need him to be at his best in a third-place match, as well as going forward, as he’s a key piece of what this team wants to do on both sides of the ball.
Now, they can continue to rely on him while knowing that if there are any more bumps in the road, he’ll be up to the challenge, and how he responded to his slow start to this tournament in this game is a fantastic sign of that.
Often, we can learn the most about players in their biggest moments of adversity, and Koné certainly showed a lot in that regard in this tournament, with this game being a shining example of that. 
Disjointed attack struggles to take advantage of sleepy Argentine defence:
No matter how this game went for Canada, one thing felt true - they needed to score a goal if they were to have any shot of getting anything out of this game. When playing against an Argentina side that has only been shut out twice since the start of 2020, it was always going to be hard to keep them off the board entirely offensively, putting pressure on them to score at least a goal to have a chance of survival.
Because of that, while Canada will leave this game frustrated with the mistakes that they made defensively, they’ll be even more annoyed with how this game played out for them offensively.
Having entered this game with just two goals in four games this tournament, the pressure was already on them to step up offensively, but it’s worth noting that they were coming off one of their brightest showings against Venezuela, where they had their most shots (16), shots on target (7) and xG (1.65) of any game they’ve played this tournament.
They were let down by their finishing on the day, as they only turned those chances into one goal, but it was still encouraging to see them create those opportunities, which were a positive sign ahead of this semi-final.
In this game, however, they lacked that same attacking punch, and it showed. Every time they got into the final third, they struggled to penetrate Argentina’s defensive line with runs in behind, lacking the movement to cause their opponents much trouble.
Then, when they received the ball in dangerous areas, they were unable to play off each other, either, as they lacked the sharpness in possession to play through Argentina, as they instead gave away the ball cheaply on several occasions.
Lastly, when they got into the box, they were too hesitant to shoot, often looking for the perfect play, which they weren’t able to execute.
That’s why they finished with nine shots, including just two on target, for a total of 0.78 xG, which were not quite the lofty numbers they had against Venezuela. Of course, it’s not surprising to see that when you consider the fact that they were going up against a much better Argentinian defence, but it’s worth noting that they had the same number of touches in Argentina’s box in this game as they did in Venezuela’s box in their match - 23, so it’s not as if they weren’t getting into dangerous areas.
The #CanMNT actually had 24 touches in 🇦🇷's box today - 🇦🇷 had just 13
— Alexandre Gangué-Ruzic (@AlexGangueRuzic) July 10, 2024
Despite that? 🇦🇷outshot🇨🇦 11-9, and🇨🇦had only 2 shots on target+0.78 xG
Larin(0)+David(1) had 1 shot between them, despite having 4 touches apiece in 🇦🇷's box
Can Marsch get that🇨🇦attack going for Saturday?
Not only that, but they also generated 10 shots (two on target) and 1.16 xG on just 18 touches in Argentina’s box when these teams first met, too, showing that they did an even better job of pushing the ball forward in this game, making it a surprise to see them not turn that into more offence.
Yet, there are a few factors that Canada will look at as the reason for that. For example, their pair of attacking wide players, Jacob Shaffelburg and Richie Laryea, were not able to drive at Argentina’s full backs as much as they did against Venezuela, and they weren’t able to get Alphonso Davies and Alistair Johnston involved on overlaps alongside them, which is why they Shaffelburg and Laryea were both replaced in the 55th minute.
Then, more interestingly, Cyle Larin and Jonathan David combined for their quietest game of this tournament, finding just one shot between the two of them (coming from David) - for context, they had generated at least two shots between them in every other game this tournament and had generated five against Venezuela.
That was pivotal because while they’ve been struggling to find the net this tournament, they at least had been generating chances, indicating that a goal or two might be on the way. In this game, however, they were not able to find those opportunities, which led them to struggle and a surprise David sub in just the 64th minute, which is a rare occurrence for Canada.
But that’s been the story of this tournament for Canada - they’ve done well defensively, and have been in every game, but have just not been able to get their offence going.
Of course, that’s a sign of the level of competition they’ve faced this tournament, but given that Canada is deepest in the attack, that wasn’t expected to be a problem, as they’ve got the players to score goals.
And that’s why it’s remained so worrying to see Canada struggle in front of goal. It’d be one thing if Jesse Marsch didn’t have attacking talent at his disposal, but he has options, and hasn’t even gotten the chance to get a look at all of them yet, either. Just a look at the work of Ali Ahmed or Tani Oluwaseyi in this game, as the pair were lively in cameos off the bench, with Ahmed bringing some spark on the wing, and Oluwaseyi doing well to provide energy up front.
Because of that, after a quiet game for his attack from the start, one has to wonder if he changes things for the third-place game, where starts could be there for the likes of Ahmed or Oluwaseyi. Tweaks will certainly come to this attack going forward after this tournament, as he hinted ahead of this Argentina game to OneSoccer, but he may look to accelerate those changes for Saturday, something he didn’t deny when asked about after this game.
“I think the tournament caught up with us a little bit,” Marsch said. “ I looked at Argentina, they rotated a lot of players throughout the tournament so that they were using different players at different moments and weren't calling on the same players every match. There's been heat, there's been travel, there's been a lot of challenges.”
“So what I said to the team, is that one of the best developments for us in this match is that I thought that guys like Ali Ahmed, Mathieu Choinière and Tani Oluwaseyi came on and brought good performances, as at the end of the day, we're still in the beginning of our process, right? Argentina’s had eight years together with this team, but we need to develop more players that can contribute so that we can rotate more in tournament play because eventually the physicality and the fatigue can catch up with you, and that’s a big part of what happened with us today.”
Yet, that remains his biggest challenge with this team going forward, and that’s getting them to tap into the potential they have in the attack, but have struggled to get the most out of this tournament, with this loss being a great example of that.
