Canadian men’s soccer head coach Marsch not interested in guiding U.S. club
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Canada’s men’s soccer coach Jesse Marsch says he has no interest in the open U.S. coaching job.
The 50-year-old American was a candidate for the vacant U.S. position last year, but U.S. Soccer ultimately opted to rehire Gregg Berhalter. The job became open again Wednesday when Berhalter was fired in the wake of the 11th-ranked U.S. failing to advance out of the group stage at Copa America.
Marsch, who was hired May 13 by Canada Soccer, has led the 48th-ranked Canadian men to Saturday’s Copa America third-place game against No. 14 Uruguay in Charlotte.
In a short statement sent to The Canadian Press, Canada Soccer said Marsch “is not considering nor interested in the position at U.S. Soccer. He is completely focused on Canada.”
Marsch’s name has been included in the reported list of possible U.S. coaching replacements, along with a Who’s Who of world football, including Jurgen Klopp, Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira, Marcelo Bielsa, Hugo Perez, Pellegrino Matarazzo, David Wagner, Steve Cherundolo, Jim Curtain, Massimiliano Allegri and Mauricio Pochettino.
Marsch, in an interview with the podcast “Call It What You Want” soon after being hired by Canada Soccer, expressed frustration at his prior job dealings with U.S. Soccer.
“Obviously growing up in the U.S. and contributing and playing for the national team, playing for the youth national teams, coaching at the World Cup with the U.S. national team, my respect for U.S. Soccer is big,” he told the podcast.
“But I went through a process with them, right? And I’m not going to go into it, but I wasn’t treated very well in the process and so whatever, man. That’s in the past now and I’m fully focused. The minute it was done, I was like, ‘OK, I’m moving forward and I’m going to figure out what’s right for me,’ and again, it motivated me again to find the right people.”
Marsch made two appearances for the U.S. and was an assistant to Bob Bradley with the national team in 2010-11.
Marsch’s coaching resume also includes Leeds United, RB Leipzig, Red Bull Salzburg, New York Red Bulls and the Montreal Impact (now CF Montreal). His last job was at Leeds, which fired him in February 2023 after a year in charge.
Saturday’s Copa America game pits him against Bielsa, the Uruguay manager he succeeded at Leeds.
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