INGLEWOOD — The U.S. Men’s National soccer team departs the CONCACAF Nations League in last place, losing the third-place game against Canada.
After losing to Panama in Thursday’s semifinal, the U.S. followed with another loss, this time to Canada, 2-1 at SoFi Stadium Sunday.
The second half was eventful for the Canadians. Coach Jesse Marsch was sent off with a straight red card after protesting a potential foul that would have led to a penalty. Marsch was so angry he nearly ran onto the field but was held back by his staff.
Minutes later, Canada scored the winning goal by Jonathan David, who found a sliver of space, between two U.S. defenders and scored. Canada would hold on for a 2-1 win, finishing third and leaving the U.S. with a lot of questions to be answered going forward.
U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino made five changes from Thursday’s semifinal loss against Panama. Two of those changes (Patrick Agyemang and Diego Luna) linked up for the U.S. to tie the game at 1-1 in the 35th minute. Luna, after taking possession of a perfectly weighted through ball from Timothy Weah, laid off to Agyemang, whose shot deflected off of Canadia goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair and rolled into the goal.
Both Agyemang (Charlotte FC) and Luna (Real Salt Lake) were making just their fourth national team appearance.
Pochettino made wholesale changes in the second half, but the U.S. never threatened on goal. A late curler attempt from inside the box by Max Arsten went wide.
After winning the first three Nations League, the U.S. ends this one at the bottom of the four-team field, officially taking Pochettino out of the Honeymoon stage of his new job.
The U.S. will return to action in June for a pair of friendlies leading into the CONCACAF Gold Cup. The U.S. will face Turkiye on June 7 in Connecticut and Switzerland on June 10 in Tennessee.
The Gold Cup is the next and last tournament before next year’s FIFA World Cup, starting June 14.
Canada had to make an early change, taking off Alphonso Davies (Bayern Munich). Davies initially went down, after taking a kick to the back of his right knee by U.S. forward Patrick Agyemang. He was finally subbed off in the 12th minute.
The Canadians opened the scoring in the 27th minute by Tani Oluwaseyi. Oluwaseyi found himself in a good position after an initial shot was blocked by a U.S. defender and rolled forward to where Oluwaseyi was, just onside, for the finish.