Canada coach understands anxiety over Gold Cup travel

AP:

CANADA COACH Jesse Marsch understands why some of his team’s supporters might not want to travel to the Concacaf Gold Cup for fear of difficulty at the United States border.

“I could see trepidation for anyone looking to travel to the US at this current political climate,” he said during a Zoom news conference yesterday.

“So it’s a sad thing, I think, that we have to talk about visiting the US in this way, but I think everybody has to make decisions that are best for them and that fit best with what’s going on in their life and their lifestyle.”

Since President Donald Trump started his second term in January, there have been reports of tourists being stopped at US border crossings and held at immigration detention facilities before being allowed to fly home at their own expense.

Canadian Jasmine Mooney, an actor and entrepreneur with a US work visa, was detained by US border agents in San Diego on March 3. She was released after 12 days’ detention.

Canadian residents’ return trips by air from the US fell 20 per cent in April, and return trips by car were down 35 per cent, according to Statistics Canada.

Marsch, a 51-year-old American born in Racine, Wisconsin, was hired as Canada’s coach in May 2024 after previous stints at Montreal, the New York Red Bulls, Red Bull Salzburg, RB Leipzig, and Leeds.

Canada are co-hosts with the US and Mexico of next year’s World Cup. They open the Gold Cup, the championship of North and Central America and the Caribbean, on June 17 against Honduras at Vancouver, British Columbia, then play their next two matches in Houston, against Curaçao on June 21 and El Salvador on June 24.

“It would be a shame if we didn’t get the kind of fan support that I think our team deserves from our country, from our fans, because of the political climate, especially if we could achieve a lot in this tournament and get to the final, which is our goal,” Marsch said.

“So I’m not sure how everybody will act or react to what the situation is, but I certainly hope that we have big support in these meaningful matches. I know we will in Vancouver.”

Concacaf’s Gold Cup will be played from June 14 to July 6 in 14 venues, all but one in the US.

Marsch will not be allowed to coach on the sideline for the games against Honduras and Curaçao because of a two-game suspension by Concacaf for his conduct towards match officials and refusal to leave the field during a Nations League third-place game against the US on March 23.

Mexico have won nine Gold Cups, including 2023. The US have won seven, including 2021, and Canada won in 2000.