“They treat us as second class citizens”

Canada coach Jesse Marsh criticized Uruguay coach Marcelo Bielsa last Friday against Copa America and revealed they were treated “like second-class citizens” throughout the tournament.

Marsh did so at a press conference ahead of the third-place match against Uruguay at Bank of America Charlotte, in which he lamented allegations of racism against his players and the refereeing, in his opinion, harming CONCACAF teams.

“I saw, I didn't see all (of Bielsa's furious press conference), but I saw part of his comments. I agree with some things and disagree with others. The match was unprofessional for me, there are many problems in the treatment,” Marsh said angrily.

“I saw what happened after the game (Uruguay-Colombia and the fight), but we certainly wouldn't have wanted the family of these boys to be in that situation,” he confirmed.

The families of the Uruguayan players were attacked by some Colombian fans, and several Uruguayans, including Darwin Nunez and José María Giménez, jumped into the stands and fought with the fans, according to the 'Celeste' version.

“We received racist insults throughout the tournament, live and on social networks. They treated us like second-class citizens. I want to represent our country, we represent our country, we have played hard and aggressively. The tournament coaches have accused us of being too harsh,” he said.

“If you look at the card data, there are more South American teams. In USA-Uruguay it was the most anti-United States officiation I've ever seen,” he added.

“We never crossed the line, my players never threw themselves on the ground like kids looking for calls, looking for cards. “My players did very well,” he concluded.

Marsh said refereeing hurt CONCACAF teams and that it was “a miracle” Canada entered the tournament in third place.

“We'll go out knowing we'll have a lot of things against us, but we'll show what it means to be Canadian,” he said.

Finally, the coach said that Canada will not stop training if the USA calls.

“I'm not going to leave this job, and if there's no change in the (US) federation, I don't think I'll be interested in that job,” he concluded.