Canada hit with Dutch blitz in friendly

Canadians can’t maintain pace in Marsch’s debut

- JOE CALLAGHAN

Canada's Moïse Bombito, left, and Netherlands' Steven Bergwijn battle Thursday in Rotterdam, Netherlands. After just four days of training together, it was clear there will be an adjustment period for Canada's players and their new coach.

Forty-five minutes into his return to the sidelines, not to mention his first taste of international soccer, Jesse Marsch could have been forgiven for thinking he should’ve come back sooner.

Canada’s new head coach is too well-versed in the game for such naivety. Within 18 ugly minutes of the restart, his team was down 3-0 and the Netherlands was rampant, sending thousands of partisans in Rotterdam into delight. Amid it all, Marsch may have pondered some old adages as well as some new, harsh truths.

The American’s first game in charge was a game of two halves and he’ll have learned plenty from both.

But the gravity of the task at hand was made clearest in the second stanza when the hosts, the world’s seventh-ranked team, capitalized on a shaky 15 minutes for Canada, and particularly new captain Alphonso Davies.

With both sides preparing for major tournaments — the Dutch heading to Germany for Euro 2024, Canada opening Copa America against Argentina in two weeks — benches were used liberally thereafter and the contest drifted toward its end, the Dutch grabbing another late goal to give the scoreline, at 4-0, a harsh feel.