Jessie Marsch says Canada showed "incredible potential" by finishing fourth at the Copa America, even if he believes they threw a bronze medal away against Uruguay.
Ismael Kone and Jonathan David scored as Canada fought back from 1-0 down to lead Saturday's third-place play-off in North Carolina, but Luis Suarez levelled after 92 minutes.
Kone and Alphonso Davies then failed to convert in the penalty shoot-out as Uruguay emerged as 4-2 victors, becoming the first nation to win multiple shoot-outs at two editions of the tournament (2024 and 1999).
Canada, meanwhile, fell short of becoming the third CONCACAF nation to get on the podium at the Copa, after Mexico (1997, 1999 and 2007) and Honduras (2001).
While Marsch was disappointed with the way Canada let that achievement slip away in the dying moments, he was full of pride when discussing their campaign overall, particularly as they build towards a home World Cup in two years' time.
"The players are disappointed in the way that we gave the match away, but I was very positive with them," Marsch said.
"We've been together for a little over six weeks. We came into this match, put some new players on the pitch, played against one of the best teams in the world and dominated.
"We're still a young team. If you look at their team, they have experienced players across the board, players playing at big clubs, a lot of experience in understanding how to handle moments. We're still developing that."
Marsch only took the reins in mid-May but navigated a route through a challenging group containing Argentina, Chile and Peru, then oversaw a dramatic penalty shoot-out victory over Venezuela in the quarter-finals.
"The beauty was the clarity with which the way that we're playing was executed by the new players that came in," he added.
"It's not easy to build a tactical model in such a short time and under such big stresses against good opponents and then perform and execute at such a high level.
"So, again, what a positive sign. What a great group of guys. What incredible potential we have with this team."
Hull City 0-2 Sheffield United: Hamer and McCallum goals send Blades third
Sheffield United continued their fine start to the Championship with a comfortable 2-0 win away to Hull City.
Goals from Gustavo Hamer and Sam McCallum were enough to give Chris Wilder's side victory and send them up to third in the table.
The home side made an encouraging start to the game but fell behind after a stunning Blades counter-attack, with Callum O'Hare driving forward before playing in Hamer, who gave keeper Ivor Pandur no chance with a neat finish.
Hull went close to equalising through Abdulkadir Omar's free-kick, but he was thwarted by a flying save from Michael Cooper in the Sheffield United goal.
The away side doubled their advantage in the second half as substitute McCallum swept in a fine effort from Andre Brooks' cutback.
Marvin Mehlem nearly handed the Tigers a way back into the encounter, but his header crashed against the crossbar, leaving Hull 19th in the table, still without a league win this campaign.
Data debrief: Blades make best start in 12 years
With three wins and two draws under their belt in the Championship, Sheffield United will be proud of how they have adapted to life back in the second tier.
It marks their best start to a campaign since the 2012-13 season, which saw them go unbeaten in their first 16 games in League One.
Wilder also continued his good record as Blades boss at MKM stadium, winning a fourth successive match away to Hull after losing in February 2018, in his first spell in charge.
Borussia Dortmund 4-2 Heidenheim: Adeyemi stars with brace to inspire win
Karim Adeyemi scored twice and set up another goal as Borussia Dortmund earned a 4-2 victory over visitors Heidenheim on Friday.
Adeyemi first set up Donyell Malen, who drilled his low shot through Kevin Muller to give the hosts the lead in the 12th minute.
The 22-year-old then doubled their advantage six minutes later with his first goal after completing a textbook break five minutes later.
Heidenheim briefly cut the deficit with Marvin Pieringer's powerful header after 39 minutes, but Dortmund restored their two-goal cushion before the break with Adeyemi's low drive wrongfooting the goalkeeper.
The visitors set up a nervy finish after being awarded a 74th-minute penalty for a foul by Niklas Sule on Mikkel Kaufmann, with Maximilian Breunig confidently hitting the back of the net.
But Dortmund earned a spot kick themselves in stoppage time thanks to Omar Traore's handball, and Emre Can coolly slotted in to make it 4-2.
Data Debrief: Home advantage
While it looked like Dortmund may be in for a nervy ending after Heidenheim's late penalty, that was not the case, and it means they extend an impressive home record.
The Black and Yellow are unbeaten in 37 Bundesliga home games on a Friday since a 1-0 loss to Schalke in January 2004, which is a league record, level with Werder Bremen between 1984 and 1991).
Dortmund are unbeaten so far this campaign, but Heidenheim's six-match winning run in all competitions is now at an end.
Vancouver Whitecaps v San Jose Earthquakes: Gauld not expecting easy game against struggling visitors
Ryan Gauld says Vancouver Whitecaps will not treat the visit of San Jose Earthquakes as an "easy game" as they look to get back to winning ways in MLS.
Vancouver have lost just one of their last eight league matches but fired a blank for just the second time at home this season in a 0-0 draw with FC Dallas last time out.
They sit sixth in the Western Conference, but a win, coupled with defeats for Seattle Sounders and Colorado Rapids, could see them move up the table.
Gauld is prepared for a tough fight though, despite how it looks on paper.
"We've got to treat it like any other game," said the captain. "They're at the bottom, but they've still got a lot of good players that can hurt us if we're not at our best.
"If you look at the standings, someone can say that [Saturday] is an easy game. But it's not. We need to play a very good game."
San Jose have won only five games this season, though one of those came in their last road match, beating high-flying Real Salt Lake 2-0.
Interim head coach Ian Russell is hoping they can build on that result as they try to finish the season on a high.
"It's going to be a good road trip for us to play quality opponents," Russell said. "It's a place where we won last year, and we'll look to get a result again.
"We need to start better in Vancouver than we did in our last game [against Minnesota United]. We have to go out on the front foot and try to put them under pressure. We have to get points on the road now, and it's going to be a really good test for us."
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Vancouver Whitecaps – Mathias Laborda
Vancouver's goalless draw with Dallas on Saturday marked just the second time they failed to score in a home match this regular season (0-0 vs. Austin on May 4).
It was not for lack of trying though, as they had 21 shots (though just four on target). Mathias Laborda had five of those efforts, creating 0.4 expected goals, though only tested the goalkeeper with one of those.
San Jose Earthquakes – Ousseni Bouda
Ousseni Bouda scored the Earthquakes' lone goal in their defeat to Minnesota United on August 31.
Bouda is the seventh different player to score one of San Jose's last seven MLS goals dating back to June 19, as no 'Quakes player has more than one goal in league play in that time.
MATCH PREDICTION: VANCOUVER WHITECAPS WIN
The Whitecaps ended a five-match winless run against San Jose (D2 L3) with a 2-0 road win on March 9. Vancouver have only recorded consecutive wins over the Earthquakes once in the last nine years, doing so during the 2018 season.
Vancouver have lost only one of their last eight regular season matches (W5 D2) following a scoreless draw with Dallas on Saturday. The Whitecaps have kept consecutive clean sheets in league play for the first time since October 2023.
However, San Jose defeated Real Salt Lake, 2-0, in their last away match on August 24, just the fourth win in the 'Quakes' last 42 away matches in all competitions. San Jose last won consecutive away matches in all competitions in July 2019, with the second of those being a 3-1 win in Vancouver.
OPTA WIN PROBABILITY
Vancouver Whitecaps – 61.8%
Draw – 20.2%
San Jose Earthquakes – 18%
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
