Wayne Rooney admitted he was irked by Jesse Marsch’s decision to stage his post-game team talk in full public view after Canada’s 1-1 draw with Bosnia-Herzegovina.
The co-hosts scrambled a 1-1 draw in Group B as Cyle Larin’s equaliser in Toronto secured a point to leave things wide open for Marsch’s side. The Canadian chief ordered his players into a huddle at full-time and issued a rallying call after his stars avoided a defeat on home soil.
Jovo Lukić had headed the Cannucks in front on 21 minutes before Larin’s heroics 12 minutes from the end. It was then that former Leeds United manager Marsch demanded a huddle and was seen issuing an intense post-game debrief in front of the full glare of the TV cameras.
Speaking on the BBC, former England star Rooney said: “You look at Jesse Marsch talking to the team – I actually don’t like it, I like them in the dressing room giving the messages.
“But you can see how intense he is and engaged he is, all his players are. Jesse Marsch is trying give his players. You can see they are a young team and have energy in the team, and Jesse is giving them that energy to get something out of the game.”
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Rooney feels that the draw was a fair reflection on the game despite Canada dominating for long spells on a hot day in Toronto. The ex-Everton and Manchester United forward said: “I thought it was a good game and I thought Canada were really good and did enough to win the game, but I think both teams will take a point.”
Marcsh had earlier held another intense briefing during a hydration break with his players before the equaliser. He said after the game: “We felt like we had them.
“You know like we were starting to push the game, the subs came on and made a big difference. We could see that they were fading.
View 2 ImagesCanada coach Jesse Marsch’s action didn’t impress Wayne Rooney(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
“I’m disappointed with the first half. I felt we were tentative – we didn’t play as aggressively as I would have liked.
“We have got to find a way when we want to play as intensely and be hard to play against that we actually do it. We talked about it afterwards.
“Second half, the moment we stepped on the pitch, it was different. I told them we have got to learn these lessons, and we have got to learn from them quickly.
“We still have everything in hand and that’s a big point for us to keep ourselves in the group. We have to make sure the next performance is a reflection and learning point from what we learnt today.”
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