LONDON
\nJesse Marsch has a simple message for anyone wondering whether his Canada side are ready for the weight of a home World Cup: they are not just ready for it, they want it.
\nCanada will arrive at Toronto Stadium on Friday for their first World Cup game on home soil carrying the weight of a nation after a build-up that has been defined as much by the treatment room as the training pitch, but Marsch is undaunted.
\n\u201cIf you do this for a living, this is where you want to be,\u201d Marsch said on Thursday ahead of the Group B opener against Bosnia and Herzegovina.
\n\u201cI came to Canada to be the coach because I liked these guys and I believed they could fit the way I wanted to play, but I came here to lead them in the World Cup \u2014 in the home World Cup. I wanted this responsibility.\u201d
\nThe biggest injury concern remains captain Alphonso Davies, who will miss Friday\u2019s match with a hamstring injury suffered during Bayern Munich\u2019s Champions League semi-final last month. But Marsch said an MRI on Wednesday brought encouraging signs.
\n\u201cWe\u2019re getting ready to ramp things up,\u201d the American said.
\n\u201cHe will not be available for tomorrow, but he\u2019s showing, like he always has, a real good ability to recover from muscle injuries. We\u2019re really hopeful that over the next days and weeks we can accelerate things and give him a chance to contribute here soon.\u201d
\nMidfielder Ismael Kone sent a scare through the camp when he left training early on Wednesday before it had even properly begun, but Marsch was quick to put those fears to rest \u2014 with a touch of exasperation.
\n\u201cHe just felt a little sick, so we sent him home because we were doing nothing on the day, and it was like a five-star red alert,\u201d Marsch said. \u201cIsmael trained today, he\u2019s totally fine, he\u2019s ready to go.\u201d
\nEven defender Moise Bombito, whose recovery from a broken leg appeared to stall after lasting just 30 minutes in a warm-up match against Uzbekistan, will be ready if called upon.
\n\u201cHe\u2019s not fully at 100%, but he\u2019s reached his top speed,\u201d Marschsaid. \u201cI don\u2019t see any reason that a week from now he\u2019s not ready to even be considered as a starter.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
LONDON Jesse Marsch has a simple message for anyone wondering whether his Canada side are ready for the weight of a home World Cup: they are not just ready for it, they want it. Canada will arrive at Toronto Stadium on Friday for their first World Cup game on home soil carrying the weight of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-551012","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\n