HOUSTON (AP) 鈥� Canada鈥檚 unprecedented run to the round of 16 put the country where hockey is king in the international soccer spotlight.
Now, the challenge is to build on this year鈥檚 success.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a privilege to have a Canadian national team competing on the international level at levels that had never been dreamed of 10 years ago,鈥� coach Jesse Marsch said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 real excitement. With that excitement comes higher expectations, right? So, next World Cup, everyone鈥檚 gonna say that anything less than the round of 16 is a failure.鈥�
Canada鈥檚 magical World Cup run ended Saturday as Azzedine Ounahi scored twice and make the country the first African nation to reach the quarterfinals more than once.
The loss came after World Cup co-host Canada won its first-ever knockout round to reach Saturday鈥檚 match. The country, which is 30th in the FIFA rankings, was playing in the World Cup for just the third time and the run had captivated a nation that is normally far more interested in hockey than the pitch.
鈥淪omething that鈥檚 going to resonate most with this team and the country is that we really proved to everyone what a footballing country Canada is,鈥� defender Alistair Johnston said.
The game was tied at halftime after a first half in which Canada controlled possession.
Neither team was able to break through until Ounahi took a free kick from Achraf Hakimi and made a right-footed shot through traffic from outside the box to the bottom right corner to put Morocco on top 1-0 in the 50th minute.
Ounahi made it 2-0 on a right-footed shot from the middle of the box off a pass from Brahim D铆az in the 82nd minute.
Soufiane Rahimi added a goal in the final minute of stoppage time.
Despite the lopsided score, Marsch thought his team played better than Morocco and shared his postgame message to his players.
鈥淚 told them that I was proud of them and I challenged them to understand that we can play like this all the time against the best teams in the world,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e can be better on the day. And then the challenge is, can we hold that standard for 90 minutes?鈥�
Midfielder Stephen Eust谩quio, who scored the only goal in Canada鈥檚 win over South Africa, believes the team鈥檚 success in this World Cup will build confidence and lead to more success in the future.
鈥淭he fact that we were able to be one of the 16 best teams of this World Cup is amazing for the country,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 amazing for this team. But we have to start from there realizing that the gap isn鈥檛 that big and that we have to fight.鈥�
Canada reached the round of 16 despite missing star Alphonso Davies for the majority of the tournament because of a hamstring injury. The Bayern Munich player logged only 15 minutes as a substitute in the victory over South Africa but wasn鈥檛 available Saturday.
Marsch knows there鈥檚 still more work to do in terms of continuing to build infrastructure and youth academies in the country to feed talent into the national team.
But that鈥檚 for another day. On Saturday, he simply wanted to take a moment to appreciate what his plucky team accomplished this year.
鈥淚n terms of the commitment of the group and making the country proud and making the program proud they couldn鈥檛 have done more,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd in dealing with injuries and question marks and things being unsure on so many different levels, the group stayed strong throughout the tournament.鈥�
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