TORONTO — While goals have been hard to come by for Canada under Jesse Marsch, Jonathan David has been at the centre of what offence there has been.
With four goals and three assists, the 24-year-old from Ottawa has been directly involved in seven of the nine goals Canada has scored in Marsch's 12 outings as coach.
David, who plays his club football in France for Lille, served as playmaker Friday in Suriname after captain Stephen Eustaquio found him in the corner of the penalty box with a perfectly lofted long ball. David paused, then found substitute Junior Hoilett headed towards goal with a deft pass that the 34-year-old deflected past Suriname goalkeeper Etienne Vaessen for his 16th Canada goal and a 1-0 win.
The two teams meet again Tuesday at Toronto's BMO Field in the return leg of their of CONCACAF Nations League quarterfinal.
Marsch calls David, who is tied with Cyle Larin as Canada's all-time leading men's scorer with 30 goals, a "very special personality."
"He's the smartest player I've ever coached," said Marsch, whose resume includes stops in MLS, England, Austria and Germany. "And so his understanding of what's happening in the game and how to move around to find the game in the right way, to help the team, I think is at a really high level.
"And the team knows that getting him in the match is really important for us."
The even-keeled David, who also has 16 assists for Canada in his 58 appearances, says he needs to use that intelligence on the pitch.
"This is a part of my game that I try to work with because obviously I'm not the biggest, fastest guy in the world," he said. "There's people that are faster than me, stronger than me. So I have to use my intelligence in ways to get in smart positions."
David is able to play both as a forward or deeper as a No. 10.
"We try to give him a little more flexibility to be part of more than just finishing plays," said Marsch. "Because I think he's really valuable to our team in more ways than just scoring."
David ranks third in scoring this season in France's Ligue 1 with seven goals in 11 league outings. He has also scored in the Champions League against Atletico Madrid, Fenerbahce, Juventus and Real Madrid.
With his contract expiring in June, David is a hot commodity who has been linked to big teams across Europe. He says despite that, he is able to stay in the moment.
"For me it's fairly easy to be honest," he said. "Because I don't really focus on these things. What I do on the pitch is the most important thing. And this is what will get me to the best level that I can be."
Marsch is taking nothing for granted against Suriname on Tuesday despite leading the dance in the first leg.
Canada dominated play, outshooting Suriname 13-2 (5-0 in shots on target) with 67 per cent possession and a 7-1 edge in corners on Friday in Paramaribo. But Suriname, which hit the crossbar with a header in the second half, still proved to be a physical, prickly opponent despite being ranked 101 places below No. 35 Canada
"To expect anything but another tough performance from Suriname would be very foolish and naive, so we're not even talking about that," Marsch said.
The defending champion U.S. and Panama both won their quarterfinals Monday.
The 18th-ranked U.S. defeated No. 61 Jamaica 4-2 in St. Louis to win 5-2 on aggregate while No. 39 Panama advanced 3-2 on aggregate after a 2-2 draw with No. 50 Costa Rica in Panama City.
No. 16 Mexico hopes to overturn a 2-0 deficit from the first leg when it hosts No. 77 Honduras on Tuesday in Toluca.
The quarterfinal winners advance to the Nations League Finals in March at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif., and qualify for the 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup.
The Canadian men fell at this hurdle last year, losing to Jamaica on the away goals rule after the two-legged series finished knotted at 4-4.
Marsch, no doubt with an eye to Tuesday's rematch, had veterans Jonathan Osorio, Kamal Miller, Larin and Hoilett on the bench to start in Suriname.
"We played a fairly young team to start on purpose in the last match, to handle the heat and the (artificial) turf and everything else," said Marsch. "The guys who were a little bit more experienced coming off the bench, I think had a big effect in the game the way we needed them to, so that was good.
"And I think that strategy sets us up to maybe make a couple of changes with some of those players into this match."
It was 28 C, feeling like 31 C, for the first leg in Suriname. The forecast for Tuesday evening calls for eight C, feeling like five C, with a 40 per cent chance of rain.
Canada is 4-3-5 under Marsch, albeit against some elite opposition, with one of those ties turning into a penalty shootout loss to No. 14 Uruguay and another to a shootout win over No. 44 Venezuela.
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 18, 2024.
Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press
