Jesse Marsch discusses October Friendly games against Australia and Colombia for CANMNT

Jesse Marsch discusses the players selected for this international window

Montreal, QC- Canadian Men’s National Team Head Coach Jesse Marsch has assembled his roster for the October International window, playing two friendly matches, as they will host Australia at Stade Saputo in Montreal, on Friday, October 10th, and traveling down to Sports Illustrated Stadium to face Colombia on Tuesday, October 14th.

Veterans getting a chance to make the World Cup Roster

While Canada is producing young and exciting players for the present and the future, it’s essential not to overlook the veterans who need to be part of the squad to help improve the team and bring valuable experience to the young players as well.

“Osho, first of all, I think he has been playing very well for TFC, and although it’s been a really tough year, I think he’s shown his importance, his leadership, his experience. And I think he’s performing at an incredibly high level right now. So that’s the first part, right?

Everyone has to earn the opportunity to go to the World Cup next year. And Osho’s doing that by himself. Then he has a really strong presence in the group. And we have a number of players that are more experienced.

Junior Hoylett, being one, Maxime Crepea,u being one, Kyle Lahren. And they all, as much as I’ve really tried to tilt things toward being younger and some talent in the team, I think where we are in general with the overall development and progress of who we are is.“

Jonathan Osorio is still an important piece

Jesse Marsch knows he needs to rely on certain players, regardless of how well or poorly their club season is going. While Toronto FC is not doing good in MLS play and is already eliminated from playoff contention, Osorio is still needed for the National Team.

“We still need these kinds of experienced guys to understand how to handle moments, how to be at our best in the biggest games. And certainly, I think Osho is a big part of that. And one of the things I also like is he’s playing a little bit deeper in the midfield, which I think is his best role for us as well.

Although I’ve used him as a second striker, I’ve used him as a wide midfielder. So his flexibility, his experience, and his performances are what we value more than anything. So yeah, it’s good to have him back. And I want to continue to involve him and make sure that he knows how important he is.”

Marsch is sticking with the same guys

It looks like Marsch is staying with the players he feels comfortable with going into the World Cup next summer. While some might think he could use some experimentation, the safe bet is keeping the same players and having continuity.

“I think a lot of things are our last squad, our last September window that we were using these three windows almost as one combined window. And so I think there’s continuity to the squad; I think there’s an understanding in the group of what we’re trying to establish, and we’re going to pick up where we left off.

From when we were in Wales and make sure that we continue to push the important themes, which are our tactical ability to understand how we want to play; but even more importantly, our overall mentality, leadership, communication, organization, you know our management of games, our savviness in games, all those things I think we know are incredibly important in our overall development in preparation for next summer. So that’s what this will be about.”

Liam Miller possibly return from injury

After suffering a torn ACL a year ago for his club Hull City FC, Liam Miller has been called into the squad for the October Friendlies. He just returned with his club late in September of 2025. Marsch decided to call him in for these matches.

“Yeah, I mean, look, we even have named 24, mostly with the idea that we want to get Liam involved, you know? And so we’ll see exactly where. There’s been a lot of good communication with Liam; he and I have been texting back and forth on almost a daily basis to get updates on where he’s at and how he’s doing, mostly just to encourage him to keep going because it’s been 11 months, right?

It’s been a long time, and so he feels good; he feels strong even though he hasn’t had minutes. He’ll have two more opportunities to log some game minutes, but in the end, we need to make sure that we integrate him in all ways because he’s an important player in our group.

And then, we’ll evaluate exactly where he’s at when he gets into camp and see how he trains, and then evaluate exactly what kind of role we give him in the matches. But we’re hopeful that he can contribute, and again, I think he’s an important guy as we look forward to what we’re trying to establish in our team.”

Jesse returns to Sports Illustrated Stadium/Red Bull Arena

For four full seasons, Jesse Marsch was the head coach of the New York Red Bulls before making his move to the German Bundesliga as an assistant coach for RB Leipzig. He won the Supporters’ Shield in 2015, led the club to the U.S. Open Cup Final in 2017, and took them to the Semi-Finals against Guadalajara Chivas in the 2018 CONCACAF Champions League.

Now he returns to his former home stadium this time as Canada will be the away side as they take on Colombia in their second match of the two international friendlies in this October Window. Marsch talks about it with the media.

“Going back to Red Bull Arena, Sports Illustrated Stadium. Awesome! Really exciting for me. You know, when we were putting this Friendly together. We knew that it was an opportunity to go back there. For me, it’s an exciting moment.

I really enjoyed my time with the New York Red Bulls, and you mentioned a lot of the players. I could also go down a lot of the staff, and certainly people like Mark deGrand Prix, Oliver Mintzloff, and everything that we built there at the New York Red Bulls. There’s a lot to be proud of.

Now, unfortunately, I think it’s going to be an away match then. So we probably won’t have the same kind of support that Columbia will have, but in all ways, between being at the training ground, being at the stadium, I’m trying to get them to allow us to use the first team dressing. room that is my old dressing room, and to make it an experience that reminds me of all the great times back then.”

It’s a fun time in Montreal against Australia, and it should be a good time to visit Harrison, NJ, playing Colombia during this window to prepare for the World Cup this upcoming Summer.

Canada Soccer News

• Canada Men’s National Team Returns to Montréal for Historic October Friendlies Against Top-Ranked Opponents
• Canada Soccer Gives Updates of their Organization
• Canada Men’s National Team Reaches Historic FIFA Ranking High
• Canada Soccer Launches $25M Fundraising Campaign to Transform National Game

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