Canada angry after no PK vs. Mexico: Game 'deserves high-level refereeing'

The Canadian men's national team's hopes of winning its first trophy in 25 years were dashed by Thursday's 2-0 Nations League defeat to Mexico, and an incident in just the ninth minute could rankle head coach Jesse Marsch's side for some time.

Mexico held an early 1-0 lead in the semifinal following Raul Jimenez's goal in the first minute. Shortly afterward, Derek Cornelius tried to win possession in the area and got a touch on the ball before midfielder Edson Alvarez kicked the Canadian's left foot. Referee Said Martinez gave Mexico a free-kick as Canada players converged on him to appeal for a penalty. He wasn't instructed to review his decision on the pitchside monitor.

"We have a clear, clear, clear penalty, I don't know how it's not given in terms of - we have VAR. He doesn't even look at it," Cornelius told OneSoccer's Kristian Jack postgame.

Cornelius added, "I just tried to get to the ball first to keep the attack alive and then, obviously, I got kicked at the end of it."

The defender couldn't fathom any excuses to not award Canada what he felt was "100%" a spot-kick.

"This is high-level games with high-level players. It deserves high-level refereeing," the defender added, according to TSN's Matthew Scianitti.

Marsch described the incident as "the definition of a penalty." Midfielder Stephen Eustaquio was similarly adamant that the referee missed a blatant call in Inglewood, California, but said the Honduran official was confident that a Mexican free-kick was the correct decision.

"We tried to talk to the ref and pressure the ref to see VAR, but he was certain from the beginning that it wasn't a penalty," Eustaquio said.

"I looked at the monitor, and I think that's a penalty everywhere in the world."

Instead of chasing its first title since the Gold Cup in 2000, Canada now falls into a third-place game against the United States on Sunday. The reigning champion U.S. was surprisingly beaten in its semifinal earlier Thursday evening after Cecilio Waterman's dramatic 94th-minute winner for Panama.

Panama was the lowest-ranked team (36th) in the final four of the Nations League but will now contest the final against Mexico shortly after Sunday's meeting between Canada and the United States.