York United FC assistant coach Mauro Eustáquio has joined the Canadian men’s national team in camp this week as they prepare for upcoming friendlies against the United States and Mexico.

Eustáquio had caught the eye of Canada head coach Jesse Marsch, who sat down with OneSoccer this week and discussed a wide variety of topics ahead of Saturday’s clash with the U.S. in Kansas City.

One key point of conversation, though, was Eustáquio; Marsch explained his thinking behind inviting the York coach to join his setup, and it’s not just because of Eustáquio’s brother Stephen’s place at the centre of Canada’s midfield.

Since he took control in late May — but especially this summer after the Copa América — Marsch has been working to embed himself in the Canadian football landscape and understand all its levels and how the national team can support that. So, he’s had his eye on the Canadian Premier League in particular.

“Over the last month and a half I’ve done a lot of gathering of information about what’s happening at the grassroots level, and at the CPL level, and at MLS, academies, connections with private clubs, different communities and what that looks like. I’ve been asking a lot of questions like, ‘What do you need from the national team coach’, ‘What do you expect from the national team program,” Marsch told OneSoccer.

“In there, it’s [finding out] who are some of the young players we need to invest in and who are some of the young coaches we need to invest in, and Mauro Eustáquio’s name kept coming up. I had heard about him early on, mostly because he’s Steph’s brother, but then there were conversations we had where I realized he’s a mature person and a serious football person. I was really excited to bring him into our environment, have him see what we do, have him see how we do it, and have him explain to us what he thinks is important, the things they try to achieve at York, what he thinks of the CPL.”

Marsch went on to add that he anticipates further relationship-building with coaches like Eustáquio; to him, just as it’s important to ensure players have a path from the grassroots to national team levels, so too must coaches be able to nurture their skills domestically.

“The more that we can invest in high-potential people in the sport in the country, the more that I can learn about what’s going on,” Marsch said. “The more they can learn from us and what we’re trying to achieve with the national team, and the more we can connect the dots to make sure that we’re creating development paths and pathways for all of these players and coaches to get better and continue to improve, so that the sport can have a bigger foundation and continue to improve.”

Why Jesse Marsch called up @YorkUtdFC coach Mauro Eustaquio to the #CanMNT squad for #USMNT and Mexico matches 🇨🇦#CanPL 📈 pic.twitter.com/vM1881jJu8

— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) September 5, 2024

Marsch, Eustáquio and the Canadian men’s national team take on the United States at Children’s Mercy Park on Saturday (3 p.m. CT/4 p.m. ET). They then travel to Arlington, Texas to play Mexico on Tuesday, Sept. 10 (6:30 p.m. CT/8:30 p.m. ET). Both matches will be available to watch, live and on demand, on OneSoccer.

To see the full OneSoccer interview with Jesse Marsch, click here.