Canada boss Jesse Marsch hits out at Qatar reaction to 'gruesome' Ismael Kone injury after touchline spat - 'Strange behaviour'

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Canada head coach Jesse Marsch accused Qatar's bench of "strange behaviour" after Ismael Kone's horror injury in Thursday's World Cup group match, which ended in an emphatic 6-0 win for the dominant co-hosts.

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Kone was stretchered off with a suspected broken leg following a tackle from Qatar's Assim Madibo.

Madibo was visibly shocked and upset after seeing the extent of the injury, and Marsch revealed he had later apologised.

But the Canada boss was unimpressed by the reaction of the Qatari players and staff on the touchline after Madibo was sent off to reduce the Middle Eastern side to nine men.

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"Let me be clear, the player apologised to Ismael [Kone], like came into the dressing room and apologized to him, and Ismail told the team, or let the team know that that had happened, so I don't think that he meant such a gruesome tackle or gruesome situation," Marsch said in his post-match press conference.

"So I don't fault him for that, but I don't understand a reaction from their entire bench to try to start a fight about it being a red card when a clear foul just happened that broke a player's leg. So strange behaviour, but in the end we were more focused on Ismael in the match."

Asked about Kone's condition, Marsch added: "I haven't spoken to Ismael yet, but he's at the hospital, he will prepare for surgery. I'm going to go see him after this press conference.

"We'll see exactly what we decide to do for him. His family is with him at the hospital, so his mother's there.

"It happened right in front of the bench, we could all hear it. I knew right away it was similar to when Tajon [Buchanan] got hurt in training, it was right in front of us, and everyone could hear the bones snap.

"So your heart goes out to him, and everybody's a little shaken by the whole experience because of the nature of the injury, and also because Ismael is a big part of the heart of our team. It would be a big loss for us."

There was a touchline scuffle between both benches after Madibo was shown a straight red card and once again following the full-time whistle.

Forward Jonathan David, who scored a hat-trick in the win to propel himself to the top of the World Cup scoring charts alongside Lionel Messi, admitted Canada were shocked by the incident.

"I think it's very difficult, especially in a game that was basically won at that point," he said. "Obviously it was very hard for us, for himself, for the team. It was a difficult moment obviously, but we have to stay strong for him and to do it for him."

On Qatar's physical approach, David added: "You can understand the frustration, obviously, because of the scoreline. No team wants things to happen like this, so they have to react in a way.

"But what I told the players is that I can understand that you're angry, but if there's a play where you cannot win the ball, there's no point of going in because it's just to hurt the player in the end."

Qatar defender Sultan Al-Brake, meanwhile, said: "I hope he makes a full recovery. That’s football for you. Our player didn’t mean to do it, and I wish him a speedy recovery.

"I think this is football and it can happen in each game. And we feel sorry for him."

Canada can secure their place in the last 32 of the World Cup in their final group game against Switzerland on Wednesday, while Qatar must win against Bosnia and Herzegovina.

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