The Canadian men’s team made the entire country stand up and take notice of them at the FIFA World Cup thanks to a memorable run that saw them advance out of the group stage and record their first ever win in a knockout match.

That’s what makes Saturday’s 3-0 loss to Morocco in the round of 16 all the more disappointing.

While it was a scoreline that flattered the Africans, it was, nonetheless, a fair result, and Canada can have little complaint about coming out on the wrong end of things at Houston’s NRG Stadium.

Les Rouges put forth a valiant effort deep in the heart of Texas, but effort only carries you so far. Ultimately, it’s the extra bit of quality and cunning in game management that makes the difference at the World Cup. Canada was sorely lacking in both of those areas against Morocco and now finds itself headed home.

Despite the loss, coach Jesse Marsch was full of praise for his side.

“I think we showed that in this tournament that we can win big games, you know? Since I've been here, we won big games at Copa América. … Before the tournament, if we would have said round of 16, I think we would have been pretty satisfied. Before today, if you would have said your team's going to play like that, I would have said, okay, there's a good chance we're going to win the match,” Marsch told reporters in the post-game press conference.

Here are three takeaways from Saturday’s match.

A dominant first half by Canada went to waste 

Jesse Marsch didn’t mince words in the buildup to Saturday’s contest, calling Morocco a team with “zero weaknesses.”

Morocco sat No. 7 in the FIFA world rankings ahead of this game, 23 spots above Canada, and is the reigning African Cup of Nations holder. Many top pundits predicted prior to the start of the tournament that the Atlas Lions could make another deep run this summer after reaching the semifinals four years ago in Qatar. By all accounts, this was a major mismatch on paper.

But in fact, the Moroccans looked full of weaknesses through the first 45 minutes of Saturday’s game, and more than a little infallible against a........

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