Bristol City defender's international summer comes to close with penalty shoot-out defeat | Bristol Live

Bristol City defender Jamie Knight-Lebel featured for Canada in this summer's Gold Cup

Bristol City defender Jamie Knight-Lebel's international summer has come to an end after Canada were beaten by Guatemala on penalties in the quarter-finals of the Gold Cup.

The 20-year-old was an unused substitute on Sunday evening as Jesse Marsch's side let a one-goal lead slip in the second half before exiting this summer's edition of the tournament.

Canada took the lead from the penalty spot after 29 minutes when Jonathan David found the net after Tani Oluwaseyi was fouled by Aaron Herrera, but they were reduced to 10 men moments before the break when Jacob Shaffelburg was shown a second yellow card in first-half stoppage time.

While Marsch's side initially coped well despite Guatemala's man advantage, Rubio Rubin levelled with a little over 20 minutes to play. The 29-year-old's strike proved to be enough to force penalties, with no extra-time in the tournament.

Both Cyle Larin and Luc De Fougerolles missed for Le Rouges to ensure it was Canada who exited the tournament with Guatemala now set to meet Mauricio Pochettino and the US Men's National Team in the semi-finals later this week. On the other side of the draw, Mexico will take on Honduras with the winners of each semi-final set to meet at the NRG Stadium in Texas next week.

Although Knight-Lebel didn't make it off of the bench in Sunday night's quarter-final, he has been a regular fixture in Canada's matchday squads throughout the summer. After playing 26 minutes of a 4-2 friendly win over Ukraine, he made a brief cameo in the group stage of the Gold Cup, coming off the bench for the final 13 minutes as Le Rouges beat El Salvador 2-0.

The 20-year-old defender made his senior debut for the Robins against Cardiff City in the 2023/24 campaign before enjoying a positive loan spell with Crewe Alexandra in League Two last season.

In total, he made 38 appearances for the Railwaymen in all competitions, scoring three goals and impressing defensively as Lee Bell's side finished 13th in the fourth tier.

The point of last season's loan switch was to allow Knight-Lebel the chance to play consistent football at a first-team level after a term on the fringes under both Nigel Pearson and Liam Manning. Having done exactly that, the young defender will be hopeful of impressing new boss Gerhard Struber in pre-season.

While the Austrian will of course bring his own ideas to BS3, Knight-Lebel should, in theory at least, be suited to a 'Red Bull' style of football, given his experience playing under Marsch on the international stage.

Like Struber, Marsch has spent time coaching at Red Bull clubs, namely Salzburg and New York, and tends to employ an intense, pressing brand of football. Hopefully, that will stand the 20-year-old defender in good stead when he returns to BS3.