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The Province
9 hours ago
- Sport
- The Province
Whitecaps' hammering in CONCACAF final is, sadly, fitting for Vancouver sports
Patrick Johnston: Why must cheering for Vancouver teams be misery? Get the latest from Patrick Johnston straight to your inbox Emmanuel Sabbi of Vancouver Whitecaps battles for possession with Gonzalo Piovi of Cruz Azul during the final match between Cruz Azul and Whitecaps as part of the CONCACAF Champions Cup 2025 at Estadio Olimpico Universitario on June 1, 2025 in Mexico City, Mexico. Photo by Hector Vivas / Getty Images Cheering for Vancouver sports teams that aren't of the baseball variety has been pure misery for a decade now. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Exclusive articles by top sports columnists Patrick Johnston, Ben Kuzma, J.J. Abrams and others. Plus, Canucks Report, Sports and Headline News newsletters and events. Unlimited online access to The Province and 15 news sites with one account. The Province ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on. Daily puzzles and comics, including the New York Times Crossword. Support local journalism. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Exclusive articles by top sports columnists Patrick Johnston, Ben Kuzma, J.J. Abrams and others. Plus, Canucks Report, Sports and Headline News newsletters and events. Unlimited online access to The Province and 15 news sites with one account. The Province ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on. Daily puzzles and comics, including the New York Times Crossword. Support local journalism. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors The misery was generally only limited to this city's winter sports — and, yes, we mean the Canucks but there was also that brief NBA sojourn that we all know was, yes, grizzly. But the Vancouver Whitecaps seem to be stuck on this list, too. (The B.C. Lions as well, but let's just deal with one football at a time, shall we?) How else to explain Sunday's total embarrassment in Mexico City, a 5-0 hammering at the hands of Cruz Azul, other than to chalk it up to the reality that cheering for a sports team in Vancouver is mostly guaranteed to inflict pain in the end? For all the brilliance this Whitecaps season has carried with it — the drubbing of Inter Miami, knocking off other strong Mexican teams like Pumas and Monterrey, the 15-game unbeaten run, the sitting atop the MLS league table, the super-entertaining brand of play (even without talisman Ryan Gauld — the loss Sunday at the hands of one of Mexico's Los Cuatro Grandes will stand out in stark and brutal contrast. Essential reading for hockey fans who eat, sleep, Canucks, repeat. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Sure, MLS teams have struggled in the grand final for North American football. Just three times in the 63 years there's been a CONCACAF club championship has a team from north of the Mexican border won the title. That the Whitecaps were likely going to lose, given the history, given the venue, was understandable. But to lose like this? Outrageous. We are left to consider a few things: • Did Jesper Sorensen get it wrong by starting a defensive back four who hadn't started together before? Did he get it wrong by starting a midfield trio who also hadn't started a game together? Sure feels like it. The number of gaffes, especially the shocking ones from the normally steady Andres Cubas, suggest as much. So was the total lack of service for Brian White, worst embodied in the Caps getting exactly zero shots on the night. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. • Was it the fact they played mid-week? Even if this is how Sorensen wanted, as he claimed, surely some rest, some time to acclimatize to the altitude would have been the better approach. Why didn't Major League Soccer simply make the call themselves and move that Wednesday game? • Or is it simply a team that plays in a tougher league than MLS knowing what it takes? • With all the strengths this team has displayed this year, especially in overcoming previous Mexican opposition, why were they so unprepared from the very beginning? Both captain Ranko Vesilinovic and Sorensen lamented how bad their team looked right from the start. For a team that has played so well this season in every other circumstance, who has passed the ball about with precision and confidence, it was a truly baffling experience. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. When you watch Mexican clubs, you are reminded of the remarkable depth of football in the country. There are many reasons for this, of course, but it's a reminder of what Canadian soccer still must work on: Getting all these kids playing the game the best coaching they can find and to give them all the chances in the world to play with energy, passion and personality. It's about being more than just technically sound, it's about having wave after wave of young players coming into the professional game in Canada ready to make the game not just good, but great. To that end, the Whitecaps must look at next year's CONCACAF Champions Cup with purpose: Not just to get back to the final but to far outclass this dismal, horrible performance. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. And to get there, they must press on this summer and show that this devastatingly poor performance was a shocking aberration on the season, that the team we've seen every other game this season is the real Whitecaps, a team on the rise, a team that will be the kind of team that can win a CONCACAF title, not just be there to make up the numbers. No one wants to see a juiceless effort, one that would be embarrassing to see on the training ground, one like Sunday's game, again. pjohnston@ Read More Vancouver Canucks Vancouver Whitecaps News Sports Junior Hockey
CTV News
13 hours ago
- Entertainment
- CTV News
Cruz Azul whips Vancouver Whitecaps 5-0 to win CONCACAF Champions Cup
Angel Sepulveda of Mexico's Cruz Azul, left, is congratulated after scoring his side's 5th goal against Canada's Vancouver Whitecaps during the CONCACAF Champions Cup final soccer match in Mexico City, Sunday, June 1, 2025. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano) Ángel Sepúlveda scored twice and Cruz Azul routed the Vancouver Whitecaps 5-0 on Sunday to win its seventh CONCACAF Champions Cup. Sepúlveda finished with a tournament-best nine goals. Ignacio Rivero, Lorenzo Faravelli and Mateusz Bogusz also scored for Cruz Azul, which built a 4-0 lead by halftime. The Liga MX club tied crosstown rival Club America for most titles in the tournament. It was Cruz Azul's first title since 2013-14 when La Máquina beat Tijuana. The Whitecaps were looking to make history as the first Canadian team to win the tournament, and the first winner from Major League Soccer since the Seattle Sounders in 2022. 'We came with hope, aspiration and ambition, of course now we leave with devastation,' said Whitecaps coach Jesper Sorensen. 'But we have played a great tournament going this far. We have beaten great teams on the way under tough conditions. But today we couldn't really put up a good performance to really shake a good team. 'Football at this level is brutal and if you cannot put up your best performance when it's needed. It makes it difficult (to succeed) … It was the entire group's ambition to win and play our best game of the season so far, and I would say that maybe we did the opposite.' Cruz Azul had four shots on goal in the first half and scored on all of them. La Máquina took advantage of a defensive lapse by the Whitecaps and Ignacio Rivero coolly finished with his left foot in the seventh minute in front of cheering home fans at Estadio Olímpico Universitario. Faravelli's goal came after a similar defensive lapse, struck from distance and went into the net after hitting the post. After Sepúlveda's sliding goal in the 37th, Bogusz added a goal in the 45th just before the teams went into the break. Sepúlveda added another goal on a header in the 50th. It was Cruz Azul goalkeeper Kevin Mier's fourth clean sheet of the tournament. The Whitecaps had no shots on goal during the match. Vancouver was without Sebastian Berhalter because of yellow card accumulation. He scored in both legs of the semifinal against Lionel Messi and Inter Miami. The Whitecaps had hoped that captain Ryan Gauld would return from a knee injury in time for the game but he was not available. Cruz Azul advanced with a two-legged victory over UANL Tigres. It was the first meeting between the Whitecaps and Cruz Azul. A sold-out watch party in downtown Vancouver went from wild to mild by halftime, sensing a runner-up status was inevitable. Social media reaction was mixed, with people applauding the Whitecaps' superb season and unbeaten streak, while people such as Rob @604robbie on X stated: 'Nothing more Vancouver sports then not showing up in the most important game of the year.' Glyn Bough @GlynBough said on X the difference in class was so evident. 'The speed of though, action, positioning and quality of pass or defending the pass is at a different level from the Mexican side.'
Canada Standard
15 hours ago
- Sport
- Canada Standard
Mexico's Cruz Azul wins CONCACAF Champions Cup
Xinhua 02 Jun 2025, 12:46 GMT+10 MEXICO CITY, June 1 (Xinhua) -- Mexico international forward Angel Sepulveda scored twice as Cruz Azul clinched the CONCACAF Champions Cup with a 5-0 victory over Vancouver Whitecaps on Sunday. Ignacio Rivero gave the Mexican side the lead in the eighth minute at Estadio Olimpico Universitario by sweeping a low first-time shot into the far corner. Lorenzo Faravelli doubled the lead when he capitalized on a defensive error to fire home from outside the area. Sepulveda made it 3-0 with a sliding effort from inside the six-yard box after meeting Carlos Rotondi's cross at the near post. Poland international midfielder Mateusz Bogusz completed a dominant first-half from the hosts as he intercepted a wayward defensive clearance and sent a 16-yard drive into the far corner. The Canadian club struggled to keep possession and failed to put a single shot on target against the Liga MX side, which shifted into cruise control for much of the second half. Sepulveda was irrepressible and the 34-year-old completed the rout by heading home after Jorge Sanchez's floating cross. Cruz Azul earned the right to host the final due to its superior record throughout the tournament. The triumph put Cruz Azul level with its Mexico City rival America as the most successful clubs in the history of the competition with seven titles each. The result means Cruz Azul automatically qualifies for the next editions of the FIFA Club World Cup and the FIFA Intercontinental Cup.
Washington Post
20 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Washington Post
Cruz Azul beats the Vancouver Whitecaps 5-0 for the CONCACAF Champions Cup title
MEXICO CITY — Ángel Sepúlveda scored twice and Cruz Azul routed the Vancouver Whitecaps 5-0 on Sunday to win its seventh CONCACAF Champions Cup. Sepúlveda finished with a tournament-best nine goals. Ignacio Rivero, Lorenzo Faravelli and Mateusz Bogusz also scored for Cruz Azul, which built a 4-0 lead by halftime. The Liga MX club tied crosstown rival Club America for most titles in the tournament. It was Cruz Azul's first title since 2013-14 when La Máquina beat Tijuana. The Whitecaps were looking to make history as the first Canadian team to win the tournament, and the first winner from Major League Soccer since the Seattle Sounders in 2022. 'Cruz Azul is a club that demands a lot,' Cruz Azul coach Vicente Sánchez said through a translator. 'We prepared ourselves for this final. We had two weeks to prepare ourselves for this match, so we had a couple of friendly matches. Some players went to the national team. We knew this team, this rival.' Cruz Azul had four shots on goal in the first half and scored on all of them. La Máquina took advantage of a defensive lapse by the Whitecaps and Ignacio Rivero coolly finished with his left foot in the seventh minute in front of cheering home fans at Estadio Olímpico Universitario. Faravelli's goal came after a similar defensive lapse, struck from distance and went into the net after hitting the post. After Sepúlveda's sliding goal in the 37th, Bogusz added a goal in the 45th just before the teams went into the break. Sepúlveda added another goal on a header in the 50th. It was Cruz Azul goalkeeper Kevin Mier's fourth clean sheet of the tournament. The Whitecaps had no shots on goal during the match. 'I think that the main thing was that we were not able to come out with the calmness and confidence, and we were up against a team that came out very confident, playing at their home turf and and also in front of a great home crowd. So that was, I think, the main decider,' Whitecaps coach Jesper Sorensen said. Vancouver was without Sebastian Berhalter because of yellow card accumulation. He scored in both legs of the semifinal against Lionel Messi and Inter Miami. The Whitecaps had hoped that captain Ryan Gauld would return from a knee injury in time for the game but he was not available. Cruz Azul advanced with a two-legged victory over UANL Tigres. Sanchez, who took over as interim coach of La Máquina in January, was peppered with questions after the match about his future with the team. He fell to his knees and sobbed on the field after the final whistle. 'I don't know about the future. It's one day at a time,' Sanchez said. 'I don't know what is going to happen tomorrow. We have to enjoy today with the people that supported us, with fans. And tomorrow we'll see, the decision does not depend on me.' It was the first meeting between the Whitecaps and Cruz Azul. ___ AP soccer:
News.com.au
20 hours ago
- Business
- News.com.au
Cruz Azul thrash Vancouver Whitecaps to win CONCACAF Champions Cup
Mexico's Cruz Azul smashed the Vancouver Whitecaps 5-0 to win the CONCACAF Champions Cup on Sunday for a record-equalling seventh time. Angel Sepulveda scored twice for Cruz Azul, who led 4-0 at half-time in Mexico City and equal rivals Club America's record of seven CONCACAF titles. Sepulveda finished as the tournament's top-scorer with nine goals while the Whitecaps became the third Canadian team to reach the final and lose. It was also the third straight year in which an MLS team has been beaten by a Mexican club in the continental final. The Whitecaps had high hopes of becoming the first Canadian team to win the trophy having beaten two top Mexican teams, Monterrey and Pumas, on their journey to their first appearance in the final. But they were utterly outclassed by the Mexico City club. It was an uncharacteristically poor performance from Jesper Sorensen's Whitecaps, who were punished by some ruthless finishing from the Mexican side. Cruz Azul enjoyed home advantage at their Estadio Olimpico Universitario and they immediately brought the crowd to their feet with an eighth-minute opener. The Whitecaps gave the ball away in their own half and Carlos Rotondi pounced, threading the ball through to Ignacio Rivero, who took it first time with his left foot to fire into the far corner. It was another giveaway that led to the second, 20 minutes later, when Andres Cubas lost possession and Lorenzo Faravelli showed no hesitation as he unleashed a fierce drive which crashed in off the inside of the post. The Whitecaps, who beat Inter Miami in the semi-final to reach their first CONCACAF title game, looked nothing like the team that has impressed so much this season and they were soon in deeper trouble. The Vancouver defence were slow to react to a quick throw-in and Rotondi broke down the left and delivered a pinpoint low cross which Sepulveda deftly flicked past Yohei Takaoka. It was one-way traffic and Vancouver were punished again when a half-clearance fell to Polish midfielder Mateusz Bogusz just outside the box. The former Los Angeles FC player drilled home from the edge of the box. Cruz Azul went in at half-time having scored four goals from four attempts on goal and with their opponents looking shell-shocked. It got worse five minutes after the restart when Cubas was robbed again in deep midfield and from the counter-attack Jorge Sanchez crossed and Sepulveda rose superbly to head home his second and his ninth goal in the competition. "We took the final very seriously and it was a perfect performance. The truth is that we had the game wrapped up by half-time," said Mexican international Sepulveda. Daniel Rios, Vancouver's Mexican striker said the team had been impacted by playing at high altitude with the game played at 2,240 metres (7,350 feet) above sea level. "We made a couple of mistakes and they were very decisive every time they attacked. The altitude really affected us, we couldn't adapt and we're going home disappointed," he said. The victory gave Cruz Azul qualification for two FIFA competitions -- the 2025 Intercontinental Cup and the 2029 Club World Cup.
