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New York Times
4 days ago
- Business
- New York Times
Cruz Azul dismantles MLS's Whitecaps to claim Concacaf Champions Cup title
Another continental final, another 5-0 scoreline. Cruz Azul demolished MLS's Vancouver Whitecaps by that five-goal margin in the Concacaf Champions Cup on Sunday night in Mexico City to emphatically and unequivocally claim the regional title. A day after that same scoreline made waves around the football world, when Paris Saint-Germain defeated Inter Milan in the UEFA Champions League final, Cruz Azul sent a similar message in a dominant, message-sending performance. Advertisement Cruz Azul captain Ignacio Rivero opened the scoring in the eighth minute, which began the avalanche of goals. Lorenzo Faravelli scored the second 20 minutes later, before Ángel Sepúlveda added the third in the 37th minute. Former LAFC winger Mateusz Bogusz scored Cruz Azul's fourth right before halftime, and Sepúlveda capped the scoring – and his tournament golden boot – in the 50th minute with his ninth goal of the competition. Five of Cruz Azul's six shots on goal found the back of the net. Vancouver, conversely, didn't attempt a single shot – the first time a club has failed to do so in a Concacaf Champions Cup match since stats outfit Opta began tracking such data for MLS clubs in 2011-12. The win was Cruz Azul's seventh Concacaf title, which ties city rival Club América for the most in history. For Vancouver, it'll fly back to Canada humbled to say the least. The absence of central midfielder Sebastian Berhalter (who was suspended due to yellow card accumulation) robbed the MLS side of a hard-working player who could've added some fight in midfield. But Berhalter alone would not have been the game-changer that Vancouver needed. The Whitecaps were outclassed in all facets of the game and were never able to break free from the anxiety of playing in their first major continental final. On paper alone, Cruz Azul's obliteration of Vancouver was impressive. The 5-0 win is the most lopsided final victory in the modern history of the competition. Vancouver's loss was very nearly the worst ever suffered by an MLS club against a Liga MX opponent in continental club competition, within a goal of the Philadelphia Union's 6-0 defeat at the hands of Pachuca in the 2024 quarterfinals. Vancouver became the third straight MLS team to crash out in the tournament final, but the club — recent darlings of MLS — did so in particularly shocking fashion. Advertisement 'It's hard to say anything,' Whitecaps captain Ranko Veselinović said on the Fox broadcast after the match. '(Cruz Azul) won deservedly. They were a better team in every aspect. We were not ready for this game tonight. 'It's devastating to go out like this.' Here are a couple of more thoughts on as lopsided a final as you'll see: Vancouver was comprehensively dismantled by Cruz Azul in the first half, held without a shot while the hosts scored on all four of their attempts on goal. The Whitecaps have run roughshod over their fair share of opponents this season in MLS and continental play, but they looked lost on Sunday, lacking any real sense of urgency and struggling to string together any real spell of possession. Vancouver's performance on Sunday was almost beyond question the most embarrassing display ever put on by an MLS team in a Concacaf club final. The 5-0 result was just shy of the club's worst-ever loss in their USL and MLS era, a 6-0 drubbing at the hands of Sporting KC in 2018. It was a shocking turn of form for Vancouver, which arrived at the final after comprehensively beating Lionel Messi's Inter Miami in the semifinals. It also, however, felt deeply unsurprising to anybody who has watched this tournament, in all its varied forms, over the last several decades. A narrative has emerged in recent years that suggests that MLS is on the front foot, having finally turned a corner in terms of perception and performance. Yet the league's teams still struggle consistently when playing abroad, particularly in Mexico. Vancouver seemed to have as good a chance as any team has in recent years, besting not only Miami but Pumas and Monterrey, a pair of very respectable Liga MX sides, and advancing on the strength of away goals tiebreakers earned in Mexico. Advertisement In the end, though, it was the same old song: a raucous away crowd and a deeply unprepared MLS club undone by a team with a roster worth nearly twice as much as them. Vancouver has looked like title contenders all year, both in MLS and Concacaf. On Sunday, it may have gotten a brutal reality check and a reminder that it may not yet be ready for this stage. Vancouver is hardly the first MLS club to put in respectable performances against Liga MX clubs and then fall entirely flat in the final. Just last year, the Columbus Crew, among MLS's elite sides, looked great against Tigres and Monterrey and then laid an egg against Pachuca, though many of the club's players and staff were affected by a rash of food poisoning. A year prior, LAFC made its own attempt at glory but fell flat against León. The statistics remain brutal: in the 63-year history of the tournament, only three American clubs have ever won it. It will take much more than an MLS club winning the tournament every now and then to change this narrative. Cruz Azul had not played since May 18, eliminated in the Liga MX semifinals by eternal rival Club América. Clearly, Cruz Azul was looking to take out its frustrations on Vancouver, a side that it must've felt very confident in meeting. If Cruz Azul needed any additional motivation, it came on Saturday in Los Angeles. Sunday's match came just a day after Club América lost to LAFC in the play-in match for the Club World Cup. That match — a made-up one to gain admission into a tournament created from whole cloth — felt bigger and more relevant than Sunday's continental final. It didn't help that Vancouver failed to even put up a fight. The Canadian side was always going to be outmatched man-for-man against a legitimate Liga MX club like Cruz Azul, a club accustomed to playing on such a stage. But the expectation was that Vancouver would bring its blue-collar attitude to Mexico City and challenge the favored foe. Instead, Vancouver embarrassed itself on a big stage – while also humiliating MLS and disappointing the 800 or so traveling supporters in the process. Fans in Mexico must've been baffled that Vancouver had eliminated Pumas, Monterrey and Miami. It was a historic run worthy of all the attention that Vancouver had received, only to be undone in 90 horrifying minutes. There are few things that garner more satisfaction in Mexican football than thoroughly shaming an MLS club. Cruz Azul had no mercy in front of a partisan crowd at the Estadio Olímpico, and Cruz Azul manager Vicente Sánchez gave several starters their deserved curtain call in the 66th minute, another subtle jab at the visitor's fragile ego. Advertisement Crushing an MLS club doesn't erase Liga MX's disappointment at not sending its flagship club to the Club World Cup. Sunday's final, though — an absolute dismantling of what many consider to be MLS's best club right now — will probably go a long way toward making them forget that Saturday's match even happened.
The Guardian
4 days ago
- Business
- The Guardian
Cruz Azul notches record-tying seventh Concacaf triumph with 5-0 demolition of Vancouver
Mexican club Cruz Azul clinched a record-equalling seventh CONCACAF Champions Cup title with a crushing 5-0 victory over Canada's Vancouver Whitecaps in the final at the Olympic Stadium on Sunday. Hosts Cruz Azul struck early, taking the lead in the eighth minute as Carlos Rotondi slid in to square the ball for captain Ignacio Rivero, who calmly finished in a one-on-one. Sign up to Soccer with Jonathan Wilson Jonathan Wilson brings expert analysis on the biggest stories from European soccer after newsletter promotion Lorenzo Faravelli doubled the lead 20 minutes later, winning back the ball and unleashing a superb strike that curled in off the far post, before Angel Sepulveda and Mateusz Bogusz added another two goals before the break. While the Major League Soccer side failed to record a single shot, striker Sepulveda added his second goal with a 50th-minute header as Cruz Azul joined Mexican rivals America as the most successful clubs in the 60-year history of the competition.
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
🚨 Cruz Azul decimate Vancouver in one-sided Concacaf Champions Cup final
The ever-present debate surrounding whether MLS is finally ready to usurp Liga MX as the leading top-flight competition in North America was resoundingly answered as Cruz Azul crushed Vancouver Whitecaps in a 5-0 win to seal their Concacaf Champions Cup triumph. Scorers: Rivero 8', Faravelli 28', Sepulveda 37', 50', Bogusz 45' Advertisement Despite all the justifiable praise levied in the direction of Jesper Sørensen's outfit, the hundreds of traveling supporters who made the trip to Mexico City were left stunned long before the full-time whistle. La Máquina club captain Ignacio Rivero gifted the Mexican giants a dream start inside ten minutes after the Whitecaps were caught in possession in their defensive third, with the Uruguayan sliding his effort past Yohei Takaoka after Carlos Rotondi's interception found Rivero with time and space to finish. A thunderous hit from Lorenzo Faravelli doubled the lead on the night before the half-hour mark, with Cruz Azul once again pressing high up to strike Vancouver at the heart of the backline. Leading goal-getter Angel Sepulveda bagged his eighth of the competition in the 37th minute before MLS alumnus Mateusz Bogusz made it four-to-the-good on the stroke of half-time. Advertisement The floodgates remained open when Sepulveda headed home in the 50th minute to make it 5-0 after the Whitecaps gave possession away far too easily once again, giving the Mexican international his ninth of the tournament and 23rd across all competitions. Mercifully, Sánchez's troops failed to find a sixth before the end of full-time before the Cruz Azul manager dropped to his knees in tears on the whistle. Up next for Vancouver is a home clash as they host the Seattle Sounders at BC Place, while Cruz Azul heads off for summer break before returning to action in August. 📸 Hector Vivas - 2025 Getty Images
Vancouver Sun
08-05-2025
- Sport
- Vancouver Sun
Whitecaps vs. LAFC: The hottest rivalries are the ones steeped in hate
Reviews and recommendations are unbiased and products are independently selected. Postmedia may earn an affiliate commission from purchases made through links on this page. NEXT GAME LAFC at Vancouver Whitecaps Sunday, May 11, 4 p.m., B.C. Place TV: Apple TV. Radio: AM730 It's not always regional. It's not always cultural. Ask any coach or player what truly powers a deep-seated rivalry, and the answer is almost always this: playoff history. Think of the great rivalries in sports: The Lakers vs. The Celtics. Red Sox vs. Yankees. Ali vs. Frazier. Duke vs. the Tar Heels . Canucks vs. Blackhawks. Start your day with a roundup of B.C.-focused news and opinion. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Sunrise will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. It's the moments that mattered, when championships or belts were on the line, that forged an enmity so deep, it's transcended time. The Vancouver Whitecaps have their rivals. Toronto FC and Montreal get there, but more due to the Canadian championship and western resentment of anything east of the Rockies. Portland and Seattle are the Cascadia Cup contenders, with the Caps having played more games against those two cities than any others, with a history that dates back to the last century. But the team's truest, most heated contemporary rival, is Los Angeles FC. A club that's managed to win the conference three times, the Supporters' Shield twice, and MLS Cup once — all in a Major League Soccer history that's half as long as the Whitecaps. The all-time league record is relatively close , as the Americans only have a 10-6-4 record vs. Vancouver, and lost on penalties in the Leagues Cup to the Caps last summer . But this is the team that's bounced Vancouver from the playoffs in two straight years. In 2023, it was the legendary first-round series that ended with Vanni Sartini ejected and talks of referee cadavers being found in False Creek . In 2024, the Whitecaps pushed LA to the brink — including blanking them 3-0 at B.C. Place in Game 2 — but a momentary blink of an eye in concentration in the third and deciding game saw Mateusz Bogusz's second-half goal make the difference. This year, the Whitecaps are the team that's looking down from atop the Western Conference standings, where LAFC is perched more often than not. Vancouver's 8-1-2 mark is the best in the league, and they're one of just a handful of MLS teams to make the CONCACAF Champions Cup final. Their 26 points through the first 11 games is the sixth-best start in MLS history, with the five other times its happened resulting in four Supporters' Shields and one second-place finish. LAFC (5-4-2) are fifth in the West — tied on 17 points with expansion San Diego in fourth — and come to B.C. Place on Sunday, ready to rumble with their rivals. 'They're a team of winners. They know how to win. That's something I admire about them,' said Caps midfielder Sebastian Berhalter. 'But again, we've played them so many times that you just get that burning feeling just to beat them.' Ryan Raposo will get a chance to see what the rivalry is like from the other side of the fence this time. The pacy winger didn't re-sign with Vancouver after his contract expired at the end of last season, and the longest-tenured player on the team took a brief foray to China before signing with LAFC in April. 'It's funny, he mused, after being asked about the sheer number of games the two teams have played against each other in recent years. '(In Vancouver) I think we were thinking the same thing. In every draw — LAFC, whether that was Leagues Cup or playoffs. It felt like we were playing LAFC every other game. (LA) is a team that I don't think anyone is looking forward to playing against, because you know the quality of the players, the atmosphere that the fans bring. 'We were never looking forward to coming here to L.A. and playing them.' Raposo said he's in daily contact with the members of his old team, and is looking forward to seeing first-hand what it has become since he left. 'It's awesome,' he said. 'I've watched them the whole way. … It's a group that has been together for a very long time. It's a group that's very close inside and outside the locker room, a bunch of guys that are all pushing in the same direction. From what I've heard from them, they're loving the new coach, and I think they've all bought into what he wants from them. So it's great. It's great to see them go out there and be in the (CCC) final representing MLS.' jadams@ @
