MEXICO CITY – The Vancouver Whitecaps’ pain was palpable, visceral. And it hurt that much worse because it was drawn out over what felt like hours under a soft, steady rainfall.
“We came with hope and aspiration and ambition,” head coach Jesper Sørensen said at the start of his postgame press conference. “Of course, now we leave with devastation.
“And that's how sometimes sports is at this level. Football at this level is brutal.”
Comprehensive defeat
As the ‘Caps readily admitted, Cruz Azul were the better side in Sunday’s 5-0 Concacaf Champions Cup final defeat, roared on by a loud, strongly partisan crowd of 33,046 at Estadio Olímpico Universitario, where La Máquina have yet to lose since relocating to the historic venue at the beginning of the year.
“They showed their quality. No real excuses, they were the better team on the day,” said defender Tristan Blackmon. “And we have to look at ourselves and see how we can get better.”
Vancouver still had to soldier on through a match that was effectively decided before halftime, duty-bound to stand to one side and watch the victors hoist the trophy they’d been dreaming about, then wait even longer to depart thanks to media obligations.
It was as if Cinderella had to stick around and clean up after the clock struck midnight.
“We couldn't do anything that we used to do all season, and that it goes to them, because they're the ones that didn’t allow it,” said captain Ranko Veselinović of Cruz Azul and their tenacious pressing. “They were all over us. They came out flying. They were used to these conditions in the stadium, and they had everything going for them today … They showed why they're one of the best teams in Mexico.
“It’s a real killer when you go out like this.”
No rest for the weary
Almost as cruel: While Los Cementeros can luxuriate in the triumph, their Clausura season ending on the highest of notes, VWFC have only a few days to process their disappointment and pivot towards the many months of action still to go – starting with a visit from Cascadia Cup rivals Seattle Sounders FC in barely a week.
“When we made mistakes, they punished us, and that's what good teams do in big finals like this,” said striker Brian White, one of a host of ‘Caps who will fly directly from CDMX to join his national team for the June FIFA window.
“Yeah, it’s tough. But that’s the game, that’s the job, that’s the sport. You can’t take too long to wallow; you have to respond. A few of us go to Gold Cup, a few guys will have to play the rest of the MLS games while a lot of us are gone.
“Everyone needs to respond.”
Turning the page
Nasty post-tournament hangovers have been a dangerously common feature of MLS sides’ deep runs in ConcaChampions over the decades, and Vancouver must now find a way to avoid that fate befalling them, too – a task both individual and collective, physical and psychological.
“Contrary to other teams playing a game like this, we are mid-season and not at the end of the season, so we have a huge task ahead of us, because we have to pick ourselves up after a huge disappointment,” said Sørensen. “But we have to do that. One thing is to be champions in football, another thing is to be champions of life. That’s about your behavior, and it’s about how you react when you meet adversity, and it’s about how you show resilience when things are tough.
“Up until now, I’ve only seen those things from the players, and that’s what we have to do again.”
It’s an encouraging sign that unlike those predecessors, VWFC have juggled fighting on multiple fronts with aplomb. They sit atop the Western Conference standings with a 9W-1L-5D record in league play and are just two points back of Supporters' Shield leaders Philadelphia with two games in hand.
“It’s still a long season ahead,” said White. “There's still a lot of lot to play for, a lot of games, Canadian Championship, Supporters’ Shield, MLS Cup – there's trophies up for grabs still.”
"Fuel to the fire"
Sørensen and his players took care to thank the approximately 1,000 Vancouver fans and club staff who made the long journey to support them in person, as well as the many thousands watching back home, the coach noting that “I hope that we are starting to build something” despite the night’s heartbreak.
All involved will hope it can be converted into powerful motivation for the games to come.
“That's fueling the fire, for sure, when you look at that medal – I have two now, runner-up medals, so it's not the best feeling when you look down and you see a silver medal,” said Blackmon, who lost the 2020 ConcaChampions final with LAFC.
“You want to end up having that first-place medal. So definitely added fuel to the fire.”
