Cruz Azul beats the Vancouver Whitecaps 5-0 for the CONCACAF Champions Cup title
MEXICO CITY (AP) — 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.
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