{"id":844978,"date":"2025-05-01T13:12:22","date_gmt":"2025-05-01T18:12:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/01\/vancouver-whitecaps-on-verge-of-concacaf-champions-cup-final-were-close-mlssoccer-com\/"},"modified":"2025-05-01T13:12:22","modified_gmt":"2025-05-01T18:12:22","slug":"vancouver-whitecaps-on-verge-of-concacaf-champions-cup-final-were-close-mlssoccer-com","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2025\/05\/01\/vancouver-whitecaps-on-verge-of-concacaf-champions-cup-final-were-close-mlssoccer-com\/","title":{"rendered":"Vancouver Whitecaps on verge of Concacaf Champions Cup final: “We’re close” | MLSSoccer.com"},"content":{"rendered":"

Soccer <\/p>\n

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Vancouver Whitecaps FC<\/a> midfielder Ali Ahmed<\/a> conveyed as much in the buildup to their Concacaf Champions Cup<\/a> semifinal Leg 2 clash Wednesday night at Inter Miami CF<\/a>\u2019s Chase Stadium (8 pm ET | FS1, OneSoccer; TUDN, ViX).<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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The Whitecaps enter with a 2-0 aggregate lead<\/a> after Sebastian Berhalter<\/a> and Brian White<\/a> scored at BC Place last Thursday. But they\u2019re only at the halfway point, and much can change.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cEspecially going against Inter Miami, we know what we\u2019re up against and who they have,\u201d Ahmed said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re a special team. We know the job\u2019s not even close to being done and we\u2019re going to have to dig deep.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Digging deep<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n

The good news? Vancouver have produced inspired performances in each Leg 2 match of their remarkable CCC run.<\/p>\n

They overcame a Round One deficit, advancing with a 2-0 win<\/a> over Costa Rica\u2019s Deportivo Saprissa. Come the Round of 16, the Whitecaps cast aside CF Monterrey with a 2-2 road draw<\/a>. Then they eliminated a second-straight Mexican club in the quarterfinals, getting a memorable 93rd-minute equalizer from Tristan Blackmon<\/a> in a 2-2 draw<\/a> at Pumas UNAM.<\/p>\n

When the going\u2019s got tough, head coach Jesper S\u00f8rensen\u2019s squad has stepped up.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know that we have a lead, but we\u2019ve seen in many games that can be a little fragile,\u201d S\u00f8rensen said. \u201cAnd the last two times we\u2019ve been away, in the second leg, we knew that we had to go out and at least score a goal to produce a result.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo it has to be a very balanced approach again, but we also know that scoring a goal here would be huge for us. We\u2019ll definitely be looking to see how the possibilities for scoring are.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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\u2014 Concacaf Champions Cup (@TheChampions) April 28, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n

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Rapid rise<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n

Crucially, Vancouver pitched a shutout in Leg 1 and created breathing room to handle Lionel Messi<\/a>, Luis Su\u00e1rez<\/a> and the rest of Inter Miami\u2019s attacking group.<\/p>\n

But the Whitecaps likely won’t sit back and absorb wave after wave of pressure. If anything, on-ball comfort and free-flowing moves have powered their place atop the MLS Western Conference and Supporters’ Shield standings.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s all come three-and-a-half months since S\u00f8rensen was hired, and with club captain Ryan Gauld<\/a> still recovering from a knee injury.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are all connected on the pitch and off the pitch,\u201d said goalkeeper Yohei Takaoka<\/a>. \u201cSince Jesper joined the club, we keep building our structure and we\u2019re improving a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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The scenarios for Inter Miami and Vancouver to reach the Final! \u2705@KavakMexico<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/Z6CtSuYKs2<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Concacaf Champions Cup (@TheChampions) April 27, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n

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History awaits<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n

Now, the Whitecaps are on the precipice of history. The series winner books their place in the CCC final on June 1, coming up against LIGA MX\u2019s Cruz Azul or Tigres UANL.<\/p>\n

Again, the mentality is clear.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re close, but still far away,\u201d S\u00f8rensen. \u201cWe would rather be here with a 2-0 lead than the other guys. The other times we\u2019ve been here with a 1-1 draw. We also know that we\u2019re up against a good team where a lot can happen during the 90 or even 120 minutes if we have to go that way.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026 We have to go out and believe in the way we play. The reason we are here is because of the way we are playing and because of the performance the players have put up. That\u2019s actually the most important.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

Read More<\/a>Qiana Fetzer<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Soccer Vancouver Whitecaps FC midfielder Ali Ahmed conveyed as much in the buildup to their Concacaf Champions Cup semifinal Leg 2 clash Wednesday night at Inter Miami CF\u2019s Chase Stadium (8 pm ET | FS1, OneSoccer; TUDN, ViX). The Whitecaps enter with a 2-0 aggregate lead after Sebastian Berhalter and Brian White scored at BC […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":844979,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2005,23566,105439],"tags":[18172,105438],"class_list":{"0":"post-844978","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-soccer","8":"category-vancouver","9":"category-whitecaps","10":"tag-vancouver","11":"tag-whitecaps"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/844978","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=844978"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/844978\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/844979"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=844978"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=844978"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=844978"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}