Soccer <\/p>\n
Javier Mascherano will remind Inter Miami CF<\/a> of the great comeback stories of modern soccer as the Herons aim to overturn Vancouver Whitecaps FC<\/a>\u2019s 2-0 aggregate lead in Wednesday night\u2019s Concacaf Champions Cup<\/a> semifinal second leg at Chase Stadium (8 pm ET | FS1, OneSoccer; TUDN, ViX) \u2013 starting with the iconic one that he and the Herons\u2019 \u2018Fab Four\u2019 were personally involved in eight years ago at FC Barcelona.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n On March 8, 2017, the Spanish giants trailed Paris Saint-Germain 4-0 in the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 after a one-sided first leg in France, only to reel off an incredible six goals \u2013 three of them after Edinson Cavani snatched a seemingly devastating away goal just past the hour mark \u2013 at a delirious Camp Nou to win the home-and-home series 6\u20135 on aggregate, the final strike delivered by Sergi Roberto five minutes into added time.<\/p>\n It\u2019s remembered and revered by Blaugrana<\/em> faithful simply as \u2018La Remontada,\u2019 and Mascherano, Lionel Messi<\/a>, Luis Su\u00e1rez<\/a> and Sergio Busquets<\/a> were all in Luis Enrique\u2019s starting XI that night, while Jordi Alba<\/a> looked on from the Bar\u00e7a bench.<\/p>\n \u201cThat night I learned that nothing is impossible,\u201d Mascherano recalled in Spanish in Tuesday\u2019s matchday-1 press conference. \u201cIn football, anything can happen, absolutely everything.<\/p>\n \u201cI can transmit [those memories] as a coach, but I had at that time four teammates who shared that with me and lived it firsthand. I think that they, better than anyone, can transmit it to the rest. Clearly the situation is different; no two games are the same. The contexts are totally different, but that’s why I tell you I think that the series, and tomorrow’s game in particular, will give us possibilities.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Sitting next to Mascherano, IMCF center back Maxi Falc\u00f3n<\/a> spoke of the ample belief he and his teammates have in their power to claw back, fueled, naturally, by Messi\u2019s transcendent excellence.<\/p>\n \u201cFrom what we have seen of what happened last game and we have full confidence in the team that the situation can be reversed. It is difficult, the margin [for error] obviously has to be zero. But we have full confidence that if we do a good job tomorrow, we will go ahead,\u201d said the Uruguayan defender.<\/p>\n \u201cTo play this profession, to play football, you need passions, you need challenges, and tomorrow we have one of them.\u201d<\/p>\n Messi & Friends can also point to their comeback on LAFC<\/a> in the previous round of ConcaChampions, where they fell behind 2-0 on aggregate by conceding an Aaron Long<\/a> away goal early in the second leg, before storming back to win the tie 3-2 via a brace from the GOAT and a third from Federico Redondo<\/a>.<\/p>\n The players, Mascherano said, have \u201cthe will, the desire to be able to take this club to a Champions [Cup] final for the first time, and that they as players can remain in a privileged place in the history of this club.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Still 90 minutes left. This isn\u2019t over ???????? pic.twitter.com\/rW87PRhz6P<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Luis Su\u00e1rez (@LuisSuarez9) April 25, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n Conversely, Mascherano acknowledged that FC Dallas<\/a>\u2019 remarkable late fightback from 3-1 down to 4-3 winners<\/a> over a heavily rotated Miami side in Fort Lauderdale on Sunday is a different, more painful sort of reminder of how quickly a match can be turned on its head.<\/p>\n \u201cYou don’t have to go crazy,\u201d he noted, \u201cwanting to make the second before the first, and from there knowing that the game is long, that we’re going to have situations [to score]. From the defensive aspect, it\u2019s a concentration game \u2026 avoid transitions, avoid unnecessary turnovers \u2013 that was what maybe did a little damage in Vancouver, because the transitions that Vancouver had came from unnecessary turnovers.<\/p>\n \u201cBeyond the fact that we lost 2-0,\u201d Mascherano added, \u201cand we didn’t have the best night, it’s not that Vancouver ran over us. The game was very even, where small details end up deciding the game.\u201d<\/p>\n So Miami\u2019s first-year head coach counsels composure, focus and faith as his squad look to find the opening tally that would draw them within striking distance and inspire their home crowd, without conceding an away goal that could prove fatal, considering the tenacity of the Whitecaps\u2019 defending in that riveting leg one encounter.<\/p>\n These sorts of occasions, he declared, are what soccer \u2013 and even life itself \u2013 are all about.<\/p>\n \u201cLiving with this type of pressure, it is what gives it meaning, what gives you life, being involved in football, the fact of being able to compete, being able to have the illusion of being able to reverse an adverse result, and we take it as that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe challenge is enormous. I am delighted to be able to experience it, delighted to be able to be here. I think the players are too. In the end, that’s why I said there is nothing to lose \u2026 It will be even more epic, having to come back. What\u2019s better? Well, now we will have to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\nEmbracing the pressure<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n
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Attention to detail<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n