🚂 - 🗻 Overshadowed in the moment, Sunday's CCC final will echo in history
Plus: Thoughts on LAFC's Club World Cup charge
Concacaf already had enough to plan around, then another game got plunked down this weekend. América-LAFC near Hollywood for the right to take part in a Club World Cup that starts in, like, two weeks instead of a different one (probably?) happening in four years.
Yet, while the CCC final Sunday between Cruz Azul and the Vancouver Whitecaps may find itself overlooked in the busy soccer schedule this weekend, it’s a game that will have long-term resonance in a way other contests might not.
A win for Cruz Azul would move La Maquina into a tie with Club América for seven CCC trophies all-time, the most of any club.
For Vancouver, they’re trying to become the first Canadian team ever to win and just the second MLS team to lift the trophy in the modern era we define as beginning in 2008-09.
Use whatever sort of glib saying you want to: “Flags fly forever” or what have you, but it’s true that the winner of this competition will put their names into the history books (or onto the Wikipedia pages) in a way a play-in winner simply will not.
The winner also would take that place in the 2029 Club World Cup. While details will come later, one assumes FIFA will pump the same type of prize money into the next edition of the competition - though the riches may demand the champion delay their gratification.
Still, with the Club World Cup play-in last night, yesterday’s UEFA Champions League final and even Mexican cyclist Isaac del Toro making a remarkable push for the podium at the Giro d’Italia, the final has been crowded out of the front Mexico’s sports front pages, literally shoved in the corner of Récord and Esto.
The result should lead Monday’s editions, and of course, it’s big news to fans and to the clubs themselves. Mateusz Bogusz arrived from LAFC and is a veteran of the 2023 CCC final among other MLS vs. Liga MX showdowns. Now in Mexico City, he finds himself in an environment where fans are even more tapped into the day-to-day around a club and perhaps more desperate to have another trophy to celebrate.
“Outside the stadium, I meet people in the streets and they’re ready for it. They tell me how beautiful Sunday (will be), that they’re very excited,” he said. “Here, it’s always passion. I hope we can come tomorrow and win the game, not just for us but the fans. They were with us all season in the bad moments and good moments, so I hope we can celebrate with them tomorrow.”
The Whitecaps have received an unprecedented amount of coverage in their market. It didn’t hurt that the team dispatched Lionel Messi and Inter Miami in the semifinals, impressing home fans with a 2-0 win and then impressing fans in Florida with a 3-1 dismantling after conceding the opening goal.
That was part of what has been a remarkable journey from Vancouver, not only eliminating the most famous and decorated player in the competition, but also arriving in the final after getting a result in the second leg in Mexico not once but twice, getting past Pumas and Monterrey. That has stripped away the intimidation factor of playing the one-legged final on the road, with the Whitecaps welcoming the difficulty of playing in a hyped-up CU.
“What is there to be afraid of? It's football, you know?” Whitecaps attacker Jayden Nelson told OneSoccer. “We've shown over the season what we can do and what type of group we are, and I think the final is going to be another representation of that.”
Cruz Azul’s journey has been remarkable as well. Vicente Sanchez, at the time the top youth manager in the club’s setup, took over as first-team manager just before the competition kicked off, with Martin Anselmi and his entire coaching staff leaving for Porto.
Sanchez has risen to the occasion, getting Cruz Azul to this point by pushing the team past rival Club América in the quarterfinals and past big-budget Tigres in the previous round. Yet, even a trophy lift Sunday won’t keep La Maquina from more managerial change - this time self-inflicted. The club’s sporting director, Ivan Alonso, reportedly is unhappy with Sanchez and plans to cut him loose no matter Sunday’s result.
It created an interesting dynamic in the pre-match news conference, with reports essentially asking Sanchez again and again about the incongruity of preparing for a continental championship while also preparing a resume.
“I’m grateful, honestly,” Sanchez said. “It was a semester in which thanks to the results we earned, today Cruz Azul is in first in the Concacaf club ranking - it was in 9th when we took over - we’re qualified for the next Concacaf Champions Cup, the Club World Cup and intercontinental are in play.
“So many things happened to us this year, that the day-to-day and work were great, honestly. I’m so happy with everything, the players, the staff, with the incredible fans, the support they’ve given us. It’ll be there (Sunday), it’ll be full. I’m, personally, very happy.”
Even if Cruz Azul had won the double, a dream that died with Club América exacting revenge in the Clausura semifinal, it likely wouldn’t have been enough. A defeat in the final and there will be no case for him - but a manager who has proven himself more than adept at a rescue job will be on the market for Liga MX, MLS and other teams looking for just that kind of specialist.
That’s for later in the summer. Tonight, it’s time to focus on a match that, albeit belatedly, takes center stage in the region and one that will echo in the region for some time.
LAFC storms back to clinch Club World Cup place, horrible week for Club América
The thought came to me about 30 minutes into LAFC’s match with América for a place
I wasn’t totally sure what to expect from the Club World Cup play-in. I saw U.S. outlets writing about how BMO Stadium would be full of América fans and Mexican outlets putting up stories about how, hey, actually, it looked like a lot of people were actually there to root for LAFC. The atmosphere turned out to be vibrant, like the best neutral site games.
That only fueled the fun feeling as América manager Andre Jardine and LAFC boss Steve Cherundolo played a tactical chess match. After América’s opener from the penalty spot, Cherundolo made three attacking switches. It was a corner kick, of which LAFC won many Saturday, that provided the goal that gave LAFC life, totally (Hollywood?) swinging the momentum toward the MLS team and pushing the game to extra time.
The most important decision Cherundolo made was one essentially made for him: Denis Bouanga was staying on. Just before the whistle to end the 90 minutes, Bouanga made one of his trademark moves down the flank, shrugging off a physical challenge from América fullback Kevin Alvarez and getting to the end line in possession.
It didn’t lead to a goal, but the blueprint was clear, even as Jardine moved to stop it, refreshing both his fullbacks in a show of both América’s depth and his recognition that there would be danger for his team out wide, with the 30-year-old looking as fresh as his changes despite having made these types of runs since the pre-match smoke from both fans still lingered on the field.
But Bouanga wouldn’t be contained, combining with Olivier Giroud through the middle and firing in the goal that could change his club’s fortunes forever.
América is let to travel home and plan for the Apertura, having been denied the Liga MX title Sunday and a place in the Club World Cup last night.
I remain skeptical that the Club World Cup will produce many more atmospheres like this one or matches as good as this one. The location in LA, accessible to passionate fans of both teams, and the MLS vs. Liga MX nature reminded me more of a Leagues Cup contest than anything we haven’t seen before. There wasn’t as much scoring as we often see in that competition - perhaps in part because both teams have been focused on this match all week and have squads that already have been together the last several months - but that was the vibe.
While soccer is very much a team game, it feels notable that América twice was bested by an opponent that had the best player on the field in its squad. Even if they were able to contain Toluca attacker Alexis Vega and LAFC ace Bouanga better than many opponents, the longer both the encounters went, the more likely it was the difference-makers would…do just that and make a huge difference.
Set-piece defending will be a focus for América this offseason, and forward depth already was an issue the team knew about.
Yet, seeing Vega and Bouanga frustrate América just six days apart, it was tough not to wonder if América needs to find that type of player for itself if it’s going to achieve its international goals.
As good as do-it-all midfielder Alvaro Fidalgo is and as great as winger Alejandro Zendejas has been, a club like América may be tempted to find a player in the mold of Vega or Bouanga who will take the game by the neck and bend it to their will.
Unfortunately for Las Aguilas, they won’t have the extra cash influx from playing in the Club World Cup to help fund the arrival of a player like that.
Just a reminder that tomorrow’s newsletter featuring a Concacaf Champions Cup reaction and the Conca-catch-up with a run-down on everything happening in all corners of the region will go only to premium subscribers!
Join their prestigious ranks ahead of not only the CCC final but also the Gold Cup, during which I’ll have all sorts of stories you won’t be able to read anywhere else.
An of course the 2029 "Club World Cup" is tentative. FIFA's track record on big CWCs isn't great, and that was even before Gianni Incompetentino took over. Between the overinflated prize pool and the effect of US politics, there's a lot that's gonna happen between now and then.