Inter Miami were eliminated from the CONCACAF Champions Cup after losing 3-1 at Chase Stadium to the Whitecaps
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The aggregate score was 5-1 in favor of the Canadian teamWhite, Vite, and Berhalter scored for the visitorsJordi Alba opened the scoring for Inter Miami in the 9th minuteGet the MLS Season Pass today!Stream games nowGetty Images SportWHAT HAPPENED?
Javier Mascherano insists Inter Miami must now focus on MLS after their embarrassing 5-1 aggregate defeat to the Vancouver Whitecaps in the CONCACAF Champions Cup semifinals. The Argentine coach, aware that his side has conceded too many goals in recent matches, remains confident that the team will bounce back from this difficult spell.
"We have to keep going and focus on MLS. I’m not even thinking about the Club World Cup," he said, reflecting on recent results. "We’ve been competing in two tournaments, we’ve done it well, and we reached the semifinals—something the club had never done before. But it hurts because we wanted to reach the final. That would have placed the club in a very important position. Still, we have to accept that they were better—they beat us in key moments, in individual duels—and at this stage, those things matter a lot."
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He added, "We have to break it down into two parts. In the first half, I think we played the game we wanted—we managed to score early and had other chances to get a second goal. They had chances too, because we had to take risks. What we didn’t expect was that in just two to three minutes, they would decide the series with two goals, right when we needed to stay calm. What we were aiming for ended up being the opposite. The hardest part was scoring a goal, and we did that—but that’s football, especially in the semifinals. One mistake and the opponent punishes you and takes the series. The match was pretty clear," said Mascherano in the press conference following the elimination against Vancouver.
"We competed—even though the aggregate was 5-1, in Vancouver, they scored the second goal with five minutes left, and at that point the game was under our control. Today, after our goal, we had more chances to go 2-0 up, but goals have to be scored, and talking about it now doesn’t change anything. In these knockout stages, mistakes are extremely costly—especially against a high-level team that won’t forgive you. You can’t afford that, especially not at the start of the second half. We lost focus against Dallas, and it’s happened to us again now."
AdvertisementGetty Images SportTHE BIGGER PICTURE
The victory by the Whitecaps sent Jesper Sørensen’s team to the final, thanks to goals from Brian White, Pedro Vite, and Sebastian Berhalter. They will now await the winner of the matchup between Cruz Azul and Tigres, which will be decided this Thursday at the Estadio Olímpico Universitario, with the aggregate score tied 1-1.
Lionel Messi, Jordi Alba, Luis Suarez, and Sergio Busquets started for an Inter Miami side that sparked hopes of a comeback after Alba scored in the ninth minute. However, those hopes gradually faded early in the second half when White scored in the 51st minute, followed just two minutes later by Pedro Vite, who effectively sealed the result. With the game under control, Berhalter added a third to make it 3-1 and secure the Canadians' place in the final.
AFPWHAT JESPER SORENSEN SAID
"You know, you can't stop them, you can only limit them. I think you can't really control Messi—not only is he good at scoring, but he also handles the ball so well. They didn’t finish one of their chances, and you just try to limit them. He’s just too good. You can't leave him alone, he's very smart. He knows what to do before he even gets the ball," Sørensen said on defending Messi. So we had to try to prevent the team from playing through him. Busquets had too much space in the first match, so we tried to press him more."
"I don’t want to sound arrogant—soon I’ll have the knowledge—but playing in Mexico will be very difficult. I know the competition in Mexico is intense, there’s a strong rivalry with MLS teams, and I hope we can handle it and put up a good fight," he concluded.
Getty Images SportDID YOU KNOW?
Vancouver Whitecaps are the third Canadian team in history to reach the Final of the CONCACAF Champions Cup: Montreal Impact in 2015, Toronto in 2018, and Vancouver in 2025.
Messi failed to win the tournament in his second appearance, with his team reaching the quarterfinals last season.
