The Vancouver Whitecaps are halfway there, though it is safe to say they won’t be living on a prayer.
Instead, they are living on belief and focus. There has been a lot of belief among the squad all season. After all, it got them past Monterrey and Pumas in the CONCACAF Champions Cup round of 16 and quarterfinals. It was belief that helped them get by Minnesota United by a 3-1 scoreline with a rotated squad. The Whitecaps still sit atop the Western Conference and MLS with a 7-2-1 record with 23 points and a goal differential of 13.
After an emphatic 2-0 first-leg win over Inter Miami at BC Place last week, the second leg will be played in Fort Lauderdale’s Chase Stadium on Wednesday. The Whitecaps will look to make more history and advance to the CONCACAF Champions Cup final for the first time.
The pressure is on Inter Miami
The Whitecaps know Inter Miami will be going all-in. Coming back from a 2-0 deficit is not easy, but it is doable. They did come back from a 1-0 deficit against LAFC in the quarterfinals.
However, Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets have come back from big deficits before. In the 2017 UEFA Champions League quarterfinals, FC Barcelona famously came back from 4-0 down to beat PSG. They won the tie 6-5 on aggregate and the second leg 6-1 at the Camp Nou. That game is widely regarded as one of the greatest comebacks in the history of European soccer and one of the greatest games in Barcelona’s history.
Inter Miami head coach Javier Mascherano was also part of the Barcelona squad that did the famous “Remontada.”
“That night, [in the 6-1 win over PSG] I learned that nothing is impossible,” said Mascherano on Tuesday per Lizzy Becherano of ESPN. “In football, everything can happen. We were 4-0 down. I think it was 2-0, in the second half we had it almost there, and then they scored a goal and we had to score three more and we did it. Until the referee signals the end, everything can happen.”
Anything can happen in CONCACAF, especially since Messi will be involved. Inter Miami have prioritized the Champions Cup, and it is win-it-or-bust for them.
Whitecaps looking to finish the job
For the Whitecaps, they aren’t just happy to be in the semi-finals. They are looking to pull off something monumental. But they know the job isn’t finished and are once again looking to rise to the occasion.
“Everything on my mind is about the game,” said Whitecaps head coach Jesper Sørensen. “I’m excited about the opportunity for all of us.”
“It’s difficult because one thing is that you want to play like it’s all starting over…I think the approach we have has to be well-balanced. We know that we have a lead, but we also know that we’ve seen in many games that can be a little fragile. The last two times we’ve been away in the second leg, we knew that we had to go out and at least score a goal and produce a result in an away game…Of course, we also know that scoring a goal here would also be huge for us, so we’ll definitely also be looking to see how the possibilities for scoring here are.”
Vancouver goalkeeper Yohei Takaoka talked about what has been clicking for the team this season.
“We’re all connected on the pitch and off the pitch,” he said. “Since Jesper joined the club, we keep building our structure and we’re improving a lot.”
Takaoka stated that the team is confident about the second leg against Inter Miami but needs to stay focused.
“As Jesper said, if we score an away goal, it’s going to be huge,” said Takaoka. “We’re going to focus on ourselves, not on them. We have confidence in how we play. I’m so excited to play tomorrow.”
The Whitecaps know they cannot let the guard down at any time and will likely have to adapt, just like in the first leg.
“We’re close but still far away,” said Sørensen “We would rather be here with a 2-0 lead than the other times we’ve been there with a 1-1 draw…Then last week, we won 2-0 against a very, very good team. So we know that can happen and it can also happen the other way around. Then we just have to be able to respond during the game if something doesn’t go our way. We’re confident in playing the game and knowing that we’re up against a great team. That’s just how semifinals should be, to be honest.”
Kickoff is at 5 pm Pacific.
