All good things come to an end. The hope is that they end with a sense of fulfillment or satisfaction.
Neither happened for the Vancouver Whitecaps tonight as they lost 5-0 in the CONCACAF Champions Cup final to Cruz Azul.
“We were up against a team that came out very confident playing at their home turf and also a great home crowd,” Whitecaps head coach Jesper Sørensen said after the match.
It was the strongest lineup Sorensen had available as the Whitecaps took the pitch. J.C. Ngando drew in for the suspended Sebastian Berhalter.
Everyone else—from goalkeeper to striker and everything in between—could have written themselves.
The Whitecaps began the match looking every bit the visiting side. Whether due to environment, altitude or a gruelling schedule, they looked hesitant.
And Cruz Azul capitalized on it, scoring the first goal in the 8th minute. Poor passing between Édier Ocampo and Andrés Cubas in their defensive third was intercepted, enabling Ignacio Rivero to punish the Whitecaps with a shot from just inside the 18-yard box.
Cubas was at fault again as Lorenzo Faravelli stole the ball off the defensive midfielder, who was attempting a poor pass. Faravelli took a couple of steps with the ball toward the 18-yard box and hit an absolute golazo past Yohei Takaoka to double the home side’s lead in the 28th minute.
Angel Sepúlveda, the tournament’s Golden Boot leader, added a third for Cruz Azul in the 37th minute to complete the first-half rout.
To add insult to injury, Mateusz Bogusz (who used to play for LAFC) gave the home side a fourth goal just before the halftime whistle.
And that whistle felt like a mercy for the Whitecaps.
When the second half started, Cruz Azul got right back to work. Sepúlveda added a second for himself and a fifth for his club in the 50th minute after Cubas slipped on the pitch and enabled the quick counterattack.
“I think that overall, given the day, Cruz Azul was just better in every department on the pitch,” Sørensen said.
It all catches up
No club in MLS has played as many matches as the Whitecaps this season. Add to that the fact that they are the furthest club north and west geographically (not only in MLS, but in CONCACAF as well), and that makes for a very difficult ride.
It has been a demanding 2025 season so far. Since their first competitive match against Deportivo Saprissa in the CCC, the Whitecaps have played 25 matches in 101 days across three different competitions.
“It’s going to be tough [to bounce back]. No doubt about that. It’s going to be tough because this is a huge disappointment. But we are mid-season. We are not at the end of the season. So, we have a long season ahead of us, and hopefully big games ahead of us as well,” Sørensen said.
Where do the Whitecaps go from here?
During the post-match press conference, one of the Mexican reporters remarked that, regardless of the outcome, the Whitecaps did finish second.
That is an achievement in and of itself.
But even though they did not come away with the silverware they desired, the hunger has not abated.
“Of course, we will do everything to be back in this tournament. It’s been great for us. We know how to get here.”
