O Canada! Vancouver Stuns Miami | OneFootball

After the first leg of the CONCACAF Champions Cup semi-final matches, the stage is now set for next week’s penultimate games. Regardless of the outcome, we are guaranteed a cross-nation final match.

Vancouver Whitecaps 2 – 0 Inter Miami

What a statement victory for the ‘Caps. They contained the near fifty-year experience (and century-plus age) of the Inter Miami dream team of Messi, Suarez, Busquets and Alba, then struck mercilessly when the opportunities arose.

Two names were shouted from the rafters of a sold-out BC Place: Brian White and Sebastian Berhalter. White, picked up for $400K from Red Bulls in June 2021, scored his 10th goal in all 2025 comps, his 4th of the tournament, and the first for Vancouver in the 24th minute. His header was perfectly executed from a delicious pass from Berhalter, son of the current Chicago Fire and former USMNT coach Greg. Berhalter would go and stick in the dagger in the 85th after tracking a Jayden Nelson pass through the box to strike the roof of the net.

But just as important as the goals is the clean sheet the Whitecaps earned. Under the CONCACAF Champions Cup rules, away goals count double towards the aggregate score. Vancouver can now travel to Miami next Wednesday knowing that any goal they score there means Inter have a steeper climb towards victory.

Vancouver’s relentless pace and pressing showed all the finest qualities this team has exhibited since manger Jesper Sørensen took over in mid-January.

Tigres UANL 1 – 1 Cruz Azul

If chess had an equivalent on the soccer pitch this game might be a good example of what it would look like. Both teams were unwilling to commit to any major offensive salvos, opting to keep possession and play conservatively. It’s telling that in all the highlight recaps, even the extended ones, there is literally NOTHING shown until the last minute.

The energy picked up a tick once the second half started, but while Tigres still seemed content to feint, Azul began pressing with more intensity. This paid off in the 68th minute when Rodolfo Rotonti slid into a Ángel Sepúlveda pass in the box and lasered it past the keeper. Cruz Azul kept that pressure but committed a defensive lapse in the 82nd minute which cost them the game. Juanjo Purata waltzed into the box, inexplicably unmarked, to thump home Juan Brunetta’s perfectly placed cross. The screen looked like a daisy, a lone yellow dot flanked on all sides by white. They should be kicking themselves, since for the most part they were the better side.

In the end, fortune will favor Cruz Azul, who have the valuable away goal in hand and are notoriously difficult to beat in their home stadium.