MEXICO CITY (AP) — Ángel Sepúlveda scored twice and Cruz Azul routed the Vancouver Whitecaps 5-0 on Sunday to win its seventh CONCACAF Champions Cup.
Sepúlveda finished with a tournament-best nine goals. Ignacio Rivero, Lorenzo Faravelli and Mateusz Bogusz also scored for Cruz Azul, which built a 4-0 lead by halftime.
The Liga MX club tied crosstown rival Club America for most titles in the tournament. It was Cruz Azul’s first title since 2013-14 when La Máquina beat Tijuana.
The Whitecaps were looking to make history as the first Canadian team to win the tournament, and the first winner from Major League Soccer since the Seattle Sounders in 2022.
"We came with hope, aspiration and ambition, of course now we leave with devastation," said Whitecaps coach Jesper Sorensen. "But we have played a great tournament going this far. We have beaten great teams on the way under tough conditions. But today we couldn't really put up a good performance to really shake a good team.
"Football at this level is brutal and if you cannot put up your best performance when it's needed. It makes it difficult (to succeed) … It was the entire group's ambition to win and play our best game of the season so far, and I would say that maybe we did the opposite."
Cruz Azul had four shots on goal in the first half and scored on all of them. La Máquina took advantage of a defensive lapse by the Whitecaps and Ignacio Rivero coolly finished with his left foot in the seventh minute in front of cheering home fans at Estadio Olímpico Universitario.
Faravelli's goal came after a similar defensive lapse, struck from distance and went into the net after hitting the post.
After Sepúlveda's sliding goal in the 37th, Bogusz added a goal in the 45th just before the teams went into the break. Sepúlveda added another goal on a header in the 50th.
It was Cruz Azul goalkeeper Kevin Mier's fourth clean sheet of the tournament. The Whitecaps had no shots on goal during the match.
Vancouver was without Sebastian Berhalter because of yellow card accumulation. He scored in both legs of the semifinal against Lionel Messi and Inter Miami.
The Whitecaps had hoped that captain Ryan Gauld would return from a knee injury in time for the game but he was not available.
Cruz Azul advanced with a two-legged victory over UANL Tigres.
It was the first meeting between the Whitecaps and Cruz Azul.
A sold-out watch party in downtown Vancouver went from wild to mild by halftime, sensing a runner-up status was inevitable.
Social media reaction was mixed, with people applauding the Whitecaps' superb season and unbeaten streak, while people such as Rob @604robbie on X stated: "Nothing more Vancouver sports then not showing up in the most important game of the year."
Glyn Bough @GlynBough said on X the difference in class was so evident.
"The speed of though, action, positioning and quality of pass or defending the pass is at a different level from the Mexican side."
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The Associated Press
