SOCCER HEARTACHE FOR 61,000 AT BIG O
Cinderella story ends with 4-2 loss to famed Mexican side Club America
The Impact’s Cinderella run ends as Mexican powerhouse Club America storms back in second half to win CONCACAF Champions League final
The pain, the Impact probably will come to discover, lasts only so long. Years, if not days from now, the Major League Soccer club will look back on its incredible run in CONCACAF Champions League play and undoubtedly feel proud — as it should.
But in the end, reality struck, the Impact falling victim to a superior team — over and over and over again, it seemed. Yes, it appeared as though boys were playing against men. Yes, it looked ridiculously easy, like taking candy from a baby.
The Impact’s CCL odyssey came to a crashing halt Wednesday night at a sold-out Olympic Stadium with legendary Club America, one of the most-storied and richest teams in the tournament, capitalizing on an inferior side, capturing the decisive leg 4-2 before 61,004 disappointed spectators who nonetheless cheered their team on down the stretch, thanking them for this improbable series of matches.
America captured its sixth Champions Cup — its first since 2006 — 5-3 on aggregate, the teams playing to a 1-1 draw last week at Estadio Azteca.
“Regardless of the outcome, I’m extremely proud of what this team accomplished. We made history,” head coach and director of player personnel Frank Klopas told the media, flanked by his assistant coaches, reinforcing the team-first concept.
“We gave everything on the field. We fell a little short, but we should be proud of what we did as a team,” Klopas added. “America has a lot of quality on its team.”
And that might have been the understatement of the night.
It was an electric atmosphere in the sold-out stadium, the early-arriving crowd braying at America goalkeeper Moisés Munoz when he was among the first who came to the pitch for the pregame warm-up. Munoz, of course, had disparaged Montreal, saying it was lucky and had no business reaching this stage. He also predicted nothing short of a 5-0 victory would be satisfying for the visitors. Munoz didn’t prove prophetic, but wasn’t far off.
Nonetheless, when Andres Romero opened the scoring for the Impact in the eighth minute, all things seemed possible. Five minutes later, when Dario Benedetto somehow missed an open net, striking the crossbar from short distance, it appeared Lady Luck was smiling down on Montreal.
In the game’s 24th, Dilly Duka, following a pretty solo effort, sent a pass into the box to Ignacio Piatti. He deked a defender, Munoz making a spectacular stop on the low shot. We’ll never know what a two-goal cushion at that point might have meant.
At the same time, we’ll never know what America head coach Gustavo Matosas said to his team, but the visitors clearly displayed their dominance over the final 45 minutes, beating new goalkeeper Kristian Nicht four times.
Nicht, acquired Monday night through a transfer with Indy Eleven of the North American Soccer League to replace the suspended Evan Bush, played with poise and confidence in the opening half, his 16 years of pro experience clearly evident.
In the second half, however, he and his new teammates simply wilted from the onslaught, America taking advantage of a lack of communication between central defenders Laurent Ciman and Bakary Soumare.
Indeed, it was hard to believe the Mexican side, now in its 98th season of existence, was playing its third game in eight days, the CCL final sandwiched around a Liga MX game Sunday against Chivas Guadalajara.
Just as the Impact had scored quickly to begin the game, America struck early in the second half, Benedetto’s scissor kick in the 50th minute eluding Nicht, who appeared to get a piece of the shot and, arguably, should have made the stop.
“That fast goal obviously gave them legs,” Klopas said, shrugging. “We were very compact in the first half. We had that great chance that could have made it 2-0. It was important to keep things tight. To give up a goal that fast in the second half gave them life.
“We were tired physically, and their quality showed late in the game,” Klopas added.
America then was like a shark sensing blood. Oribe Peralta, the 31-year-old veteran who came off the bench in the first leg against Montreal to score the late tying goal, converted a lobbed pass in the 64th. Two minutes later, Benedetto’s right-footed volley made it 3-1. He scored his third in the 81st, nobody within 10 yards of him, his left-footed blast from just inside the box beating Nicht high to his right.
Suddenly, America looked like the team that obliterated Herediano 6-0 in the second leg of the semifinal on home turf.
“I wouldn’t say they were that much better, but we allowed a tough few goals,” Impact midfielder Callum Mallace said. “When they scored two, three goals that quick, it gives them all the advantage. It’s a tough pill to swallow. But we made history and had a good run. We should be proud of that.”
Jack McInerney, a second-half substitute, scored a late, meaningless goal for the Impact — the first Canadian team to advance to the final and only the second in MLS history.
And, yes, now that the clock has struck midnight on Cinderella, it’s time to get back to MLS reality, the Impact winless in four regular-season games, including a pair of ties. But that’s a story for another day.
“We believed all along we could do this,” Klopas said. “The players feel down, but the opportunity was there. We just didn’t grab it.”