Vancouver Whitecaps beat Inter Miami 3-1 to eliminate Lionel Messi's squad
Image | CONCACAF Vancouver Inter Miami Soccer Lionel Messi
Caption: Inter Miami forward Lionel Messi (10) reacts after missing a shot during the first half of a CONCACAF Champions Cup second-leg semifinal soccer match against the Vancouver Whitecaps, on Wednesday in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Messi's squad was dumped out of the competition by the ascendant Whitecaps. (Lynne Sladky/The Associated Press)
Brian White and Pedro Vite scored two minutes apart, and the Vancouver Whitecaps stunned Inter Miami 3-1 in the second leg of their CONCACAF Champions Cup semifinal on Wednesday night, spoiling Lionel Messi's squad's hopes of making the tournament's final.
Sebastian Berhalter also scored for Vancouver, which advanced with a 5-1 aggregate scoreline to face either Cruz Azul or Tigres UNAL in the Champions Cup final on June 1.
For Vancouver, the final will represent one of the biggest matches in the club's history, with the winner of the final set to play in the expanded Club World Cup. They had previously only made it as far as the semifinal in 2017.
Miami entered Wednesday's match trailing 0-2 in aggregate after being shut out in the first leg last Thursday. That meant they needed to win by at least three goals in regulation on Wednesday to advance.
WATCH | Whitecaps shut out Messi and Miami in 1st leg:
Media Video | Whitecaps defeat Messi and Inter Miami 2-0 in 1st leg of CONCACAF semi
Caption: The Vancouver Whitecaps came out on top in the first leg of the CONCACAF Champions Cup semifinal Thursday, with a 2-0 win against Inter Miami FC. As Yasmine Ghania reports, it was also a great night for fans who got to watch soccer royalty.
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Messi was held without a goal for the fourth straight match.
In the tournament's history, four MLS clubs, including Inter Miami last week, have lost the first leg of a semifinal by a 2-0 scoreline on the road. No team has come back to advance to the final.
Those chances were dashed quickly in the second half Wednesday, when Vancouver erased a one-goal deficit minutes into the frame.
Image | CONCACAF Vancouver Inter Miami Soccer Sebastian Berhalter
Caption: Vancouver Whitecaps midfielder Sebastian Berhalter (16) celebrates after scoring the third goal of the game. The in-form Berhalter will miss the final after accumulating one too many yellow cards. (Lynne Sladky/The Associated Press)
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Berhalter found White for the equalizer in the 51st minute, and Vite sent a deflection past Oscar Ustari in the 53rd. Berhalter, who had an assist on the first two goals, put the game away with a shot from the center of the box into the bottom left corner in the 71st.
Berhalter has accounted for all five of the Whitecaps' goals in the semis after scoring one in the opener, but he will miss the championship because of yellow card accumulation. He was shown one in the first half after a foul on Miami's Tadeo Allende.
Jordi Alba got Miami on the board with his first goal of the season, nine minutes into the game, on a feed from Luis Suarez. Miami couldn't capitalize on a series of chances after that.
The CONCACAF Champions Cup features the best teams from North America, Central America, and the Caribbean to crown a regional champion.
building its own stadium even as its current ownership group prepares to sell the club.
Miami also dropped its third straight match, the first time the team has lost that many in a row in the Messi era.
A record crowd of over 53,000 watched striker Brian White and midfielder Sebastian Berhalter score in Vancouver's opening-game win against Messi and Miami at B.C. Place Stadium last Thursday.
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