I’ve heard all the criticism and excuses before.
“It’s a useless tournament”.
“MLS teams play the knockout games in the preseason, they’ll never try to win it”
I often noticed the truth in them, and they were impossible to ignore.
“Mexican teams will always win it, no one else in CONCACAF has the budget to compete”
“MLS and Mexican teams don’t even face each other in groups, it’s rigged!”
“Look-there’s not even anyone in the stands at these games.”
I fell in love with this tournament several years ago, when few were watching. Heck, few watch it now.
“What’s the prize? Club World Cup? Who watches that?”
“They play games the same weeks as Champions League. You know, the REAL Champions League. Only an idiot would watch CONCACAF over Messi”
CONCACAF Champions League got me hooked in 2009, during the first tournament after its rebranding and rebirth. The Champions’ Cup had existed since 1962, with a storied history of its own. But when MLS was created, CONCACAF decided that the group format should be changed to a knockout competition, probably to increase the likelihood of a surprise MLS victory (L.A. and D.C. both won this format of the tournament once). In 2008 however, the federation decided that it was time to move back to a true Champions League format, with a group stage and more teams. The name was changed. And it was advertised on MLS’ league website and Fox Soccer Channel, still the main sources for MLS news in 2008. This was a real continental competition that my beloved Chicago Fire could qualify for, and it was an exhilarating thought. There was something beyond the single-entity, feedback-preventing loop of MLS! There was a whole world out there, ready to be conquered by the Fire! (These thoughts seemed totally realistic back in MLS 2.0, with Cuauhtemoc Blanco, Justin Mapp, and Patrick Nyarko in our midfield.)
So I sat in my dorm room alone many nights in the fall of 2008 and the early spring of 2009, probably with some substances which were not permitted in student residences, and watched pirated streams because I didn’t have cable – not that many of these games were televised in English anyway. I watched the USL’s Puerto Rico Islanders advance to the semifinals, helped by a match played in what appeared to be a small lake. I watched 4 Mexican teams advance to the quarters and all the MLS clubs crash out of the tournament. I watched l’Impact de Montreal, also of the USL, sell out Stade Olympique for a knockout match against Santos Laguna. Cups and knockout tournaments appeal to those who love underdog stories. I admit I am one of them. This match was the reason I got hooked.
The hosts scored 5 minutes in, when Eduardo Sebrango beat the keeper and stunned the 55,571 fans in attendance. The noise became deafening after this. The ultimate underdogs – a second division team from Canada, were beating one of the best teams in the continent. Not only were they two or three levels below Santos in technical ability, but this was their first match of the season. Santos should have been in midseason form. The crowd noise sounded like a UEFA Champions League match, with every touch, every chance, and every save met with oohs and cheers. By the second half, the Impact still led. I was getting chills at this point. Sebrango put another goal in in the 76th minute, and the hosts, a second divison team from Canada, still in preseason form, defeated one of the best teams in North America.
I have watched every CCL since then, and can say without a doubt that this is the best one yet. If you call yourself a soccer fan, live in North America, and do not watch this tournament, you need to start now. The semifinals are half over and the second legs of both matches have the potential to be must-see TV.
For the first time in recent memory, Mexican supremacy has been challenged. The idea of a CCL final without a Liga MX squad is foreign. The semifinalists are Herediano and Alajuelense of Costa Rica, Club America of Mexico, and the Montreal Impact – making their triumphant return to the tournament as a MLS side. And this Impact team did what their USL ancestors could not when they knocked out a Mexican team in the quarterfinals. Pachuca was stunned on a now-legendary stoppage time goal in Montreal by Cameron Porter (another underdog: a third round draft pick), after drawing the Impact in Mexico. Montreal is now poised to advance to the final after defeating Alajuelense 2-0 Wednesday night in a comprehensive performance. They only need to keep level heads in a return leg April 7th at Alajuela, which is no easy task. La Liga shellacked D.C. United 5-2 at home in the last round.
The other semifinal is perhaps the biggest potential upset of the tournament, as Herediano takes a 3-0 lead over America down to Estadio Azteca. Las Aguilas had destroyed the tournament up to this point, leading both in goals scored and goals against. The Mexican giants laid waste to Saprissa in the quarterfinals, 5-0. And Herediano shouldn’t have even been in the CCL to start with. They were a bubble team who didn’t make the cut, but were on deck to step in when a team from Belize couldn’t furnish a stadium that would meet FIFA standards.
Somehow they found themselves in a quarterfinal against the tournament favorites this week. Their stadium was rocking and when America’s Michael Arroyo took down Cristhian Lagos in front of the Herediano bench, and Paolo Goltz kicked Lagos in the face, all hell broke loose and benches cleared. After 5 minutes of fighting, literally right on top of a player who was now bleeding from the face, Arroyo was sent off and America were down to 10 men. Inexplicably, instead of playing conservatively, the Mexican club pushed ahead for a goal. They were burned three times and now must win by at least three goals on April 8th to advance.
Perhaps the most refreshing thing about CCL this year has been everyone involved has appeared to be taking it much more seriously. MLS and Mexican teams are playing with heart – something that was not a given in years past. (America’s players looked truly upset about losing this week.) The TV deal with Fox Sports has brought some legitimacy to a tournament once banished to the Fox Soccer channel and never shown in HD. And the fans are coming to the stadiums. Montreal has had over 30,000 at each of their knockout matches. The Costa Rican teams play to sellouts every time they are in the tournament. Olimpia’s knockout match in Honduras was a sellout. Portland was bounced from their group but played to big crowds at home, as usual. It’s easier to believe a match means something when you can’t hear the players yelling over the crowd noise. The goals have also been there this year, with matches averaging 3.3 goals scored.
So here we are, in 2015, a mere 7 years after CCL was reborn. MLS teams are finally taking the tournament more seriously, and with more DP slots available, regularly competing for spots in the semifinals and finals. The stadiums are beginning to fill up. Costa Rica, already the highest CONCACAF finisher in the last World Cup, could send two teams to the CCL final as well. The matches are on TV, in HD, in primetime. You are at this point guaranteed to see at least one Cinderella story. If you’re not already watching, what are you waiting for? Take the plunge. You’ll be glad you did.
