Report and Reaction: Whitecaps Livin’ la Vida Loca after stunning late triumph over Pumas in Mexico City

[Photo Credit: @WhitecapsFC/X.com – CONCACAF.com]

Some matches etch themselves into club folklore. Some moments do the same. There’s no doubting when people look back at Whitecaps history in years to come, their CONCACAF Champions Cup win over Pumas in Mexico City on Wednesday night will be in there, with Tristan Blackmon’s tie-winning goal in stoppage time having pride of place.

Blackmon’s heroics will rightfully take all the headlines and video replays, but to a man, the ‘Caps showed heart and desire to knock out a second straight Liga MX side on Mexican soil and book their berth in the semi-finals, where a star-packed Inter Miami side led by Lionel Messi await.

It wasn’t a night for the faint hearted in Mexico City and the Whitecaps were more than ready for the fight. The feeling among the team after the match was that they could and should have played better. That’s just a mark of the belief this team has in themselves this season. They’re disappointed they only got a draw to go through.

Tied at one-apiece heading into the second leg, the game took a little bit of time to warm up, but Sebastian Berhalter’s stunning 33rd minute opener for the ‘Caps fired the game into life. It was a lead that was to last just four minutes before dangerman Guillermo Martinez fired Pumas back level and that was how it stood until some very late drama indeed.

The Mexican powerhouse thought they’d avoided extra time and snatched a last-gasp winner in the 88th minute when Ignacio Pussetto saw Yohei Takaoka save his first effort at point blank range, before he buried the rebound in off the bar. But the ‘Caps wouldn’t say die and three minutes into stoppage time, Blackmon, playing up front instead of in the centre of the defence, volleyed home an Edier Ocampo cross and Vancouver had secured another famous victory.

What a goal. What a performance. What a night!

Jesper Sorensen made two changes from the team that comfortably beat Colorado at the weekend and two from the team that dominated, but drew, last week’s first leg against Pumas, as did the Mexican side.

Brian White was the man that featured in both of those, but he dropped to the bench for this one in a move similar to the last round game at Monterrey. Mexican Daniel Rios led the line, with Sorensen looking to bring some big hitters off the bench later in the game. The back four remained unchanged and would certainly be tested in the altitude of Mexico City in from of a fiery crowd.

As with the last round, the away goal given up the Liga MX side loomed large. The ‘Caps knew they’d have to score at least once in the return leg to go through, but they’d already shown they could go down to Mexico and do just that, and this time they didn’t give up the early goal.

It was an even start, with Pumas having the first chance of the game in the 8th minute, when a low shot from Martinez from the edge of the box was easily dealt with by Takaoka in the Whitecaps goal.

Vancouver were having some initial problems dealing with the conditions, overhitting passes and seeing balls skip away from them on the slick surface, but slowly, they started to find their feet and Pedro Vite hit a long range rocket that was turned away by Alex Padilla in the 19th minute.

The ‘Caps were looking good defensively and were enjoying the share of possession, with the home side looking lively on the counter.

Then Vancouver broke the deadlock in the 33rd minute and what a goal it was too.

Vite collected the ball just inside the Whitecaps half and was allowed to power forward, playing the ball outside to Rios, whose pass into the box was superbly finished by a spinning backheel from Berhalter and the ‘Caps were in dreamland.

GOAL 🏔️

OH MY, SEBASTIAN BERHALTER 😱

The Vancouver Whitecaps go up 1-0 over Pumas UNAM (2-1 on aggregate) AND get an away goal in this #ConcaChampions QF Leg 2 🏆

🔴 Watch #VWFC on OneSoccer pic.twitter.com/QpsNmHGWNE

— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) April 10, 2025

A sublime finish, a lead, but most importantly, the away goal was once again cancelled out.

Vancouver knew Pumas would throw everything at them and getting to half time was now the goal. Sadly, they could only hold on to their lead for four minutes.

The home side had turned up the pressure with Takaoka saving at his near post to deny Jorge Ruvalcaba in the 36th minute. Keeping the pressure on from the corner, last week’s goalscorer, Coco Carrasquilla, once again found himself unmarked as the ball came in. This time Takaoka made the save, but the loose ball fell to Martinez on the edge of the six yard box and he drilled home the equaliser.

GOAL 🐈‍⬛

And just like that, Pumas UNAM equalize in Leg 2 of this #ConcaChampions quarter-final vs. the Vancouver Whitecaps, and it's 2-2 on aggregate, with each team holding an away goal 🥶

🔴 Watch #VWFC on OneSoccer pic.twitter.com/vFPiB1JrTs

— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) April 10, 2025

The Whitecaps had fallen out of the match as an attacking threat but they headed into the break on level terms and very much still in with a chance of advancing. With some key attacking pieces on the bench, and some pace, even giving up the next goal wasn’t too costly. A Whitecaps goal in the second half and Pumas would need two.

The ‘Caps attacking intent was made clear when White came on for the second half, but it was Pumas who had the first look on goal with another corner causing issues for Vancouver, as Takaoka got down low to turn away a Martinez header.

Berhalter whizzed a low free kick just past the right hand post in the 57th minute, with Martinez forcing another save from a header from Takaoka two minutes later.

Pussetto blasted over for Pumas from a good position in the 73rd minute, after a rare switch off in the ‘Caps defence, and the match headed into the final 15 still very much in the balance.

As the minutes ticked down and the substitutions came, it looked like the match was destined for extra time. But it also felt that if the ‘Caps were going to advance they would need to do it over the 90 minutes, as tired legs and bodies started to become evident out there. An extra half hour could be just the killer blow.

But then, with just two minutes of normal time remaining, Pussetto scored what most in the stadium would have felt was the goal that sent Pumas through.

Pussetto connected with a cross in from the left. Takaoka made the point-blank stop but the rebound came straight back to Pussetto, who fiercely fired home off the crossbar, sparking jubilation amongst the home players and fans.

GOAL 🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛

Pumas UNAM go up 2-1 over the Vancouver Whitecaps (3-2 agg.) as Ignacio Pussetto finds a late goal off the crossbar from his initial shot 🎯

Can #VWFC find an equalizer – and series-winner on away goals – in the last ~5 minutes of this #ConcaChampions QF? 🏆 pic.twitter.com/madO9egxnT

— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) April 10, 2025

Agony and heartbreak for the Whitecaps. That could have been enough to break many team’s spirit, but it only served to add to the ‘Caps’.

With the game now guaranteed to avoid extra time, Vancouver went looking for the leveler on the night that would give them the away goal they needed to advance, and it came three minutes into stoppage time from centre-back turned centre forward Blackmon.

Blackmon’s defensive partner Ranko Veselinovic sent a long back forward, which was flicked on by White out wide to Ocampo. The Colombian showed neat control before whipping in a cross which Blackmon met first time and volleyed high into the Pumas for the equaliser on the night and tie-winning goal to send the Whitecaps through.

GOAL 🏔️🏔️

THE WHITECAPS SCORE AGAIN! 🤯

Tristan Blackmon finds the in-game equalizer, the 3-3 aggregate AND the away goals advantage and #VWFC have minutes to go before clinching a semi-final berth in #ConcaChampions 🏆 pic.twitter.com/bfDTvI6XDl

— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) April 10, 2025

It was a stunning finish, continuing the Whitecaps’ stunning run in the competition. Now they have Lionel Messi and his crew coming to BC Place in the semi-finals and they’re three matches away from the 2029 FIFA Club World Cup!

Yes, that’s a ling way away and yes, there’s still a lot of work to do to get there, but that’s what’s on the line here. Dare to dream? How can you not after this?!

FINAL SCORE: Pumas UNAM 2 – 2 Vancouver Whitecaps [3-3 on aggregate – Whitecaps advance on away goals].

ATT: 19,397

SCORING SUMMARY:
33’ – VAN – Sebastian Berhalter (Daniel Ríos)
37’ – PUM – Guillermo Martínez
88’ – PUM – Ignacio Pussetto
90’+3 – VAN – Tristan Blackmon (Édier Ocampo)

STATS:
Shots: PUM 20 – VAN 6
Shots on goal: PUM 9 – VAN 3
Saves: PUM 1 – VAN 7
Fouls: PUM 11 – VAN 10
Offsides: PUM 1 – VAN 0
Corners: PUM 10 – VAN 1

CARDS (ALL YELLOW):
45’ – VAN – Daniel Ríos
57’ – PUM – Guillermo Martínez
62’ – VAN – Édier Ocampo
62’ – PUM – Rubén Duarte
70’ – VAN – Pedro Vite
71’ – PUM – Jorge Ruvalcaba

PUMAS: 1.Alex Padilla; 5.Rubén Duarte, 4.Lisandro Magallán, 6.Nathan Silva, 2.Paolo Bennevendo; 27.Piero Quispe (23.Ignacio Pussetto 66’), 8.José Caicedo; 17.Jorge Ruvalcaba (7.Rodrigo López 76’), 28.Adalberto Carrasquilla, 10.Leonardo Suárez (13.Pablo Monroy 90’+1); 9.Guillermo Martínez (29.Rogelio Funes Mori 66’) [Substitutes not used: 35.Pablo Lara, 15.Ulises Rivas, 19.Alí Ávila, 20.Santiago Trigos, 21.Michell Rodríguez, 22.Robert Ergas, 51.Ángel Azuaje]

VANCOUVER: 1.Yohei Takaoka; 18.Édier Ocampo, 33.Tristan Blackmon, 4.Ranko Veselinović ©, 28.Tate Johnson; 16.Sebastian Berhalter (13.Ralph Priso 79’), 20.Andrés Cubas, 26.J.C. Ngando (11.Emmanuel Sabbi 62’); 45.Pedro Vite, 14.Daniel Ríos (24.Brian White HT), 22.Ali Ahmed (59.Jeevan Badwal 80’) [Substitutes not used: 30.Adrían Zendejas, 32.Isaac Boehmer, 15.Bjørn Inge Utvik, 19.Damir Kreilach, 27.Giuseppe Bovalina, 53.Mark O’Neill]

REACTION:

VANCOUVER WHITECAPS

JESPER SORENSEN

On the dramatic comeback and the feelings:

“It’s happy emotions, right? It’s always good feelings – these feelings, you cannot just produce. You have to go through a lot to get feelings like this. Also, the way the game ended, it was like, the game was a little bit in lock, and then all of a sudden Pumas scored. And we had to do something desperate. We did, and we scored. I was actually preparing for extra time [before Pumas took the lead]. So, it’s amazing, being part of something like this. And for me, as a new coach [with Whitecaps FC], I think you have to remember that the MLS season has just started. So, we’re actually very early on in the season, and getting all this, so early on as a new coach, is unbelievable.”

On where this result ranks for him personally:

“This is high. This is high up. As a coach, getting to the semifinal stage in the Concacaf [Champions Cup] is not something that comes along very often, and you don’t know when you start off the tournament. Of course, you hope you go along [and advance] but you’re up against tough opponents all the time, and also playing under different circumstances. I know that we’re a favourite when we play at home, and play on turf, but coming down here [to Mexico City], playing with altitude, we could see that we had difficulties controlling the ball today when we look at how we play normally. So, it’s a very high point, I would say.”

On the match:

“I don’t really think that we played the game that I thought we could and should, but we hung in there. I think Pumas played a great game and put us under pressure. We didn’t produce as many chances as we normally do. Today we were effective, and that’s not always been the case for us… but today we were efficient, and this is football.”

MIDFIELDER SEBASTIAN BERHALTER

On the emotions:

“It wasn’t the performance that we were really looking for, but it’s a tough place to play, especially at altitude. To come out of there and to be in the semifinals is the most important thing and I’m just glad we got it done.”

On scoring late:

“I think that’s just belief, I think we just believe in each other. We knew we’re never out of it. We know how good of a team we are. It doesn’t matter if we’re not playing our best game, it’s just one moment at a time. You could see guys didn’t really get down. We were still in it, and everyone still believed. To have that, even though it’s 2-1 in a hostile environment, to go and get that goal shows the character of this group.”

GOALKEEPER YOHEI TAKAOKA

On the emotions:

“It feels amazing. We showed amazing spirit, we never gave up until the last minute. I’m really proud of this team, and I’m really happy to get to the semifinals.”

On staying calm:

“It was a great atmosphere. I try to control the game, and sometimes take my time, sometimes kick a long ball, sometimes play it short and manage the game.”