Seattle Sounders is the first champion of Concacaf from USA with direct access to Club World Cup. It took 22 years for a team from the mls reign again in the North, Central America and Caribbean region, but this time the sensation was different from what they achieved D.C. United in 1998 and the Galaxy in 2000, since now there is a direct ticket to the highest international club competition on the planet.
The group that lives in Washington validated its local condition to obtain the coveted title of Concachampions. Before a capacity of 68,741 fans, which set an attendance record for a final of this tournament, they consecrated themselves with a resounding 3-0 scoreline over Cougarswho until the 80th minute had hopes of sending the game into extra time because they were barely losing 1-0, but the last 10 minutes were a gale for the American team.
Two of the three goals were the work of an old acquaintance of Mexican soccer, the Peruvian striker Raul Ruidíazwho five years ago saved Monarchs Morelia from relegation with a last minute goal in Monterey. However, the final return of the Concachampions 2022 against Cougars It represented for him a unique opportunity in his career that he was not willing to miss. So it was. With two goals and one more than Nicholas Lodeiroboth shaped the first international title in the history of the Sounders.
“I have been through everything: I have won the championship, I have saved from relegation, I have lost finals and they have been very hard blows, I don’t think my heart can overcome one more defeat (…) I know that this is the most important match of my career, I am aware of that, I just hope to celebrate after this game, I have everything planned, but we have to play it”, Ruidíaz had said before the match against Pumas, in which he was applauded as a hero.
The Sounders’ collective game is based on their international figures, such as Ruidíaz himself, who was even a World Cup player with Peru in Russia 2018; Nicolás Lodeiro, captain, former player of the Ajax Amsterdam and selected Uruguayan; as well as Xavier Arreaga, a tough central defender who was signed from Barcelona de Guayaquil and is currently a starter with the Ecuador national team on the eve of Qatar World Cup.
Added to them is the local talent of Jordan Morris, Kelly Rowe Y Christian Roldanbut also that of international figures such as the Swiss goalkeeper Stefan Freywho saved two shots from Juan Ignacio Dinenno Y Diogo De Oliveira when the score was still 1-0 and anything could happen.
For Sounders it was vital to have rescued the tie in their visit to University City in the first leg, where despite losing 2-0 before the 50th minute, he managed to recover through two penalties well capitalized by Nico Lodeiro. Thanks to that, everything came even in terms of marking the big date in Washington, although with the advantage of having almost 70,000 souls supporting them.
In this way, the United States got its third star in the Concacaf champion tournaments, which date back to 1962. The first was achieved D.C. United in 1998 and the second Los Angeles Galaxy in 2000, but with a completely different format in which from the quarterfinal round all the matches were played in the United States; Furthermore, back then there was no right for the champion to attend the Club World Cup.
Today things are different. Seattle can boast of being the first MLS team to go to the Mundialito and they did so by breaking a 16-year undefeated streak in the MX League becoming champion of the Concachampions. On the way they had tried Royal Salt Lake (lost to Monterrey in 2011), Montreal Impact (lost to America in 2015), Toronto F.C. (lost to Chivas in 2018) and Los Angeles F.C. (lost to Tigres in 2020).
For its part, Pumas will continue to extend its streak of 11 years without being champion of any tournament, since it was in 2011 when they won their last MX League and from there they have accumulated two runner-up finishes (also in Liga MX).
As for Concacaf, the university students managed to return to a final after 17 years, when they were runners-up against Saprissa of Costa Rica in 2005. Interestingly, that was the last time a Mexican club lost the Concachampions trophy and, again with Pumas, they lost it in 2022 at the hands of the first MLS champion.