With the pass to FIFA Club World Cup as a bonusthis Wednesday the Pumas of Mexico and the Seattle Sounders of the United States They will meet in the first leg of the 2022 Concacaf Champions League final.
The Cougars of the National Autonomous University of Mexico are presented with the commitment to maintain the hegemony that the Aztec clubs they have in the Concacaf champions tournaments since the 2005-2006 season.
On his side, the Seattle Sounders go for the regional title that the teams Americans have only won twicemore than 20 years ago.
To get to the concacaf finalthe Cougars they passed Saprissa of Costa Rica in the round of 16, New England Revolution of the United States in the quarterfinals and Cruz Azul in the semifinals.
With its modest campus, the Pumas have also tried to fight in the local league in which they are with one foot in the playoff round, but with the risk of being eliminated on the last day of the regular phase, in which they will face the leader Pachuca.
In such a scenario, the Argentine Andrés Lillini, technical director of the Pumashas the Concacaf final as a priority.
“I would not like to stay out of the league, but to be specific, we are two games away from an international title which is very important for us. It would be, apart from winning it, going to a Club World Cup,” Lillini told the Mexican press.
For this first match of the final, Lillini would have three absences: one by suspension, that of the defender Arthur Ortizand two due to injury, that of the midfielder Leonel Lopez and that of the Argentine striker John Dinenno.
The Pumas seek their fourth Concacaf title after being crowned in 1980, 1982 and 1989. They also seek compensation for having been the last Mexican team to lose the title in the regional final: it was in the 2004-2005 season when they fell to Saprissa.
Sounders, historic opportunity
With the fourth highest payroll in MLSthe Seattle Sounders reached this Concacaf final by widely eliminating Motagua from Honduras, León from Mexico and New York City.
Founded in 2007, the Seattle Sounders have been two time MLS champion in which he began to compete in the 2009 season; the franchise did not yet exist when DC United in 1998 and the Los Angeles Galaxy in 2000 won the only two Concacaf titles held by US clubs.
“It is an incredible opportunity. It’s for immortality,” former footballer Garth Lagerwey said., current president of the Sounders. “No MLS team has won it,” said the leader in reference to the Concacaf title under the format and name of the Champions League, established since the 2008-2009 season.
On his side, the technical director Brian Schmetzer will face the final series against the Pumas confident in his offensive apparatus in which the Uruguayan striker Nicolás Lodeiro and the Peruvian striker Raúl Ruidíaz, who won two scoring titles in Mexican soccer, appear.
Only one aspect causes Schmetzer slight concern. “We need to be tough to beat, a little tougher defensively at certain points in the game.a little more solid,” the coach said after the Seattle Sounders lost 4-3 to the San José Earthquakes in MLS over the weekend after taking a 2-0 lead at minute 20.
In MLS-2022, the Sounders have had a bad step and are in eleventh place of the Western Conference.
The first leg of the final will be played on Wednesday starting at 9:30 p.m. in Ecuador at the Olympic University Stadium in Mexico City, with capacity for 58,445 spectators.
The rematch will be played on Wednesday, May 4 at Lumen Field in Seattle. (D)
Likely lineups:
Cougars:
Alfredo Talavera; Alan Mozo, Nicolás Freire, Ricardo Galindo, Efraín Velarde; Santiago Trigos, Higor Meritao, Washington Corozo, Favio Álvarez; Diogo de Oliveira, Rogerio de Oliveira. DT: Andres Lillini.
Seattle Sounders:
Stefan Frey; Alexander Roldán, Jackson Ragen, Xavier Arreaga, Kelyn Rowe; Joao Paulo, Albert Rusnak, Cristian Roldán, Nicolás Lodeiro; Jordan Morris, Raul Ruidíaz. DT: Brian Schmetzer.
Source: Eluniverso
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