Inter Miami CF head coach Javier Mascherano laments the “missed opportunity” for the club and for Lionel Messi to reach the Concacaf Champions Cup final after falling 3-1 (5-1 on aggregate) to the Vancouver Whitecaps on Wednesday night at Chase Stadium.
“It hurts because we wanted to reach the final. That would have placed the club in a very important position. Still, we have to accept that they were better,” said Mascherano
“We know Inter Miami has won the League Cup, but the most important tournament in the region is the Concacaf Champions Cup. But sometimes you have to accept that the opponent has the hierarchy and has surpassed us. They surpassed us.
Though Miami found the back of the net first in the ninth minute of the match, Vancouver eventually found a way to capitalize on the Herons’ defensive errors to score three in Fort Lauderdale.
“We were one goal away from tying the series and what we pretended to do is have a long game. The hardest part was done, which was to score the first goal. But this is football, especially in a semifinal. Two or three errors against a good opponent, obviously good because they reached the semifinal, but they end up hurting you and end up sentencing with the tie. It was pretty clear today,” said Mascherano.
The Herons first made history during the 2025 edition of the international tournament when completing a comeback victory against LAFC to reach the semifinal round of the competition for the first time ever.
The team previously fell to CF Monterrey in the 2024 quarterfinals, vowing to come back stronger.
“We keep getting further and further in this tournament with that consolation, although today is not a lot. We think ahead.”
Mascherano now insists the team will focus once again on Major League Soccer after competing in two tournaments during the past two and a half months, looking forward to the regular season before thinking ahead to the Club World Cup in the summer.
“We now have to keep focusing on MLS. I don’t think ahead to the Club Cup because we are a month and a half away. Now it’s time to focus on MLS. We’ve been competing in two competitions for two and a half months, and we did it well.”
Inter Miami will host the New York Red Bulls at Chase Stadium on Saturday.
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