Are the Whitecaps, not Lionel Messi, now the bullies of CONCACAF?

Advertisement oopStory continues belowThis advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.Skip to Content Subscribe FAQ My Account Manage My Subscription Our Offers Vancouver Canucks Sports Canucks Report Vancouver Canucks NHL PWHL More Hockey BC Lions CFL NFL Vancouver Whitecaps Soccer Basketball Baseball Lacrosse University High School More Sports Curling Golf MMA Auto Racing Rugby Tennis Hot Topics News Local News Crime BC Politics Health National World True Crime Business Energy Real Estate FP Headlines FP Markets FP Money Small Business Technology Gaming Internet Science Space Podcasts Weather Archives Federal Election Entertainment Local Arts Movies Television TV Listings Celebrity Music Books Opinion Letters Columnists Life Fashion & Beauty Parenting Relationships Food Local Food Reviews Beer Recipes Wine Diet & Fitness Advice Contests National Contests BC Real Estate Condos Decorating Gardening Renovating All Travel Local Travel Travel Canada Travel USA Travel International Cruises Travel Guide Travel Deals Shopping Homes West Coast Homes & Design Magazine Westcoast Homes & Design Current Issue Newsletters Puzzmo Diversions Comics Puzzles New York Times Crossword Healthing Driving Vehicle Research Reviews News Gear Guide Obituaries Place an Obituary Place an In Memoriam Advertising Advertising With Us Advertising Solutions Postmedia Ad Manager Sponsorship Requests Classifieds Place an Ad Celebrating Real Estate Marketplace Pet Posts & Adoptions Working Business Ads This Weeks’s Flyers ePaper Manage Print Subscription Profile Settings My Subscriptions Saved Articles My Offers Newsletters Customer Service FAQ Vancouver Canucks Sports Hot Topics News Federal Election Entertainment Opinion Life Shopping Homes Newsletters Puzzmo Healthing Driving Obituaries Classifieds ePaper Manage Print Subscription This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.SportsSoccerMLSVancouver WhitecapsAre the Whitecaps, not Lionel Messi, now the bullies of CONCACAF?The Vancouver Whitecaps showed no fear in their first-leg victory over Lionel Messi and Inter Miami, absorbing all the CONCACAF chicanery given to them, and dishing out some of their own.

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Adams straight to your inbox Published Apr 29, 2025 • Last updated 5 hours ago • 5 minute read You can save this article by registering for free here.

Or sign-in if you have an account.That’s the other football: Vancouver Whitecaps midfielder Ralph Priso hauls Miami’s Lionel Messi to the ground during last Wednesday’s CONCACAF Champions Cup semifinal first leg at B.C.

Place.

Photo by Jeff Vinnick/Getty Images /PNGReviews and recommendations are unbiased and products are independently selected.

Postmedia may earn an affiliate commission from purchases made through links on this page.The bodies were dropping all over B.C.

Place’s plastic shag last Wednesday in the Champions Cup semifinal.

While Inter Miami players rolled hyperbolically on the turf, their faces screwed up in dramatic masks of simulated pain, so did their Vancouver Whitecaps counterparts.This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLYSubscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada.Exclusive articles by top sports columnists Patrick Johnston, Ben Kuzma, J.J.

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Perhaps the most egregious example: Ralph Priso’s second-half tackle on Lionel Messi, where he wrapped both arms around the icon and suplexed him into the ground just outside the Caps’ box — a yellow card in any game, except, it seemed, this one.NEXT GAMEVancouver Whitecaps at Inter MiamiCONCACAF Champions Cup semifinals, Leg 2 of 2(Whitecaps lead 2-0 on aggregate)Game time: 5 p.m.

PTTV: OneSoccer.

Radio: AM730But this game had all the trappings of a CONCACAF master class.

Elbows, studs-up challenges, jersey tugs, penalty shouts and trash talk in multiple languages.This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.Words flew through the air as often as bodies.

Messi had some choice words for Whitecaps midfielder Andrés Cubas for his defensive haranguing during the game, and exchanged some with the Southsiders going off the field too.We apologize, but this video has failed to load.Essential reading for hockey fans who eat, sleep, Canucks, repeat.By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.A welcome email is on its way.

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Please try againThis advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.Centre-back Tristan Blackmon found himself in the centre of a melee just after halftime, shoving Federico Redondo after the Argentine scythed down Caps winger Edier Ocompo.He also had to duel with Luis Suárez, whose goal-scoring skills are perhaps only equalled by his superlative skills as an instigator and all-around s–t disturber.“CONCACAF is a different beast to take on,” Blackmon said the day before holding the Uruguayan superstar in check.

“You’re able to play through some things and sometimes the ref will call it quick and give you yellows and stuff like that but you have to be smart.

It’ll be chippy on both sides and we expect that.”“(Suárez) also represents sometimes things that are not the most beautiful in football.

But he is a great player,” said Caps coach Jesper Sørensen.

“He can do a lot of things.

He’s also a tricky player to play against, because he knows a trick or two when the ball is away.”This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.Final foul tally: Whitecaps 11, Miami 7.Final yellow card tally: Whitecaps 3, Miami 2.Final goal tally, and the one that matters most heading into Wednesday’s second leg: Whitecaps 2, Miami 0.The defensive effort from Vancouver was near perfect as Miami dominated the ball last week, but it will be offence near top of mind heading into Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale.

A Whitecaps’ away goal turns an already steep hill into a Mount Everest for Miami.We apologize, but this video has failed to load.This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.“The job’s not done.

I think we understand that,” said midfielder Ali Ahmed.

“We’re always ready — on to the next.

And especially going against Inter Miami; we know who we’re up against.

We know who they have there.

They’re a special team.

We know that the job is not even close to being done and we’re gonna have to dig deep.“Even though it’s an MLS team, it’s another Champions Cup game, which is completely different than in the league, from atmospheres, to weather, to style of play.

Just heat of the moment things.“I think we’ve done a great job so far with dealing with it.

And I think we’re pretty experienced with all of the tendencies that CONCACAF brings.

It’s going to be a fun, fun, fun experience again.”Both teams rotated their squads for their weekend game in league play.

The Caps (7-1-2) scored three second-half goals to down Minnesota, fourth in the West, by a 3-1 score and extend their lead atop the conference standings.This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.Miami (5-1-3) only had one starter from Wednesday’s game in the opening lineup, but gave up three goals in the final 26 minutes to lose 4-3 to FC Dallas.It was the Loons first loss in league play this year, but they’re not the dominating juggernaut that were the runaway Supporters Shield champs last season.

Their only league win by multiple goals came against a Houston team mired in the West’s basement.It seems incredible to write these words, but a star-studded Miami team led by the biggest star in the world — Messi — isn’t intimidating anyone anymore.If you look at their first meeting in isolation, it was Vancouver doing the bullying, even if they only had the ball a third of the time.“Vancouver, they are very good physically,” Herons coach Javier Mascherano said after that game.

“It was difficult for us to win the duels.

In the end, you play against a player, you have to win the duels.

If not, it’s difficult to beat the team.This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.“If there’s something that we as athletes love — and in my case that I’m not an athlete anymore, I’m a coach — is live with these types of pressures,” the former Barcelona and Liverpool stalwart said Tuesday, in advance of the second leg.“It’s what gives the game meaning, it gives you motivation to be around football, in fact to be able to compete, to be able to have the belief that against a difficult situation you can overturn it.” Ali Ahmed #22 of the Vancouver Whitecaps FC and Marcelo Weigandt #57 of Inter Miami CF battle for possession during the CONCACAF Champions Cup Semi-final first leg match between Vancouver Whitecaps and Inter Miami CF at BC Place on April 24 Photo by Jeff Vinnick /Getty ImagesThey had that belief in the Cup quarterfinal round against LAFC.

They lost the first leg in Los Angeles 1-0, and were down 1-0 nine minutes into the game at home, facing the need to score three goals.

They managed it — two from Messi and one from Redondo — and Miami was through.“We know it’s a situation that’s not in our favour … but this is football,” said Miami defender Maximiliano Falcón.

“We’ve trained according to what we’ve already seen from (the Whitecaps) … and we all have the same confidence among the group that we can turn the situation around.

It’s difficult, there can be no margin of error obviously, but we have all the confidence that … we can go through.”As he’s done himself, and carved into the psyches of his charges, Sørensen has left last week’s game and the weekend results where they are — in the past.

He’s only concerned about what lies ahead.“(Miami) will be ready.

They will be hungry to win, but we will be as well,” he said.

“They probably want it bad, but we also want it bad.”jadams@postmedia.com@jjadams.bsky.social Whitecaps 2, Inter Miami 0: ‘Underdogs’ take a bite out of Messi and Co.

Whitecaps-Miami Recap: First blood goes to Vancouver, as Messi and Co.

lose 2-0 Whitecaps’ challenge: How do you stop Lionel Messi? Vancouver Canucks Local News Vancouver Whitecaps Local News News Notice for the Postmedia NetworkThis website uses cookies to personalize your content (including ads), and allows us to analyze our traffic.

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