In the biggest match in the history of Inter Miami, they were played off the pitch by the Vancouver Whitecaps, who booked a place in the Concacaf Champions Cup final with a 3-1 victory on Wednesday at Chase Stadium. Sebastian Berhalter was the best player on a pitch that included Lionel Messi with a goal and two assists, truly showing Concacaf heritage in this competition, sending the World Cup winner and friends home in a tie where they were the favorites before the first leg began.
Early on, it seemed like the Herons would have a chance to repeat their Los Angeles FC comeback in the quarterfinals when Jordi Alba scored only nine minutes in, but Vancouver were able to recover and play the first half to a 1-0 Miami advantage.
In the second half, Jesper Sorensen’s team made adjustments as Berhalter assisted goals for Brian White and Pedro Vite, separated by less than two minutes. At that moment, the body language could be seen on some members of Inter Miami that this would be a mountain that they couldn’t climb, even with Messi. Then Berhalter added a goal of his own in the 71st minute, showing that some Miami cracks that have shown recently may actually be gashes in the team.
Messi has still been excellent for the Herons this season with eight goals and two assists in all competitions but Luis Suarez’s scoreless streak has now reached eight games in all competitions. Tadeo Allende’s scoring has also cooled off and the defense is back to allowing goals in bunches. After moving on from players like Leonardo Campana, Robert Taylor and Julian Gressel, there are questions facing Javier Mascherano and the Herons about their roster makeup.
The Club World Cup is looming, but if they play how they have at the end of April, they won’t even make it out of the group stage of that tournament. The Whitecaps came in with a plan as a team and executed it to perfection. They may have lost Berhalter for the final due to yellow card accumulation but under Sorensen, it’s clear that they have the squad to win it without a key piece.
It’s something that Miami need to take a page out of because at some point, Messi won’t be here. At that point, what happens when the Herons have been built to be Messi and friends instead of a coherent team? It’s a bleak picture and it can be turned around if Mascherano can make adjustments. If he can’t, it may be a long season for them.
For the Whitecaps, they’ll face either Cruz Azul or Tigres in the Champions Cup final on June 1.