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5 hours ago
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Last night did not end well for Inter Miami fans as the Herons got eliminated from the CONCACAF Champions Cup semi-final by Vancouver Whitecaps.
In the first-leg clash against Vancouver last week, Inter Miami were without Lionel Messi and some other star players as a part of scheduled rest and faced a 2-0 defeat.
Jordi Alba opened the scoring for the Herons just nine minutes into the second leg, keeping the hopes alive of a comeback. However, Vancouver found the back of the net three times, ending the clash in a 5-1 loss on aggregate for Inter Miami.
The defeat is particularly saddening for Inter Miami as this was the first time they reached a CONCACAF Champions Cup semi-final in the club's history and had a chance to add another to the list by making it to the final.
Speaking after the match, Inter Miami head coach Javier Mascherano opened up about how the loss impacts him and his squad.
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What did Javier Mascherano say?
Inter Miami pulled off a comeback win against Los Angeles FC in the Champions Cup quarter-finals. After conceding a goal in the first leg, the Herons netted three goals in the second to book a spot in the semis.
Inter Miami and their fans were hopeful of the same against Vancouver in the quarter-finals but were unable to achieve the desired results. During his post-match press conference, Mascherano expressed (comments via GOAL)how much the lost dream of reaching the final 'hurts' them.
The Argentine manager also mentioned that Inter Miami's sole focus is going to be performing well in Major League Soccer this season.
"We have to keep going and focus on MLS. I'm not even thinking about the Club World Cup. We've been competing in two tournaments, we've done it well, and we reached the semifinals—something the club had never done before. But it hurts because we wanted to reach the final," he said.
"That would have placed the club in a very important position. Still, we have to accept that they were better—they beat us in key moments, in individual duels—and at this stage, those things matter a lot," added Mascherano.
Inter Miami are currently fifth in the MLS table with 18 points in nine matches. They will be facing NY Red Bulls next in the league on May 3 at Chase Stadium.
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