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Concacaf Champions League Semifinals: Tigres UANL and LAFC Advance to Final

Published

6 years ago

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Tigres UANL and LAFC advanced to the final of the Scotiabank Concacaf Champions League after tonight’s semifinals at Exploria Stadium. Tigres ousted CD Olimpia 3-0 in the early match and Club América was sent packing in the nightcap as LAFC came from a goal down while down to 10 men to win the chippiest match here so far, 3-1.

Here’s how the semifinals unfolded:

Tigres UANL 3-0 CD Olimpia

Tigres out of Mexico’s Liga MX took on Honduran side CD Olimpia in the first semifinal. Tigres entered fresh off destroying New York City FC in the quarterfinals, while Olimpia lost the second-leg match to the Montreal Impact, 1-0, but won on the away goals tiebreaker after the two legs ended in a 2-2 aggregate score line.

The Honduran side seemed content to absorb pressure from Tigres, stay organized, and look for opportunities in transition. Leonardo Fernandez saw his long-range effort parried away by goalkeeper Edrick Menjivar in the seventh minute and Andre-Pierre Gignac’s curling free kick sailed just wide two minutes later as Tigres probed for an opening goal. Gignac sent a free kick right at Menjivar in the 24th minute. The first shot from Olimpia that was notable came in the 45th minute from Edwin Rodriguez but it was well wide of goal. If Olimpia had one before that, I didn’t notice it. The plodding first half was played almost entirely in Olimpia’s half but without Tigres threatening the goal much.

Business picked up at the end of the half when Tigres got a late corner kick. The bouncing ball fell for Tigres center back Carlos Salcedo’s bicycle kick attempt, which was blocked, but made it only as far as Luis Quiñones, who fired it back toward goal. Olimpia midfielder Deybi Flores stuck out an arm to keep the ball from crossing the goal line and referee Ivan Barton awarded a penalty and sent Flores off for an intentional handball. Gignac scored from the spot on just about the last kick of the opening half to give Tigres the lead at the break and the Hondurans were a man down for the rest of the match.

Tigres led in shots (8-1) and shots on target (7-0), as well as corner kicks (3-0), possession (74%-26%) and passing accuracy (88%-86%) at the break.

Gignac missed a good opportunity to double the Tigres lead five minutes after the restart. His cross into the area was knocked away from its intended target but Gignac continued his run and got to the ball first, firing left of goal from near the penalty spot, wasting a good scoring chance. However, the Frenchman still doubled the lead just moments after Jerry Bengtson got in alone for Olimpia and flubbed his shot in an attempt to tie the game.

Tigres came down to the other end after Bengtson’s muffed shot was saved by Nahuel Guzman and Jorge Alvarez committed Olimpia’s second handball in the box on the night. Gignac sent Menjivar the wrong way and slotted home to make it 2-0 Tigres in the 57th minute.

If the game wasn’t already out of reach, an own goal off the head of Elvin Casildo off a ball from Gignac in the 78th minute certainly finished off Olimpia.

Things would have gotten worse for the Honduran side if not for two outstanding set piece saves by Menjivar in the final 15 minutes — first on a header by Hugo Ayala and then another by Salcedo.

Olimpia tried to take something from the game late with a couple of scoring opportunities, but Jorge Alvarez sent a free kick over the bar in the 83rd minute and Eddie Hernandez had his shot deflected out by the defense at the death.

Tigres led at the final whistle in shots (16-4), shots on target (13-2), corners (5-1), possession (74%-26%), and passing accuracy (92%-88%).

LAFC 3-1 Club América

LAFC was on the front foot right away in the second game, buzzing around the América penalty area but not getting an open look at goal. The Liga MX team started coming into the game after a few minutes, and Leo Suarez got the first look for América in the eighth minute, cutting in from the right and firing a left-footed shot that Kenneth Vermeer smothered.

It was América that broke through first, scoring in the 11th minute on its first corner kick of the game. Richard Sanchez delivered a terrific cross on the set piece and Sebastian Caceres flicked a header at the near post that tucked just inside the far post to make it 1-0 to the Mexican side.

Jose Cifuentes headed over the bar off a nice cross from Diego Palacios in the 24th minute on one of the rare instances the MLS side was able to get a look in a decent scoring area. Carlos Vela had a go from distance in the 37th minute but Memo Ochoa was able to make a comfortable save.

LAFC’s best chance of the half came in the 40th off a set piece, when the ball pinged around in traffic and fell for Eddie Segura, who fired a shot through traffic that Ochoa stopped.

The end of the half was a wild one. Eduard Atuesta went down after some contact in the area on an LAFC set piece. No foul was called and Atuesta stayed down for a while as the ball was cleared away. Ochoa came and got into Atuesta’s face and the LAFC midfielder lunged at the América goalkeeper, who went down as if he’d been shot. The teams came together with lots of pushing and shoving and eventually referee Juan Gabriel Calderon showed a straight red to Atuesta. So, both matches involved a red card in first-half stoppage time.

There was more pushing and shoving after the final whistle as play ended near the LAFC bench and tempers flared again and Club América manager Miguel Herrera was tossed from the game. His team took its 1-0 lead into the locker room.

LAFC led in shots (6-5), shots on goal (5-3), and possession (62%-38%), while Club América had more corners (3-1) and a higher passing rate (86%-82%).

Despite LAFC being down a man, Carlos Vela turned the game on its head inside the first two minutes of the second half. Just seconds after the restart, Vela picked off a terrible pass from Caceres at the top of the area and beat Ochoa inside the far post to make it 1-1 in the 46th minute.

Just one minute later, Segura sent a long ball over the top from his own end that fell perfectly for Vela to run onto and the LAFC Designated Player beat Ochoa on a similar left-footed shot to make it 2-1.

“Carlos is such a special player, special leader, captain, and man what a night for him,” LAFC Head Coach Bob Bradley said after the game. “There’s so many things that Carlos brings to our team, so, you know, we’re lucky to have him around and you can tell he’s really committed right now.”

No longer able to sit back and protect the lead, América went back on the attack immediately, looking to equalize. A shot missed just wide of the goal after being deflected by a defender and Vermeer watched helplessly as the ball skipped wide. Moments later, Suarez sent a shot just wide and high of the target. Suarez got another decent look in the 67th minute but sent his effort into the outside netting.

Ten minutes later, Luis Reyes had a chance to level things with a free kick that he smashed through traffic but it hit Vermeer, who made a save that I’m not sure he knew too much about. If he’d hit that anywhere else on frame it likely would have gone in.

Reyes was sent off moments later after a horror tackle in his own defensive end near the corner in the 79th minute. América lost its manpower advantage and the sides were even with 10 men apiece.

The Mexican side couldn’t muster more than a half chance and a few set pieces after that and the MLS team advanced to the final match. Second-half sub Latif Blessing put the finishing touches on the match with a goal on just about the last kick of the game.

América had more shots (13-11) but LAFC got more on target (10-8). The Liga MX side led in corners (6-4) and passing accuracy (91%-78%), while possession was split 50/50. Most importantly, LAFC had the larger number on the scoreboard and advanced despite playing down a man for 34 minutes.

LAFC became just the fourth MLS side in the modern era to reach the final and the first to eliminate three Liga MX sides in one Concacaf Champions League season.

“Amazing effort by the guys,” Bradley said. “At halftime we thought that we would still win the game. Just a team effort where commitment and intensity was just awesome.”

Tigres UANL and LAFC will meet in the final on Tuesday night at 10 p.m. as the competition comes to a close at Exploria Stadium.

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Orlando City

Orlando City vs. San Jose Earthquakes: Preview, How to Watch, TV Info, Live Stream, Lineups, Match Thread, and More

Orlando City restarts its 2026 MLS campaign late tonight out west at San Jose.

Published

2 weeks ago

on

July 22, 2026

By

Image of Braian Ojeda taking a shot in a friendly against FC Dallas.
Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Justin Glatt

Welcome to your match thread for a late night midweek matchup tonight between Orlando City (4-9-2, 14 points) and the San Jose Earthquakes (10-3-2, 32 points) at PayPal Park (10:30 p.m., Apple TV). This is the only scheduled meeting between the teams in 2026 and the first time the teams have met since 2024.

Here’s what you need to know ahead of tonight’s match.

History

Orlando City is 3-1-3 in the previous seven MLS meetings with the Quakes since the club joined Major League Soccer in 2015. The Lions got their only away win in the series in the last meeting and enter tonight 1-1-2 on the road against San Jose.

The teams last met on May 18, 2024, with Jack Lynn coming off the bench to score the game’s only goal. Lynn’s strike in the 89th minute broke the scoreless deadlock and lifted the Lions to a 1-0 victory.

The teams met in Orlando most recently way back on June 22, 2021, with the Lions beating the Quakes down, 5-0. Orlando got things started with an early penalty kick goal by Nani, followed by braces from Benji Michel and Daryl Dike to easily put the game away. The lasting memory from the game is Michel’s celebratory dance wearing a cowboy hat that came out of the stands.

Prior to that Orlando City romp, the last time the teams met was on Aug. 31, 2019 when the Lions got freight trained 3-0 at Avaya Stadium, giving the Quakes their first win in the series. San Jose’s offense came via a Chris Wondolowski brace and an early opening goal by Magnus Eriksson. Orlando looked flat and weary out of the gate.

The Lions were victorious in Exploria Stadium in the 2018 meeting on April 21, a 3-2 Orlando win. It was the first win in the series for either side after three straight draws. Chris Mueller, Sacha Kljestan, and Dom Dwyer gave the Lions a 3-0 lead before Florian Jungwirth pulled two back in the game’s late stages.

The Lions led all of the first three matches in the second half only to see San Jose pull level, with two of those tying goals coming late. In the 2017 meeting, Carlos Rivas finally broke the scoreless tie and gave Orlando City the lead in the 81st minute, but Wondolowski spoiled the Lions’ night with an equalizer two minutes later as the teams drew at Avaya Stadium, 1-1.

In 2016, the Lions were gut-punched in the 94th minute in an emotional match that ended in a 2-2 draw. It was the first home match following the Pulse nightclub tragedy and what appeared to be a storybook ending to a cathartic win turned sour on a last-gasp equalizer by Shea Salinas. Seb Hines — now the Orlando Pride’s head coach — opened the scoring for Orlando, only to see Chad Barrett tie it up. Julio Baptista restored the lead in stoppage time, but Salinas ruined everything.

The two teams also drew in the first meeting, a 1-1 affair at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, with the Lions down to 10 men after Brek Shea was sent off in the first half. Kaká and Wondolowski each scored from the penalty spot four minutes apart in that initial meeting.

Overview

The teams meet tonight to get their post-World Cup portion of the season started. Orlando City has been terrible on the road all season long, keeping only one MLS opponent under two goals all year away from home and allowing five goals twice (at New York City FC and Nashville) and six goals twice (at LAFC and in the team’s most recent match away at FC Cincinnati just before the break).

Orlando City is a putrid 1-6-1 on the road this season, and now the Lions must face the Western Conference co-leaders tonight before coming home to face Supporters’ Shield-leading Nashville SC at home on Saturday. They’ll have to play at least tonight’s game without Martin Ojeda, who is out with a thigh injury sustained some time between his first-half goal a week ago in a friendly against FC Dallas and the time the availability report dropped on Tuesday.

But it isn’t all bad news for the Lions, who should have both Antoine Griezmann and Dike in the lineup. Griezmann was the club’s highly prized and widely publicized summer Designated Player signing, while Dike’s return to Orlando came together more recently, following his departure from West Bromwich Albion. They’ll help the club’s offense, but the attack hasn’t been the issue in 2026 — it’s been the historically porous defense, which is on pace to shatter the MLS record for goals conceded.

Meanwhile, San Jose is one of the first half of the season’s biggest surprises, as the Quakes have been outstanding in 2026. Scoring 34 goals while conceding just 15, San Jose is among the league leaders in goals scored (tied for third), goals conceded (third), and goal differential (+19, third).

The Earthquakes are 4-2-1 at home and are coming off a 3-1 road win at Portland in their last game prior to the World Cup break. San Jose boasts Golden Boot challenger Preston Judd, who leads the Quakes with 11 goals, adding two assists in his 15 appearances. Ousseni Bouda has chipped in five goals and three assists. Niko Tsakiris leads the team with seven assists to go along with his two goals, but he’s still recovering from a lower body injury and is not available tonight. However, the arrival of Timo Werner (four goals and five assists in just seven games) has truly elevated Bruce Arena’s Quakes, and he’ll need to be one of the main focal points for the Orlando defense.

To have any shot at taking something from this game, the Lions will need to play better road defense than they have all season. Orlando can score goals, but with Ojeda out, Griezmann will need to adapt quickly, and someone other than the team’s leading scorer will need to find the net.

The Lions will play without Ojeda (thigh), Joran Gerbet (knee), Nolan Miller (knee), Colin Guske (international duty), and Clovis Archage (international duty). In addition, Marco Pasalic may or may not have returned to the team after the World Cup. He was not in training Monday, although interim head coach Martin Perelman said he expected the Croatian back soon. The Earthquakes will be without Nonso Adimabua (lower body), former Lion Earl Edwards Jr. (lower body), DeJuan Jones (lower body), and Tsakiris (you guessed it, lower body…come on, San Jose).

Match Content

Official Lineups:

Orlando City (4-4-2)

Goalkeeper: Maxime Crepeau.

Defenders: Adrian Marin, David Brekalo, Robin Jansson, Griffin Dorsey.

Midfielders: Ivan Angulo, Braian Ojeda, Eduard Atuesta, Tiago.

Forwards: Justin Ellis, Antoine Griezmann.

Bench: Javier Otero, Bernardo Rhein, Tahir Reid-Brown, Zakaria Taifi, Iago, Wilder Cartagena, Luis Otavio, Harvey Sarajian, Tyrese Spicer

San Jose Earthquakes (4-2-3-1)

Goalkeeper: Angus Gunn.

Defenders: Jamar Ricketts, Reid Roberts, Daniel Munie, Benjamin Kikanovic.

Defensive Midfielders: Beau Lerouox, Ronaldo Vieira.

Attacking Midfielders: Timo Werner, Nick Fernandez, Ousseni Bouda.

Forwards: Preston Judd.

Bench: Jonathan Gonzalez, Dave Romney, Paul Marie, Jack Skahan, Jack Jasinski, Ian Harkes, Francesco Montali, Max Floriani, Darius Johnson.

Referees

REF: Elijio Arreguin.
AR1: Adam Wienckowski.
AR2: Mike Nickerson.
4TH: Timothy Ford.
VAR: Jose Carlos Rivero.
AVAR: TJ Zablocki.

How to Watch

Match Time: 10:30 p.m.

Venue: PayPal Park — San Jose, CA.

TV/Live Stream: Apple TV.

Radio: AM 810 FOX Sports Radio Orlando (English), Mega 97.1 FM (Spanish), Nossa Rádio 1160 AM-WRLZ (Portuguese).

Social Media: For rapid reaction and live updates, follow us on Bluesky Social at @themaneland.bsky.social or follow Orlando City’s official Twitter (@OrlandoCitySC) or Bluesky (@OrlandoCitySC) feed.

Enjoy the match. Go City!

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Podcasts

PawedCast Episode 542: Tampa Bay Friendly, McGuire Traded, OCB Beats Cincinnati, and More

Lions maul the Rowdies in friendly action, OCB wins on the road, and it’s transfer season.

Published

3 weeks ago

on

July 14, 2026

By

Image of Antoine Griezmann and Ivan Angulo celebrating a goal in a friendly against the Tampa Bay Rowdies.
Image courtesy of Orlando City SC / Mark Thor

Orlando City welcomed I-4 Derby rival Tampa Bay to Inter&Co Stadium for a friendly match on Wednesday and then proceeded to bludgeon the Rowdies with a couple of hammers named Antoine Griezmann and Justin Ellis. The two attackers combined for a goal and four assists in a 6-0 beatdown of the team from the Gulf Coast, with five different Lions scoring and Griffin Dorsey forcing an own goal. We discuss Griezmann’s first minutes with Orlando City, what the team showed in its formation, and how good Justin Ellis’ vision is.

Oh, and it’s also transfer season now. Duncan McGuire is on his way out and Marco Pasalic reportedly will follow soon, while a new left back may be headed from Spain to Orlando.

Following all of that, we discuss Maxime Crepeau being added to the MLS All-Star Team and the announcement that he’ll participate in the 2026 MLS All-Star Skills Challenge.

Our mailbagbox asked us about which World Cup semifinalist players we’d want to join Orlando this season (if we could only pick one), and more. Remember, if there’s anything — and we do mean anything — you want us to address on the show, just ask us by tweeting it to us at @TheManeLand with the hashtag #AskTMLPC, or hitting us up on Bluesky Social with that same hashtag.

After the mailbagbox, we dive into OCB’s 2-1 road win at FC Cincinnati 2. It wasn’t the prettiest game by the Young Lions, but they managed to do enough to earn three points on the road, where they’ll stay to face Chattanooga on Saturday. We briefly preview that game.

Finally, Orlando City will be in Dallas Wednesday for the second of two friendlies leading up to the restart of the MLS season. It’s unlikely we’ll get a lot of details about that one, but we’ll see what happens. Maybe the FC Dallas folks will help us out.

Be sure to rate and review our show wherever you get your podcasts. Remember, we’ll read any five-star reviews we get on Apple Podcasts on the next show.

If you’d like to support our independent writing and podcasting efforts, we’d love to have you as a subscriber or donor over at our Buy Me a Coffee site.

Here’s how No. 542 went down:

0:15 – Orlando City crushed the Rowdies, the transfer season is in full swing, plus: hey now, Crepeau’s an all-star.

28:50 – The mailbagbox is always good for a hypothetical scenario.

36:54 – The Young Lions slipped past Cincy and head to Chattanooga, while the senior Lions head to Dallas.

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Podcasts

SkoPurp Soccer Episode 119: International Break, USWNT, Louisville Preview, and More

The Pride return from a long international break looking to get their first-ever road win against Racing Louisville.

Published

3 months ago

on

April 22, 2026

By

Image of Haley McCutcheon scoring the opening goal in Orlando's home playoff win over Seattle.
Image courtesy of Orlando Pride / Jeremy Reper

It feels like months since the Orlando Pride last took the field, but the calendar says otherwise. If you believe calendars, it’s only been a little less than three weeks, but time moves strangely in the post-pandemic apocalyptic world.

Anyway, we don’t have a match to recap, so we touched on a couple of Pride players putting the ball in the net during the international break and chat a bit about the United States Women’s National Team’s three-game friendly series against Japan. Emma Hayes used a lot of players, and the team looked solid for two of the three matches, but the rotated middle game seemed a bit disjointed. Hayes has greatly expanded the player pool and will have plenty of options when the World Cup approaches.

Our mailbagbox had questions about a potential change in the NWSL schedule, as the league explores adopting the fall-to-spring slate, and opposition own goals. Remember, you can ask us anything by hitting us up on Twitter at either @TheManeLand or @SkoPurpSoccer and using the hashtag #AskSkoPurp. You can use that same hashtag and hit @TheManeLand.bsky.social up on Bluesky. Or you can visit our show page, scroll down, and fill out the handy form. We’d also appreciate any ratings or reviews you can leave wherever you get your podcasts, and if you do that on Apple Podcasts, we’ll find them easily and read them on the show.

After the mailbagbox, we turned our attention toward Friday’s late afternoon tussle with Racing Louisville in Kentucky. The Pride have never won on the road against Louisville, and it’s about high time they did. This match begins a congested push to the June World Cup break, and although Friday’s hosts aren’t high in the table, the Pride must be at their best to get a road result in this fixture. We look back at the series history, compare the two sides, provide our key matchups in the game, and make our final score predictions.

If you’d like to support our independent writing and podcasting efforts, we’d love to have you as a subscriber or donor over at our Buy Me a Coffee site.

Here’s how Episode 119 went down:

0:15 – We open the show with a little banter about the Pride in the international break and the USWNT’s series vs. Japan.

9:03 – The mailbagbox features questions via both eletronic mail and social media. We welcome all modes of delivery.

19:59 – The Pride travel to Louisville to face Racing. They’ve never won in Kentucky, but we inform them how to do so.

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