The Columbus Crew were adventurous and brave, coordinated and confident. They were calm in the eye of a CONCACAF storm, at the same steel colossus where Lionel Messi had faltered. They were underdogs at Monterrey, in the second leg of a gripping Champions Cup semifinal. But on Wednesday night, as most of America snoozed, the Crew rose to a challenge that even Messi and Inter Miami couldn’t stomach.
They beat Monterrey, 3-1 on the night in Mexico, 5-2 on aggregate.
They became the first MLS team to topple Monterrey, a Liga MX giant, in a two-leg knockout series.
They are on to next month’s CONCACAF Champions Cup final, where they’ll meet a third-straight Mexican foe, Pachuca.
And they have rescued MLS from what, without them, would have been a mammoth, humiliating flop in this continental competition.
They did all of this because, over the past few years, they have become Major League Soccer’s model franchise. They have an ownership group willing to spend and a president, Tim Bezbatchenko, who can seemingly find talent anywhere. They have a revolutionary coach, Wilfried Nancy, who has preached pretty soccer all while instilling courage and bravery. They have a superstar, Cucho Hernandez, who set the tone in last week’s first leg, and several bright attackers around him.
But they did what Messi and Miami couldn’t because they are a well-rounded, coherent, cohesive team.
They’ve invested in a reserve squad, Crew II, that has beefed up the senior roster with players like Jacen Russell-Rowe, who sealed the semifinal triumph.
They’ve invested in an academy that has produced linchpins like Aidan Morris, who turned Wednesday’s second leg on its head with the last kick of the first half.
After a strong opening 10 minutes in Nuevo León, the typically unflinching Crew had been wavering. Monterrey had scored and gradually taken control of the game. At 1-0 heading toward halftime, and 2-2 on aggregate, Columbus was staring at elimination on away goals.
Then, in the final minute of first-half stoppage time, Morris, a Crew academy alum, charged forward to intercept a foolish roll-out from Monterrey goalkeeper Esteban Andrada.
He beat Andrada a few touches later, and stunned the entire Estadio BBVA,…