The particular circumstances that befell the Columbus Crew in the leadup to the occasion made it impossible for the Ohio side to feel any other way. On the initial evidence of the 90-plus minutes, CF Pachuca were the superior team, carving open the Crew defense with regularity as veteran striker Salomón Rondón tormented the visitors’ back line, bagging a brace to spearhead a 3-0 victory for Los Tuzos’ sixth Concacaf title and a berth in next year’s expanded FIFA Club World Cup.
Slow, sloppy and jittery, Columbus looked a shadow of themselves, producing perhaps their worst display since coach Wilfried Nancy took the helm before the 2023 campaign. Afterwards, Nancy shed some vital light on why.
“Bravo for Pachuca. They deserved to win, so I will not talk about if they deserved to win or not, they won, so well done for them,” he said. “My players gave everything, knowing that they were sick also. All the team had diarrhea since yesterday; the staff also. So again, don’t get me wrong. This is a fact. I’m not here to tell you [Pachuca] don’t deserve to win. They scored three goals; OK. But my players gave everything, knowing that it was not easy for them.”
