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Vancouver booed Messi in monumental upset win by the Whitecaps

Rob Williams
Rob Williams
|
Apr 25 2025, 1:00 pm
Vancouver booed Messi in monumental upset win by the Whitecaps
@WhitecapsFC/X

They came for Lionel Messi, but it was the Vancouver Whitecaps who put on a show.

Messi got a hostile reception from the sold-out BC Place crowd, with many of the 53,837 fans booing him every time he touched the ball on Thursday night. It’s not the kind of reception Messi is used to getting.

Led by the Southsiders, it was clearly in support of the Whitecaps.

But it also served as a little bit of payback for the Argentinian who snubbed Vancouver last year.

It seemed to help the Whitecaps, who beat the star-studded Inter Miami squad 2-0 in the first leg of the Concacaf Champions Cup semi-final.

BC Place was rocking when Brian White gave the home team a 1-0 lead in the 24th minute, and it was pure bedlam when Sebastian Berhalter put the game away in minute 85.

Simply put, it was a night unlike an other for the Whitecaps since they entered MLS in 2011.

Messi looked dangerous when he had the ball, but the 37-year-old wasn’t able to do it all by himself.

These two teams will play again Wednesday in Fort Lauderdale, with a trip to the Concacaf Champions Cup final on the line. Vancouver is in the driver’s seat in the aggregate series, as a win, draw, or even a 1-0 loss would be enough to get to the next round. And if the Whitecaps can score an away goal, it would mean Miami would have to win by a three-goal margin to advance.

Led by new head coach Jesper Sørensen, the first-place Whitecaps have had a dream start to the 2025 season, with just one loss in nine MLS matches. Their march to the Concacaf Champions Cup semi-final saw the Whitecaps knock off Costa Rican side Deportivo Saprissa, before dispatching a pair of Liga MX clubs in Monterrey and Pumas.

And with Thursday’s big win, Sørensen’s squad provided further proof that this team is no fluke.

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