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LAFC will face Mexican team Tigres UANL in Orlando on Tuesday seeking to become the first MLS team since the Los Angeles Galaxy in 2000 to be crowned champions of the North America, Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF) region.
The championship game at Orlando’s Exploria Stadium is the final stop in what has been a wild ride through the tournament for LAFC, which advanced to the final on Saturday after a 3-1 battle over Club America of Mexico. .
That victory came after LAFC fought back from a goal down and saw key midfielder Eduard Atuesta controversially sent off after a clash with América goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa.
Bradley believes that the fact that his team kept their composure to win the semifinal in a bad mood on Saturday bodes well for the final.
“That mindset, that skill focus on staying ahead of the game and not letting things take away from what you are trying to do; that’s a great game mentality and it’s not always easy as a player or as a team, “Bradley said.
“Because getting carried away by emotion and different situations happens even at the highest level. I think it’s a sign that we are getting more and more comfortable in these big games.
“We still have this confidence about how we play and how we do things. It was great for me to see that.”
– ‘Our most important game’ –
Tuesday’s CONCACAF Champions League final is comfortably LAFC’s biggest game since the club made its MLS debut as an expansion team in March 2018.
Tuesday’s victory sees the winners advance to the FIFA Club World Cup in Qatar next February.
“It’s our first final, so it’s our most important game, absolutely,” Bradley said. “We are excited for the final. The finals are special for the players, the coaches and the clubs.”
Tuesday’s match marks the climax of a tumultuous tournament that began in February this year and came to an abrupt halt in the middle of the quarterfinals in March when the pandemic broke out.
Competition resumed last week with all the remaining teams playing in a quarantine bubble in Orlando, Florida.
Bradley’s team has come a hard way to the final, coming from behind to beat three Mexican teams, traditionally the dominant force in the competition, to reach the final.
Los Angeles canceled a 2-0 deficit in the first leg to beat León in the round of 16, then bounced back from going 1-0 down to beat Cruz Azul in last week’s quarter-finals before the Saturday’s chaotic victory over America.
Yet Tuesday’s final promises to be the toughest challenge against a Tigers team desperate to atone for three losses in the competition’s final in the past four years.
Los Angeles will also have to do without the suspended Atuesta, an influential figure throughout the campaign.
“We wouldn’t be in the final if it weren’t for Eduard“Bradley said on Monday.” He is an important player for us and a very talented young man. You are very sad when a young player misses a final. “
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