The Columbus Crew lost 3-0 to Pachuca and reported nearly 20 diarrheal illnesses among team members and staff before the final.
“Between two dayswe had more than 20 people sick, with diarrhea all night. It is no coincidence that 20 people get sick, I don’t want to blame anyone, nor make excuses for the result, I think it affected us. It was seen that physically we were not well,” Cucho Hernández commented after the defeat.
The Columbus Crew player explained that there was part of the team that spent sleepless nights. Hernández stated that they only want both clubs to have the same possibilities and compete without off-field issues.
“Some kids spent two nights without sleep. There are some things to improve, we come to play football”The more equal things are, the fairer the result will always be,” said the Columbus player.
Wilfried Nancy, coach of the club, also mentioned the stomach problem that the team suffered, but highlighted the work of Pachuca and stated that they deserved to win.
“Pachuca really deserves it, It is their credit, since yesterday we had problems, we had diarrhea, we did not deserve to win”said Nancy.
Nancy emphasized that the Columbus Crew had the opportunity to score a goal at the beginning of the game and missed the opportunities, in addition to making mistakes to make Pachuca’s job easier.
“It was three to zero, so we didn’t take advantage of the opportunities we had, we had several opportunities, We had the chance at the beginning of the game, which we didn’t take advantage of, later we did what we normally do. We accepted a goal, in that position, the goal we received was due to a mistake, the important thing is that we had opportunities to score, against Pachuca, although we did not do it,” he commented.
Columbus was going for the heroic goal of eliminating up to three teams from Liga MX. The MLS team defeated Tigres and Rayados de Monterrey, although they failed against Pachuca.
Pachuca to the Club World Cup
For its part, Pachuca is qualified for the 2025 Club World Cup with its 3-0 victory this Saturday.
There are only three remaining spots for the tournament, which will have its first edition with the new format next year.
Teams like Real Madrid, Chelsea, Bayern Munich and Manchester City will be represented by UEFA.
Keep reading:
– Pachuca is already hot on the heels of América as the top winner of Concacaf
– “King” Salomón Rondón places Pachuca in the Club World Cup by beating Columbus Crew 3-0
– Kylian Mbappé has already signed a contract with Real Madrid according to journalist Fabrizio Romano