When Cucho Hernández’s cross – he clarified, not a shot – curled toward the back post for a 92nd-minute game winner in the Leagues Cup 2024 Final, it felt like a storybook ending to another dramatic championship.
Cucho launched his shirt into the crowd, fans went bedlam and plumes of smoke filled the muggy, summer skies. It was a fitting way for the Columbus Crew to beat LAFC and win the Club’s first-ever Leagues Cup at Lower.com Field.
But then two minutes later, a swift Columbus counterattack broke out, and the scenes were even more delirious.
As Cucho dribbled 60 yards in on goal, decibels rose, and the stadium became a cauldron of noise. He laid the ball off to Jacen Russell-Rowe, who scored the clincher and Lower.com Field got even louder. Somehow, the third goal was even better.
Perhaps that’s the best way to sum up this Columbus Crew side. Since Wilfried Nancy joined as head coach, they have continued to create one magical moment after the next, yet somehow each is better than the last.
On Sunday night, the latest massive moment was a 3-1 win over LAFC in the Leagues Cup 2024 Final. It was a match to crown the best team across Major League Soccer and Liga MX over the last month, but it was also a 2023 MLS Cup Final rematch that reiterated the Crew’s superiority over MLS competition.
The league’s had plenty of champions, but it’s never come in this way, playing this style with such overwhelming players and a raucous group of supporters.
Yes, the Crew were saved so all of us could keep our Club in Columbus. But we wanted the Black & Gold to be around for moments like Sunday.
“When you work with good people, you can achieve everything,” Nancy said after the match. “When we decided to work to with this club, I knew we would do something, but I didn’t know when. But I knew it.
“This club, simply, deserves what is happening. The story of the club, to save the club is amazing. But every day what they do behind the scenes in terms of details, this is something that is real. That’s why I am happy I can give them something like this.”
The party started at the stroke of halftime.
In the 45th minute, Cucho put Columbus in front on the stroke of halftime with a thumping header past goalkeeper Hugo Lloris. Mohamed Farsi played a ball in from the right toward a towering Cucho, who gave the home side the lead entering the break.
The lead didn’t last, though.
LAFC pushed for an equalizer, and new LAFC signing Olivier Giroud scored a header of his own in the 57th minute. Both sides jostled for another goal in the next 30 minutes, with the match seemingly destined for another penalty shootout.
But then in second-half stoppage time, Alex Matan played a short throw to Cucho, who turned and sent a ball into the box – and more specifically, into a spot where Lloris was stuck wondering if there’d be a deflection. There wasn’t, and The Nordecke descended into scenes.
Two minutes later came the counterattack that sealed the championship that left supporters gasping for breath and Nancy speechless.
“I have no words for that,” Nancy said. “I wanted to still attack instead of defending. They did it well and I have no emotions.”
And with that, the Black & Gold hoisted a trophy against LAFC at Lower.com Field for the second time in nine months. Last December, it was the team’s third MLS Cup. Sunday night, it was the first Leagues Cup trophy in the competition’s second season.
Naturally, everyone celebrated in style. The stadium rocked at the full-time with chants of “Olé” before a rousing version of “Wise Men.” Of course, there was the trophy ceremony, too.
“We are so proud doing this,” Cucho said. “We work every day to do this. It’s not lucky; it’s work. We are always thinking about what’s coming [next]. That’s the mentality of this team.
“Now, we enjoy. Of course, we deserve it. But tomorrow we have MLS, and that’s the mentality.”
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