Vancouver Whitecaps advance over Pumas to face Messi's Inter Miami in the Champions Cup semifinals

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MEXICO CITY (AP) — Tristan Blackmon scored a stoppage-time equalizer to help Vancouver Whitecaps earn a 2-2 draw with Pumas on Wednesday and book a spot in the CONCACAF Champions Cup semifinals against Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami.

Sebastian Berhalter put Vancouver ahead in the 33rd minute but the Mexican club responded with goals from Guillermo Martinez in the 37th and Ignacio Pussetto in the 88th to take a 2-1 lead. Blackmon sealed the semifinal spot three minutes into stoppage time as the Whitecaps advanced on away goals.

“The team worked hard tonight, and we put ourselves in position to score late,” Blackmon said. “It was always not pretty, but we showed grit and at the end of the day we got the result that we wanted.”

The first leg of the series ended in a 1-1 draw. Vancouver has not played in the Champions Cup semifinals since 2017 and is trying to win the tournament for the first time.

To do that, it must beat Inter Miami, which advanced 3-1 over LA FC to qualify for the semifinals for the first time.

“First of all, we need to recover from this and then we will be ready for that,” Blackmon said.

On the way to the semifinals, the Whitecaps, the team with the best record in the MLS this season, defeated three Mexican teams — Santos Torreon, Monterrey Rayados and Pumas.

On the other side of the tournament’s bracket, six-time CONCACAF champion Cruz Azul will face off in the semifinals against 2020 champion Tigres.

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer