Five years of frustration came to an end for Mexico’s Tigres on Tuesday in an empty stadium in Orlando, Fla., while for LAFC, a 2-1 loss in the CONCACAF Champions League final wasn’t so much an ending as it was an auspicious debut in the region’s most prestigious club soccer competition.
Tigres, arguably Mexico’s team best over the last decade, had been to the championship game three times in the previous four years before finally getting their hands on the trophy. And fittingly, it was two of the most accomplished players in the team’s long history that made it happen.