Postgame Pontifications: Statement made

SEATTLE — As Pedro de la Vega’s majestic volley struck the far post, ricocheted off the lower support beam at the back of the goal and then hit the near post — never actually striking the net — Jesús Ferreira turned to the closest defender and began celebrating.

In a sense, it felt a little unnecessary. The goal was the Seattle Sounders’ seventh of the night, capping off a 7-0 dismantling of Cruz Azul in Leagues Cup. Cruz Azul were already, effectively, dead.

But it also made sense. Despite what the scoreline suggested, this had been a highly competitive and contentious game for about 50 minutes. The first half, Cruz Azul had been called for 11 fouls in the first 45 minutes even with a referee who seemed to be content to let the players play, constantly waving for players to get up or shrugging when they looked for a call.

At one point, Colombian centerback Willer Dita and Danny Musovski went face-to-face after a play in the box for which each player was shown a yellow card.

It’s exactly what the Sounders expected and prepared for.

“Every single time we play one of these Mexican teams, it’s always played at a different intensity,” Sounders midfielder Obed Vargas said in the postgame mixed zone. “These teams come out and they fight differently. They’re more aggressive. There is always going to be a dogfight and we are all for it.”

Cruz Azul are effectively the bullies of North America. Since mid-February they had lost just once — going 14-1-9 across all competitions — and losing just three times in all of 2025. They had entered the night with a legitimate claim as the best in North America over the past year, were the reigning Concacaf Champions Cup winners and are one of the highest spending teams in the entire Western Hemisphere.

The last time they’d lost a competitive match in regulation to a team outside of Mexico was almost exactly two years ago when they were the sacrificial lambs in Leo Messi’s Inter Miami debut, falling on a famous stoppage-time free kick from Messi himself. Included in that run was a Concacaf Champions Cup meeting with the Sounders that Cruz Azul won 4-1 on aggregate.

The Sounders came into Thursday’s game insisting that “revenge” was not really on their minds. They acknowledged Cruz Azul were the deserved winners in that previous meeting, even if the scoreline wasn’t indicative of how competitive they felt the series had been. The Sounders pointed to the 0-0 first leg at Lumen Field, in which they felt they had been the better team, and chalked up the 4-1 loss in part to two devastating injuries and a red card that allowed the match to get away from them.

When Cruz Azul forced the start of the second half to be delayed by a couple of minutes as they took their time coming out of the locker room, it seemed to be an attempt to assert dominance, a way of bullying their opponents. Maybe that would have worked against other opponents, maybe even against a previous version of the Sounders, maybe even the Sounders they beat earlier this year.

Something seems to have changed since that previous meeting. During the Club World Cup, in particular, the Sounders had stood toe-to-toe with some of the best teams in the world. They’ve put that confidence to good use in league play, going 3-0-3 while scoring 14 goals.

They weren’t going to be bullied by Cruz Azul.

“Maybe they were trying to make us feel desperate,” Vargas said. “Maybe they were trying to make us feel like we’re playing away. You know, they had a lot of fans here, but they did this to us when we played over in Mexico as well at the beginning of the game. They came out like 10, 15 minutes late. They had us waiting there.

“But, I mean, it fueled us, it sparked us. At the end of the day, it went against them, so I don't really care.”

Once the goals started flowing, there was no stopping.

Yeimar’s goal to open the scoring was a pretty standard header off a corner. On the Sounders’ literal next possession, Vargas scored when his shot took a deflection off a Cruz Azul defender. Then Ferreira scored, only for it to be waved offside. So Ferreira scored again just a few minutes later, again off a corner.

The Sounders made some subs, but they wanted in on the fun, too. Osaze De Rosario finished off a slick pass from Ryan Kent — who absorbed tons of punishment and drew six fouls in the match. Then it was Pedro de la Vega’s turn, slamming a shot off the post from a Ferreira pass. That made it 5-0. The Sounders’ point had seemingly been made.

But then Danny Leyva got fouled about 25 yards from goal and he couldn’t help himself. No one works harder on free kicks than Leyva and this was lining up perfectly. He hit it about as well as he could have, but goalkeeper Kevin Mier got just enough of it to send it off the crossbar only for Nouhou to follow up with a header on an empty net.

The final goal is something almost impossible to believe. With the clock ticking just past 90 minutes, Alex Roldan sent a switch about 50 yards in the air toward Pedro de la Vega. In almost any other situation, I would assume the receiving player would just control it. But de la Vega had different plans. His volley was so pure that Mier barely moved as the shot caromed off the far post and in.

It was a perfect way to end a nearly perfect match, and showcased a killer instinct many doubted the Sounders possessed.

“We are a team that is relentless,” DeRosario said. “When we see (heads dropping), we want more. We want to put the dagger in deeper.”

Humbling an opponent is great, but for it to really mean anything the Sounders have to win something. As great as the performance was, there was also an acknowledgment — even an embracing — of the reality that this is still just one game.

“Everyone played up to a higher level,” Sounders head coach Brian Schmetzer said. “They need to enjoy it. The fans need to enjoy it. … And then we need to come back tomorrow and we will make sure they stay grounded because this is just the first game.

“They’re driving this. That group is completely together, motivated, know they’re a good team.”