Philadelphia Union’s win against Mazatlán was one fans won’t soon forget.
With the result, the team secured a spot in the Leagues Cup Semifinals for a second straight year, and they did so in a fashion that's representative of the city the play for. They were gritty, determined, and unrelenting in the face of adversity.
After the match, Head Coach Jim Curtin said it simply: we have guys that have guts.
“Every guy contributes and every guy doesn't want to let the other guy down, which is a powerful thing,” Curtin continued.
“We might not have the big household names – I think we've spent smart through the years. We've done a good job of developing young players, and I think if you see us on our day, we can beat anybody.”
On this occasion, having guts meant playing an entire half down a man after Tai Baribo was shown a second yellow card, then holding Mazatlán to a 1-1 scoreline to send the match to penalties.
Then, it was Andre Blake, who dove to make an awe-inspiring save to start the shootout.
Moments after that, José Martinez buried his penalty kick, scoring what might have been his final shot at Subaru Park.
Dre made another save, and Jesus Bueno placed the final blast to decide the win after having spent most of the match on the bench.
“The group showed heart, character, whatever word you want to use. Guts, passion. We survived and advanced, and we have the best goalkeeper in our league,” Curtin said.
Though action was aplenty in the second half, the match saw a slow start. Curtin explained that Baribo’s booking in the final moments of the first 45' sparked the fire his team was fueled by.
“It actually took the red card to happen to wake us up and get to the intensity of the game. That shouldn't be the case, but our group sometimes doesn't do things by the book or normally. When we did wake up, Mikael scored a really, really good goal in a counter attack,” Curtin said.
It hasn’t been an easy summer for the Philadelphia Union. When the team was concurrently faced with injuries and international call-ups for Copa America, UEFA Euros, and the Paris Olympics, it showed in the table. With the squad mostly healthy and at full-tilt, they’ve made it to the final four of Leagues Cup, and now, they'll head to Columbus for a semifinal matchup against the defending MLS Cup Champions.
“We're going to fight like hell. We've been close, as close as you can possibly get, and that's our DNA. I still love my group. I love our fans. I love how they backed us tonight. I love Andre Blake. I love José Martinez. Jesus Bueno steps up in a clutch way,"
“I still think we have more to give, and we're going to make a run at this thing.”
