The Columbus Crew coached by Frenchman Wilfried Nancy won the North American Football Championship (MLS) on Saturday at home, dominating the defending champions Los Angeles FC 2 goals to 1 in the final.
A penalty from Cucho Hernandez (33rd) and a goal from Yaw Yeboah (37th) crowned the Ohio players, despite the reduction in the score of former Stéphanois Denis Bouanga (74th).
The Columbus Crew thus wins its third championship trophy after 2008 and 2020, the first with its French coach Wilfried Nancy, aged 46.
Nancy, an anonymous former lower division player in France between the 1990s and early 2000s, has spent his entire coaching career in North America since 2005. After being Thierry Henry’s assistant in Montreal, he had took charge of the first team in 2021, then joined Ohio in 2022.
“They have grown as players and as people. When we started I told them impossible is just an opinion, have fun and we will grow together. It’s incredible,” he reacted.
In a full stadium with 20,802 people and a magnificent atmosphere, with chants starting more than two hours before kick-off, the Columbus Crew showed off their qualities as a possession team, facing counterattacks from Los Angeles.
Former Ligue 1 player (Toulouse, Lorient), Cape Verdean international defender Steven Moreira is crowned with the Crew. In the final he faced Mexican striker Carlos Vela (Arsenal, Real Sociedad) and former Italian football boss Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus Turin).
“It’s been a great journey, we can be proud of it. Of course I’m sad about the result, I don’t think we are inferior to them, but they played much better than us tonight,” explained Chiellini who, at 39, has not yet announced whether he would like to continue his career.
