Vancouver FC are headed to the TELUS Canadian Championship final after beating Atlético Ottawa 3-2 on aggregate, making them the first Canadian Premier League side to get to the final of a full CanChamp tournament.
The Eagles were, understandably, all smiles after the historic result in the capital on Thursday, and interim head coach Martin Nash and defender Matteo Campagna spoke to the media to discuss their emotions.
Here's what Nash and Campagna had to say.
Martin Nash, Head Coach, Vancouver FC
On his side's performance in the second leg, and how they saw out the win:
"I thought we defended extremely well today. It was our silly giveaway right at the end of the [first] half to concede, but I don't think we gave them a ton of chances. They got to some good areas — they're going to, they're a fantastic team. But we got timely blocks, and we needed guys in the right position, guys covering for players when they get stretched. I thought it was just a great team performance in the defensive end."
On the tactical adjustments needed to secure the result after conceding before halftime:
"The longer it stayed in a position where we were winning the tie, the better for us. I even got to a stage at 75 minutes where I decided to go to a back five and really plug up some holes and frustrate them, and we were able to do that. It was a great group effort. The guys went and took the plan that I laid out and did it almost to perfection."
On how impressed he's been with the team's mentality throughout the Canadian Championship:
"With our group, the mentality in the Canadian Championship has been phenomenal. It's been tough to get that same standard in the league since I've come in; it's the mentality, and the guys have it in them. It's just trying to draw it out of them. For this series, we drew it out of them, and they were phenomenal."
Matteo Campagna, Defender, Vancouver FC
On the prospect of playing in a final against the Whitecaps:
"It's an amazing feeling. For a lot of us, it's our old team. I think there's nothing more motivating than that. For the city, it's great, for the kids in the city too, to look up and see that. It's incredible. It's the Canadian Championship, it's a big competition for us Canadians. It's going to mean a lot for us, and I think for the city it's awesome. ...
"I almost broke down on the field. It's a different feeling, mixed emotions. For me, my family, everybody who supports me. It's crazy when I think about it. When I heard there was a chance [to play the Whitecaps] I was like, wow."
On how he and Aidan O'Connor combined to shut down Sam Salter:
"Me and Aidan — I'm about to lose my voice. We're non-stop the whole game, talking to each other, it's the back line communicating. The amount of duels — I know Aidan's a bigger guy than me, but the amount of duels we had to win against Sam, and he's obviously a good player with his feet, so we had to be switching at all times. I think we did a very good job of that."
