Will Vancouver's Whitecaps shine like in '79? Fans hope for historic win in Sunday's CONCACAF final

The Vancouver Whitecaps are set to play one of the biggest matches in franchise history as they take on Mexican team Cruz Azul in the final of the CONCACAF Champions Cup on Sunday in Mexico. 

It's a game with huge implications for the Major League Soccer (MLS) club, with the winner of the final set to play in the expanded FIFA Club World Cup.

"This is a special game and if it's not a special game, then special games don't exist," said Whitecaps head coach Jesper Sorenson. 

A victory would be the club's biggest since the Whitecaps' 1979 North American Soccer League (NASL) championship win that galvanized the city. It would also come with benefits, said Samuel Rowan, who is managing editor of The Third Sub, a website that focuses on Canadian soccer.

"If you win this trophy, the amount of money you're able to bring into the club, the fact you're able to go play in a club World Cup ... It's a huge opportunity to showcase MLS, to showcase Canadian soccer on a global stage," Rowan said.

The Whitecaps will face Cruz Azul in the Liga MX club's home stadium of Estadio Olímpico Universitario in Mexico City, which sits more than 2,200 metres above sea level. And as the 'Caps take on one of Mexico's top teams, they'll be doing so without top player Sebastian Berhalter, who will miss the championship due to yellow card accumulation.

Peter Czimmermann, president of the Southsiders supporters' club, says he'll be among the 700 or so Whitecaps fans expected to make the trip to the Mexican capital to sing and chant their team to victory.

"Experiencing a cup final like this, it's going to be something I don't think I'm prepared for ...This is going to be something else and I'm really here for it," Czimmermann said.

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