March 18 – Mt Pleasant return to Jamaica after losing the 1st leg if their last 16 tie to the LA Galaxy 3-0 but the scoreline does not tell the true story.
Due to the immigration policy of US President Donald Trump, 10 Mt Pleasant players were denied entry into the United States forcing Head Coach, Theodore Whitmore to field a team with a number of young, untested academy players.
Despite this hardship and conceding an early 6th minute goal scored by Gabriel Pec, the youngsters held out heroically before running out of gas allowing the Galaxy to score two more goals in the last six minutes as Pec completed a hat trick.
Heading back to the Caribbean, Whitmore will have his entire squad to choose from and would surely love the Jamaican government to perform a tit-for-tat. Much will be expected of Tafari Chambers who produced 10 saves, and if he can keep a clean sheet and Kyle Ming can find his shooting boots, Mt Pleasant will continue to dream. An early goal is a must if they are to overturn the deficit.
In their favour is the inconsistency of Greg Vanney’s Galaxy and the misfiring João Klauss who inexplicably missed a bevy of opportunities to put the game well beyond the visiting team.
A clash with either Toluca or a Southern California derby with San Diego FC awaits the winner.
Last 16 First leg: LA Galaxy 3 Mt Pleasant 0
March 19: Mt Pleasant v LA Galaxy – National Stadium, Kingston 4pm