Will Vancouver’s Whitecaps shine like in ’79? Fans hope for historic win in Sunday’s CONCACAF final [Video]

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 …