CanMNT youngster Jacen Russell-Rowe looking to continue breakout season in 2024 Concacaf Champions Cup final :"It's a big match"
It’s the opportunity of a lifetime for any player.
To play in a continental final is something that some players work an entire career to achieve, yet hardly get the chance to accomplish due to the difficulty and rarity of such an occasion presenting itself.
So it’s not lost on Jacen Russell-Rowe that he faces a unique opportunity when the Columbus Crew takes the field at Estadio Hidalgo in Pachuca in the 2024 Concacaf Champions Cup final against Pachuca on Saturday, June 1st.
Given that he’s just in his third full season as a professional at 21 years of age, the fact that he might not only play in that game, but play a starring role for the Crew, is something that Russell-Rowe is proud to achieve.
“I couldn't have said that when I was younger that I'd be in a CONCACAF Champions Cup final, playing for a Club World Cup spot. There’s a lot on the line, and it’s a big match,” Russell-Rowe told OneSoccer ahead of the final."
“We’ve just got to enjoy the moment, enjoy the stage, we earned our spot in this final and to be a part of this competition. So we just have to go out there, play our game, enjoy it and get the result that we want.”
HUGE goal for Jacen Russell-Rowe, as he heads home to give #Crew96 a 2-1 lead vs Monterrey in leg 1 of their Concacaf Champions Cup SF
— Alexandre Gangué-Ruzic (@AlexGangueRuzic) April 25, 2024
After an earlier assist, great to see from JRR, who continues a strong 2024 with his biggest goal to date#CanMNTpic.twitter.com/cPwaETxzM9
Yet, that Russell-Rowe is about to participate in this game is a credit to the work he and his teammates have put in over the last few months under the tutelage of head coach Wilfried Nancy. Having earned a berth in the Champions Cup after winning MLS Cup last fall, they’ve since been through quite the journey to reach this stage, defeating the Houston Dynamo in the Round of 16, getting past Tigres in the quarter-finals and dispatching CF Monterrey in the semi-finals.
In particular, the two matches against Tigres and Monterrey were arguably the Crew’s finest work. Two giants of Mexican football and Concacaf at large, many MLS teams have struggled to beat them before, especially in two-legged ties such as this one, which is a whole different beast.
And Russell-Rowe certainly played his part in both victories, too. Against Tigres, he played 130 minutes and had to put away a key penalty in the shootout after both teams were tied 2-2 on aggregate, and then he shone against Monterrey, scoring once in each leg and adding an assist in a 5-2 aggregate victory.
Jacen Russell-Rowe's big 2024 continued for the Columbus Crew, as he scored in the 2nd leg of their Concacaf Champions Cup SF after a 1G/1A performance in leg 1, helping the Crew advance to the CCC final
— Alexandre Gangué-Ruzic (@AlexGangueRuzic) May 2, 2024
JRR now has 4G/1A in all comps#CanMNTpic.twitter.com/cmZq63hba1
Arguably his breakout showing as a player, one that has cemented his spot as a piece the Crew will rely on heavily this year, those are two games he’ll look back on fondly when reminiscing on this run.
“The environment is crazy, the fans in Mexico, they’re all one, unified and together and it gets very loud,” Russell-Rowe said. “And you can feel the energy against you, but if you can use that energy that they bring, you can make it positive, you can use it to give yourself a boost. So when I stepped up (for the Tigres penalty), it wasn't the first time where I had to step up in a do-or-die game, I remember doing so with Canada at the Gold Cup against the US, I took a penalty in the quarter-final, so I already had that feeling in me.”
“(Then), Monterrey is a very, very difficult opponent to play against, so to be able to score and assist (against them) gave me confidence, but it solidified what was a strong performance from me and the team, to just stay on the task the whole game, and it helped me to be able to connect with like the other forwards on the team like Cucho Hernandez because that’s been a connection that's been building, so for it to stick in such a big game, that meant a lot.”
Before Russell-Rowe carved out a spot as a Crew regular at the start of 2023, however, he went through quite the journey to reach where he is now.
Originally a member of the Toronto FC academy, he decided to head to college in 2020, joining the University of Maryland to advance his career while pursuing an education, playing 26 games over two years, scoring four goals and adding five assists.
Through that, he attracted interest from the Crew, who offered him the chance to headline their inaugural MLS Next Pro team in 2022.
It was a risk to leave college, no doubt, as he could’ve been a high pick in the MLS Super Draft down the road, but Russell-Rowe ended up making the most of this opportunity, scoring 25 goals and adding six assists in a dominant Next Pro campaign, one that saw the Crew complete a league and playoff double, with Russell-Rowe winning MLS Next Pro MVP for his efforts.
As a result, he earned several call-ups to MLS that season, before signing a permanent deal that summer, with the plan being for him to make the jump up to MLS full-time in 2023.
And he did just that last year, scoring four times and adding two assists in 28 first-team appearances, playing a supporting role in the Crew’s MLS Cup triumph.
Safe to say, the gamble he took to leave college had paid off, and that triumph was a prime example of that manifesting itself.
“That was always the hope for me, to go from Next Pro and earn my way into a first-team set-up,” he explained. “And I was happy just to be called into training because before I made it to the first team, I would get called into training a lot during the week, and that alone showed me, yes, they're watching, they're seeing that I'm doing well, so I knew that when my performances kept on growing, that I kept on scoring and that we kept on winning, (a contract might come).”
“Once I finally got the word that they were going to offer me a contract, it was a breath of fresh air and I had a sigh of relief knowing the work that I was putting in was paying off and that I had chosen the best path for myself at that moment.”
With that, it set up a unique opportunity for Russell-Rowe last summer, as his performances didn’t go unnoticed north of the border, which led John Herdman to call him into his first CanMNT camp ahead of the 2023 Gold Cup, as he identified him as one of the younger players he wanted to give a chance to in that camp with several key regulars missing out.
Fittingly, it set up a moment Russell-Rowe will never forget - his Canadian debut, which he was able to make against Guadeloupe at that Gold Cup, in a game hosted at BMO Field.
A Toronto native, that meant Russell-Rowe was able to play that game in front of friends and family, marking a key step in his career, one he looks back on fondly to this day.
“It was amazing,” he reminisced. “To play at BMO field with the Canada jersey on and looking down at the badge, it was just amazing. My family was there to see it all, that’s something you dream of, to represent your country, so that I was able to get that opportunity so young in my career, it’s a perfect peak of everything I've been through so far.”
Since then, he’s done well to maintain his place in the Canadian fold, too, making four further appearances to get up to five caps, having earned the call into two more camps, this time ones where all of the regulars were there.
With that, it’s set him up nicely for what’s to come next for Canada, who has just hired a new coach in Jesse Marsch, who will certainly be keeping a close eye on Russell-Rowe.
Marsch left him out of his first squad, a camp in early-June which includes friendlies against Netherlands and France, noting that he wanted more of a European-based squad due to camp logistics, meaning that Russell-Rowe can still dream of an appearance in the Copa América this summer despite that absence.
From there, his goal will be to push into the fold with regularity, allowing him to carve out a spot at the 2026 World Cup, where Canada’s first game just happens to be at BMO Field, which certainly would be a full-circle moment for him.
Because of that, while he’s happy with the taste of action he’s gotten for Canada, he’s looking forward to more in the future, where he’ll look to add to his caps and start finding the net as he has at the club level, too.
“It’s something I'm striving for, you don't get this opportunity very often,” he admitted. “I’m right there, I was a part of the team against Trinidad in the Nations League, and before that against Jamaica, so I'm right there, and I have to keep on working, so hopefully I’m able to get in there and just be able to make a difference on the field if I get the chance. I want to do well for Canada, as I want people to understand that Canada, we're a (rising) country in the football world, we’re there and we can compete with the best.”
If he does that, however, a strong performance in the Champions Cup final will be key. Having shown that he can be a big game player for the Crew already, finding a way to make a key contribution in the final will further prove that he’s ready to take another step forward as a player, continuing his strong start to the year.
What a goal from Jacen Russell-Rowe, who scored the insurance marker in a 3-1 #Crew96 win over the Chicago Fire
— Alexandre Gangué-Ruzic (@AlexGangueRuzic) May 19, 2024
Nice touch and finish from a tight angle to make it 5G/1A in all competitions, as he continues a strong 2024 campaign#CanMNT
pic.twitter.com/qM8WmyiCax
With that, he can mark off another key accomplishment, too, joining an even more exclusive list of players than the ones who have played in a continental final - the list of those who have won it.
That list doesn’t include many Canadians, which shows how special of an achievement it would be for Russell-Rowe, and why he’ll want to make the most of the chance to join that exclusive club on June 1st in Pachuca.
“It's been amazing,” he finished. “We went up against some very high-level competition and had some tough teams to beat, but to do it like that, we earned our way to the final and worked very hard to get there.”
