A new eMLS Cup champion has been crowned, with Portuguese superstar JAFONSO lifting the trophy in front of FC Pro fans at SXSW in Austin, Texas.

The 19-year-old had an incredible run during the tournament, smashing his way through the likes of AlanAvi, Ollelito, and K1John in the finals before becoming this year’s champion. It was a stellar performance for the New England Revolution player, who had a huge goal tally of 18 goals in three games.

Here’s our recap of all the action from the finale of the eMLS season.

Quarter-Finals

There was plenty of drama in the quarter-finals of the eMLS Cup as one legend was knocked out of the tournament, while another squeaked out a victory in the dying moments of their game.

Former eMLS Cup champion PauloNeto was one of the favourites to win the trophy this year, but K1John had other plans. Despite competing for the first time in the tournament, he put on a great showing against Neto, destroying the Atlanta United player in an 8-4 victory.

NR7’s match against Diogo nearly went to a penalty shootout, but a last-minute winner to make the scoreline 5-4 secured his spot in the semis against K1John.

Eventual winner, JAFONSO, and 2023 ePremier League winner Ollelito, both won their quarter-final matchups to decide the final four.

Semi-Finals

The upsets continued to come thick and fast as NR7 and Ollelito were both knocked out of the tournament in surprising fashion.

Much like PauloNeto, NR7 was another former champion who fell victim to K1John’s swift counter-attacking game. Last year’s eMLS Cup winner could only shake his head in disappointment as his opponent seemed to score with every wave of attack.

Ollelito was equally despondent as he suffered a 5-2 loss to JAFONSO in what many thought would be a close game. The New York City FC player was unable to stop JAFONSO from racking up the scoreline, making his late surge in the final minutes all for nothing.

Finals

With JAFONSO and K1John both having epic playoff runs, many expected this matchup to be an incredibly close one. In reality, it turned out to be the most decisive victory of them all as JAFONSO shut out his opponent completely.

There was simply nothing K1John could do to get past his opponent’s defence, and once JAFONSO felt comfortable, he turned on the style and scored some audacious goals to finish up the night.

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