LOS ANGELES: Columbus Crew coach Wilfried Nancy has put his players through a crash course in altitude training as they prepare to face Mexican side Pachuca at nearly 8,000 feet above sea level in Saturday's CONCACAF Champions Cup final.

Nancy's men could become only the fourth Major League Soccer team in history to be crowned continental champions with a victory in Saturday's showpiece, which is being staged at Pachuca's 30,000-capacity Estadio Hidalgo. Given the historical dominance of Mexican clubs in the competition, the fact that Saturday's showpiece is taking place on their opponents' home turf would normally be daunting enough. But the fact that Pachuca sits some 7,959 feet (2,426 metres) above sea level creates another challenge for Nancy as his team attempts to pull off what would be an unprecedented victory: no MLS team has ever lifted the Champions Cup outside of the United States. Accordingly, Columbus have been doing their best to acclimatize to local conditions ahead of Saturday's showdown, which kicks off at 7:15pm local time (0115 GMT Sunday). Columbus players have had altitude tents installed at their homes in the build-up to the game with instructions to spend as much time in them as possible. They have also been wearing elevation training masks during workouts in an effort to simulate the energy-sapping thin air expected in Pachuca. "We're just trying to get as acclimated as we can," Columbus veteran Darlington Nagbe said. "Every little helps. At the end of the day, though, altitude is altitude. It's two good teams playing against each other." Nancy, meanwhile, will no doubt be mindful of the fate of the last MLS team who travelled to Pachuca.

Philadelphia Union faced the Mexican club in the last 16 with hopes of progressing after securing a 0-0 draw in the first leg in Pennsylvania, but were thumped 6-0 at altitude. Yet if any MLS team is equipped to handle the challenging conditions, it is Columbus, whose road to the final has already seen them defy the odds with a quarter-final victory over Mexican giants UANL Tigres followed by a superb semi-final win over Monterrey, which included a 3-1 second-leg victory on the road.