Whitecaps Overtaken At Empire Field Against FC Dallas

As I was pondering the idea of writing a pre-match preview of the Whitecaps's match against FC Dallas, a lone piece of reasoning slipped into my usually empty mind. This match against FC Dallas was important, very important. While I was optimistically predicting a 3-1 victory for the Whitecaps before the match, instead the ended 2-1 for FC Dallas. And with this third loss of the MLS season, maybe it's time to think of the Caps's latest matches as a crisis, and not an unlucky run.

Maybe it's my persistent optimism, but I'm fairly convinced that there are some good things to take from the 2-1 defeat. Alain Rochat's strong performance and Chiumiento's brilliance, particularly in the first half, were what truly stuck out in an otherwise disappointing day. In fact, it was Chiumiento's whipped cross which provided Rochat with the perfect opportunity to flick into the top corner of Dallas's goal. A great goal scored after about 20 minutes of strong play from the Whitecaps.

I say "strong play", that doesn't mean that FC Dallas weren't trying. In fact, the Texan team had produced a number of very dangerous chances, and when they earned a penalty kick for a stray handball in the box by Rochat it seemed like they would get a chance to deservedly equalize. Up stepped their danger-man Ferreira, and with all the confidence in the world he put it wide of Nolly's right post. The first half finished off with a great chance for FCD by Chavez, but an equally well created one for the Caps by Camilo.

The second half started, and just about five minutes in Ferreira suffered a well-timed tackle by Leathers, leaving him on the ground writhing in pain. While at first it looked like just some run-of-the-mill bad acting by Ferreira, after a while it became apparent that he was in serious pain. As he was stretchered off for treatment, FC Dallas took the corner Ferreira had earned, and scored from it. Classic distraction by the Whitecaps, who let George John power right through the center of the box and head home a near post flick.

Ferreira wasn't faking his injury. He had to be substituted by Avila, ending a disappointing half by the MLS Player of the Year. But it was going to be an even more disappointing half from the Whitecaps, a weak and tired team which FC Dallas had few problems tearing apart. Chiumiento disappeared, Camilo wasn't receiving any service and Hassli eventually got a yellow card that will rule him out of the next MLS match against Columbus Crew. It was not worth watching. FC Dallas on the other hand deserved to be ahead, and the substitute Avila found the winner with a low shot across Nolly into the bottom corner.

The second half was probably the worst 45 minutes I've seen the Whitecaps play. While I was yelling at Teitur Thordarson (who was on the TV) to give Omar Salgado 20 minutes to work his magic, instead TT decided to listen to me with five minutes to go, when the game was dead and Hassli had received a yellow card. In the end, the team was a tired bunch which was up against a side which counter-attacked well.

Looking at the seven matches the Whitecaps have played in the MLS this season, there's only one win. No points have been conquered away from home, and in the past five matches the Caps have only taken three out of a possible 15 points. None of this is good. Right now, the 4-2 opening day victory over Toronto FC seems like a far distant memory which is unable to reproduce itself.

Hopefully results will improve this Tuesday when then Whitecaps travel to the Stade Saputo to face the Montreal Impact in the Nutrilite Canadian Championship. A win in Montreal could spur the Whitecaps to stealing a point (or maybe three) when they travel to Columbus Ohio to face "The Crew".

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Manchester City, Prepare to be Crushed

Whitecaps will play Manchester City at Empire Field July 18th

Looking at the Whitecaps, they're achieving everything I've expected of them so far. A strong start to the season, the best heart and spirit of the MLS, and a wonderful atmosphere at every home match. Now, they're beginning to overachieve. I'm not talking about results, I'm talking everything else that is imperative when running a soccer/football club. The marketing and the media side of the whole operation has been spot on. 

Now that a major international friendly has been announced, it seems like all the boxes have been ticked. English Premier League club Manchester City will be coming to Vancouver to play the Whitecaps on July 18th. If you're a season ticket holder, good news because you'll receive tickets to the match as a special bonus. If you're not a season ticket holder, then you'll have to get tickets yourself, which are valued around 60 dollars.

As I entitle this post, "Manchester City, Prepare to be Crushed" I'm not talking about what happens on the field. I'm talking about crushing Manchester City in every other aspect possible, because I suspect that the actual 90 minutes of playing will be a very tough battle. I mean this most of all in the perspective of the the fans. We must show Manchester City what Vancouver can do. We should never take big international friendlies for granted, and when an opponent as well-renowned as Manchester City comes, we must show the Whitecaps that we love it when big teams visit Vancouver.

So please, let's show our gratitude and respect to the club this weekend when Chivas USA come to Empire Field. While a good performance on the field from the team is important, let's put in just as good a performance as fans, and cheer them on until the very end. 

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Uninspired Whitecaps Lose 3-1 To Houston Dynamo

There have always been excuses. For every loss or draw, there's been a fairly obvious excuse which is presented and accepted. Against Philadelphia, Hassli was sent off. Against New England the ref was crazy, and Hassli was sent off again. But what about now? What excuse can we make for this poorly played match away against Houston? There really shouldn't be one, as the Whitecaps were sluggish, disorganized and lacking the usual fight and grit which carried them through so many matches.

I can't say much about the first half. I was hurriedly driving home in an elephant-like Volvo as the radio crackled out occasional updates of the match. I couldn't hear much, but what I did hear gave me mixed signals. A goal for Houston, one right after for Vancouver, and then another goal for Houston before the half finished. Back at home for halftime, I got the chance to look at what was happening and the goals which were scored. While the two Houston goals were disappointing to see go in, the Vancouver goal was a clear reminder of the brilliance this team can produce. A wonderful ball through a defender's legs from Chiumiento to Camilo allowed the Brazilian to turn and smash the ball into the back of the net.

In the second half, I was hoping to see more goals flying in. Jay DeMerit was replaced by Russell Teibert, as the Caps captain had re-aggravated his groin. But my dream of an end-to-end match wasn't set to come true. Instead I saw a depressing 45 minutes from the Whitecaps, in which the team seemed unable to do anything. It seemed almost as if the Whitecaps were playing a man down, wait, make that two men down. They couldn't retain possession, string more than two passes together, or defend in any acceptable manner.

Houston Dynamo players celebrating their first win of their MLS season

And while Jay Nolly made some great saves (a very memorable one from a free kick), a third goal inevitably came as the backline was just too shaky and insecure. Bruin slipped through the defence and while Nolly came rushing out, Bruin dribbled it around the keeper and promptly slotted in the final goal of the match to make it 3-1. 

We'd seen it before. We have seen the Whitecaps 3-1 down, with just a few minutes to go, pull off a magnificent 3-3 draw, but it wouldn't happen today. The players were too tired and too beat up to rally for a reaction. It was a depressing display, in which the Caps were truly overpowered. A great display by Houston, which will hopefully show Teitur Thordarson the weaknesses of his team which need to be addressed.

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Caps Suffer Late Equalizer and Ridiculous Refereeing

I was lucky enough to attend the Vancouver Whitecaps FC first night match against the New England Revolution. It was my first MLS match and I truly couldn't wait to watch the Caps take on the Revolution, hoping for three points. While the experience at the stadium was fantastic, the match was a strange one. With three sending offs, three goals (one of which disallowed), and plenty of ridiculous decisions, the Whitecaps suffered from a poor referee and a late equalizer.

The match started a little nervously, with both teams slightly apprehensive at the beginning of the match. But little by little the Whitecaps became the dominant team. On the other hand the referee made strange decisions, awarding fouls for nothing, and handing out cards like cupcakes at a birthday party. Eventually, it all culminated (or maybe it all culminates later?) in the 45th minute when Ref Baldomero Toledo gave Gershon Koffie a direct red card during an aerial challenge.

Both Koffie and Phelan both jumped up for the ball, and Koffie's arms were held high for balance. Phelan's jump wasn't directly upwards, and therefore the NER player hit his head against Koffie's elbow. While I could understand maybe a yellow card for the incident which was completely unintentional, the referee decided it was worthy of a red. The Whitecaps crowd applauded Koffie all the way to the tunnel, while booing the referee with plenty of hate. And so, the Whitecaps went into the halftime break without a goal for all their efforts and a man down.

My view from the south side of Empire Field. The crowd was fantastic throughout the match.

While the second half I was worried, and hoping for a 0-0 draw, the Whitecaps showed amazing determination in the way the ten players took on the Revolution. Hassli was brought on for Wes Knight, allowing the team to play in a 4-4-1 with him up top along with Harris and Camilo on the wings. This quickly became a 4-2-3 when the Caps pushed forward, causing lots of problems to the New England team which was truly playing terribly.

In the 55th minute the Whitecaps had a golden opportunity to score. Camilo earned a penalty with his unpredictable dribbling, and substitute Eric Hassli stepped up to take it. Hassli chipped it through the middle, celebrating by taking his jersey off and throwing it into the crowd, to reveal another jersey underneath it. As soon as he took it off, I knew he would be off the field. Hassli had previously received a yellow card for a silly challenge, and even if he had another Whitecaps jersey underneath it, the action is still recognized by FIFA as a yellow card. With 35 minutes to go, the Whitecaps were a goal up and two men down.

While it would've been the perfect time for New England Revolution to push forward, the opponents seemed truly lifeless. The Whitecaps were the more dangerous of the two teams, coming close to scoring a second. So close, that New England player Soares had to pull off a late sliding tackle on Khalfan, which was sanctioned with a direct red from referee Toledo. While I might have given a yellow for the challenge, just a word with Soares would've been enough as the tackle had no malicious intent.

The match began to liven up with only 19 men on the field (not counting the card-waving maniac dressed as a referee). New England Revolution began to push forward more, and created a goal which was disallowed because of an offside (not sure about this decision, I didn't have a good view) in the buildup. The disallowed goal was an omen, because as the minutes ticked down, and Toledo gave four minutes of added time, New England Revolution equalized in the 93rd minute.

Another shot of the crowd at Empire Field. Quite a full stadium of 19,396 spectators!

The goal knocked the breath out of Empire Field. The team had fought so hard to maintain the lead with just nine men, seeing it all erode away like a sandcastle washed away by the water was devastating. The match ended among the boos and shouts aimed towards the referee.

In the end, the Whitecaps played a fantastic match and were truly unlucky to not win. A crazy referee impeded what could've been a much more enjoyable match, and I'm beginning to grasp that maybe what's holding the MLS back is the referee quality. A good point by the Caps which fought hard against a truly lifeless New England Revolution team which woke up in the final minutes.

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Whitecaps Draw 3-3 Against Kansas City in Epic Comeback

Before the match against Sporting Kansas City, I wrote with great joy five reasons why the Whitecaps would defeat Kansas City. Yet, when the match started things weren't looking as positive as I had tried to make them out to be. And when the Whitecaps found themselves 1-0 down right before halftime, things were not looking good.

It was a wonderful strike by Bunbury which broke the deadlock. While the Whitecaps had started slowly, giving Kansas City the possession for the first 20 minutes of the first half, things changed as the first half wore on. Atiba Harris and Camilo began to make runs behind the SKC backline, and were often served deep balls to chase by Rochat and the lively Wes Knight. But no matter how many opportunities the Whitecaps created, Nielsen stopped everything for Sporting KC in between the sticks. Camilo would've scored at least three goals against any other goalkeeper, but Nielsen was saving everything. As the first half came to a close, the Whitecaps had created the most and best opportunities, and were caught sleeping when Bunbury smashed the ball into the far corner from outside the 18. It was a wonderful goal from the man who had been receiving plenty of boos from the Vancouver crowd. 

The second half began, and while I was expecting the Whitecaps to be well awake and ready to attack, the team wasn't. Things looked just like they did back at the beginning of the first half, with Kansas City easily retaining possession against a static set of white shirts. This time SKC capitalized on their good moment, Teal Bunbury scoring again (a wonderful piece of skill) in the 58th minute and then Kei Kamara (a well placed volley) scoring a third in the 62nd minute. And at 3-0 the Whitecaps heads dropped, SKC players smiled and Empire Field became silent.

Teitur Thordarson then decided to go for it, all or nothing. A minute after SKC's third goal, the Icelandic tactician replaced the hurting Janicki with Nizar Khalfan and then five minutes later brought on Davide Chiumiento for Wes Knight. These two changes were what ultimately caused the epic comeback all of Vancouver was about to experience. Nizar Khalfan tired out basically all of the Kansas City players and never stopped running, while Davide Chiumiento was dangerously inventive. The Whitecaps grew more and more, just like they had in the first half, slowly moving their way into the oppositions half. And in the 73rd minute, Khalfan's speedy run tore down the left wing right before the Tanzanian crossed for Atiba Harris to tap-in (more like a hump-in, as the ball was at an awkward mid-waist level).

Camilo scored two goals in a wonderful performance

Things didn't stop here as the Whitecaps continued pressing high up the field, hemming in SKC into their own half. But as the clock ticked down the idea of any points from this match seemed virtually impossible. For the final 20 minutes the Whitecaps launched continuous attacks on Kansas City which played with an arrogant nonchalance, already feeling as if the result was in the bag. When five minutes of added time were given, I had an inkling that the Whitecaps would pull one more goal back, just for the fans.

And the Whitecaps did, Davide Chiumento was slipped through the SKC defence, and he coolly squared theh ball to Camilo for a tap-in. The stadium erupted, and my dad (not a big MLS fan) who had been making fun of the Whitecaps all game said (albeit sarcastically), "Here they go for three". He was right, because just a minute later Nizar Khalfan crossed in for Camilo who produced a brilliant header into the top corner of the SKC net. The comeback was complete, and the 20,000 Whitecaps fans at Empire Field were cheering their hearts out.

It was a wonderful comeback, which really makes me proud to be a Whitecaps fan. While I am slightly disappointed that the Whitecaps conceded the first three goals, which probably shouldn't have been scored, they made up for their mistakes. It was a brilliant match, which will hopefully help turn even more people in Vancouver to attending a Whitecaps game. After all, I can't think of an MLS team with this much heart and spirit.

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Five Reasons Why The Whitecaps Will Defeat Sporting Kansas City

Instead of offering up just another bland match preview, I've come up with five (fairly) solid reasons of why the Vancouver Whitecaps FC will defeat Sporting Kansas City this weekend. If you're against excessive positivity, at the bottom I've also listed who won't be playing for the Whitecaps due to U-20 action or injury.


1. It's SKC's third away trip in a row

That's right, looking at Kansas City's past two matches I noticed that their trip to Vancouver will be their third away game in a row. While this might mean nothing to some who rarely play soccer on their own, I can tell you from experience that driving just 30 minutes to get to my soccer match poops me out. I can't imagine flying hours to play away matches, with away crowds booing, three times in a row. That has to have some sort of fatigue effect in my opinion. And if it doesn't, the fact that the match is being played at Empire Field (100% winning record at home!) will certainly be a boost for the Whitecaps.

Leathers will know everything about SKC

2. Leathers wants revenge (well, not exactly)

You may or may not know that the Whitecaps defender Jonathan Leathers used to play for Sporting Kansas City back when the club was called Kansas City Wizards. When asked about it, Leathers remained humble and kind, praising the former club while calmly stating that "it's just another game". But I know that when Leathers is on Empire Field against his ex-team, a fiery white-and-blue flame will ignite in Leathers's eyes. Surrounded by a cheering crowd of Whitecaps supporters, Leathers will have no mercy against his former teammates he knows so well. I expect bone-crunching tackles, blistering runs, and a spirited performance from the right-back (and maybe a goal?). The other advantage that Leathers offers is that he knows the Kansas City players; their strengths and their weaknesses.


3. Ochocinco has been a big distraction 

Chad Ochocinco, what a big and cool sounding name. The NFL star decided to return to soccer, and has become an "honorary member" of Sporting Kansas City now, with the chance to train with the reserves whenever he wants. But this honor didn't come right away for the American football star. Chad had to trial with Sporting Kansas City, in which he performed well, got the trial extended, and continued to practice with the MLS team. He got a chance to play about half an hour in a reserve game, and while his sprinting speed may be fantastic, his overall technique and stamina isn't up to professional soccer standards. But who cares? What does this have to do with the Whitecaps? Nothing. That's right, everyone in and around the Kansas City setup has been thinking about Chad Ochocinco, and his entrance into the team. Therefore, Vancouver can now strike like ninjas, covered by the large veil that is Chad Ochocinco's star power sucking up media attention. Strike swiftly my silent ninjas.


4. DeMerit is back!

There isn't much else to be said about this point. The return of the Whitecaps FC captain Jay DeMerit is a big one, providing a very solid rock in the center of defence which few will be able to surpass. Not only is he one of the best players on the field individually, but he raises the team's performance to a higher level. Overall, it just feels better having him play, wouldn't you agree?

Long Tan might be starting against SKC

5. An introduction of young goal-scorers


Eric Hassli's sending off against Philadelphia Union wasn't a good thing, especially because the Caps ended up conceding a goal and losing the game, but we can look at the positives. The main positive I see is that the Frenchman's absence offers a hole in the team, waiting to be filled by either Camilo or Long Tan. The opportunity to start in front of a home crowd is a pretty important one, and I'm sure that either Camilo or Long Tan will take it seriously and put in a huge amount of effort. This could be the chance for one of the two to score and impress coach Teitur, and don't be surprised if one of them takes it.


The unavailable players


While above there are five decent points on why the Whitecaps will defeat Sporting Kansas City, down here you've got a bit of bad news. Simply said, I'd much rather have Eric Hassli playing than not, but his red card against Philadelphia Union leaves him suspended for this match. While I wanted to see Omar Salgado step up and play in Hassli's absence, Salgado is unavailable as he is on international duty with the USA U20s, and similarly Russell Teibert is away with the Canada U20s and therefore unavailable. There's also a fairly lengthy list of injured players who are unavailable, Davide Chiumiento, Shea Salinas, John Thorrington, Jay Nolly and Michael Nanchoff will all be unable to play because of different types of strains and injuries. It's a big list of injured players which will hopefully diminish as the season goes on.


Prediction time


In the end I expect the Whitecaps to win a hard-fought game. I'm thinking 2-1 for the Caps, both goals scored by Atiba Harris. Now it's your turn, share your predictions and thoughts on the match below by commenting. Can the Whitecaps pull off a win?

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