Saturday, March 2, 2013

Koffie Ensures Opening Day Win

Koffie and the Caps celebrating the winning goal

As a new season begins, the Whitecaps begin to ease into a steady rhythm of what will hopefully be victories. A 1-0 win over Toronto FC showed two different sides to the Whitecaps, with plenty of good and bad news to go around. Ultimately amongst Jay DeMerit's early injury and the disorganized first half the Caps had, Gershon Koffie's winner shines alongside the new signing of Nigel Reo-Coker who asserted his dominance in the second half of the match.

The first half of the match is one Whitecaps fans are eager to forget. Just seven minutes in DeMerit was assisted in hobbling off the field (replaced by Rusin) from what seemed to be a problem with his achilles (not a good sign) after having either put too much stress while jumping, or perhaps landing awkwardly on it. The entire team seemed fairly shell-shocked as the captain's armband was passed to Miller. That would be one of the few successful passes the Whitecaps managed to string together in the whole half as Toronto continuously pushed forward with Earnshaw always managing to be dangerous. The few forays the Caps had were mostly led by Kenny Miller making runs on the wings, yet rarely having someone to connect with.

Jay DeMerit being helped off the field
There was movement from the forwards, yet the Whitecaps were never able to properly retain the ball. The speedy Manneh would too often lose the ball amongst two defenders rather than pass it off to a teammate, and the few times the Whitecaps did try to pass around the ball, they were inaccurate and just  lead to long balls being hoofed up the field. Toronto FC on the other hand kept a cool head the entire first half, constantly using Earnshaw to weasel through the Caps defence, and never committing too many men forward in their attempts on goal.

The second half was where the Whitecaps finally managed to wake up. Rennie took out Manneh, who while vivacious was not helping retain possession and subsequently control of the match, and slot in Nigel Reo-Coker. The difference was noticeable, especially with Kobayashi playing more around the center of the midfield to help spread the ball around. It was a completely different team that had finally woken up, and after putting pressure on Toronto FC for about ten minutes, some fantastic build-up play was finished off with Koffie blasting the ball into the net.

The 59th minute goal was a gave the whole team a boost as the Whitecaps continued to create scoring chances. Kobayashi finally managed to set the pace of the game alongside Reo-Coker who is already showing to be a fantastic signing for the midfield. At the 76th minute Kobayashi was taken off (apparently he's not quite at full fitness levels) and replaced with Hurtado. While the 22 year-old showed off his dribbling and quick pace, he had the same difficulties Manneh had in the first half losing the ball too often with a few stray passes. Later on in the match Hurtado got a chance in front of goal, but an extra touch cost his shot to be deflected by a TFC defender.

The Caps went on to pressure Toronto well throughout the rest of the game, making up for the bleak first half display and thoroughly earning the 1-0 victory. The midfield had finally gelled with Reo-Coker in there keeping everything in order, and the team had completely forgot of the first half in which they lost their captain and suffered so much. It wasn't quite the most dominant of displays, but the Whitecaps did what they needed and showed a surprising amount of solidity in their second half display.

What were your thoughts on the Whitecaps and their opening victory? Who was the man of the match? Do you think they can keep up the wins? Share your thoughts in the comments below!




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