The Vancouver Whitecaps had a very tough task.
They had to come back from a 3-0 deficit in the second leg of the CONCACAF Champions Cup Round of 16 against the Seattle Sounders. It is tough, but it wasn’t impossible. After all, anything can happen in soccer, especially in CONCACAF. Sporting CP came back from a 3-0 deficit to knock out Bodo Glimt in the UEFA Champions League. Kevin Garnett said it best: “Anything is possible.”
Lumen Field was undergoing renovations for the upcoming FIFA World Cup, so the Whitecaps travelled to Spokane’s One Spokane Stadium. It is about a four-hour drive from Lumen Field.
The Whitecaps needed to start strong to have any hope of coming back.
There was hope for a bit, but the Whitecaps efforts weren’t enough, and thus their Champions Cup run ended early.
First half: Badwal gives the Whitecaps life
The Sounders nearly struck first. Vancouver’s defenders froze for a second, but Albert Rusnak missed on the right side. That was a warning for the Whitecaps. Seattle’s counter was what torched them in leg one.
Chances came for Vancouver. Brian White, Thomas Müller and AZ had some good looks. This was because the Whitecaps were pressing to create turnovers and moving the ball well in the Sounders half. That intensity was missing in leg one.
The breakthrough came courtesy of Jeevan Badwal. Müller played the ball for White, who held it up for Badwal. The Surrey native’s strike was a very good one to beat Stefan Frei.
The tie was on.
The Whitecaps were building pressure. AZ and Müller were connecting well in and around the box. AZ, in particular, was being a menace down the left side.
Unfortunately, Andres Cubas left the game with an apparent injury in the 38th minute. That really sucked; he was sorely missed in the first leg. In this game, he was doing his thing: Tackling and winning the ball. Cubas was taken off for Emmanuel Sabbi, with Badwal moving to the midfield. You could hear Whitecaps fans yelling a loud and prolonged: “No!” in unison when Cubas was taken off.
There was a very good effort in the first half. Vancouver was still in it. But there was still terrain left to climb on the mountain.
Second half:
Kenji Cabrera came on for AZ to start the second half. AZ was good, but it made sense since he was already on a yellow.
The Whitecaps started the second half the same way the first half ended. They were controlling the game, but the final pass was not falling into place.
It felt like another goal was coming, just like a new Muse single was coming. The Whitecaps were buzzing. Johnson made a good run into the box, and so did Cabrera. Sabbi had to do better with his touches and decision-making in the box. White and Müller were there for headers, but they couldn’t connect with the crosses.
The Sounders and their low block were being as rigid as ever. They were crowding their own box and trying to hang on.
It paid off for Seattle. From the throw-in from Paul Rothrock, Peter Kingston crossed the ball to Danny Muskovski. He leapt over Mathias Laborda, and the header beat Yohei Takaoka. Given how the Whitecaps pushed in this game, that was deflating.
The Sounders added more icing on their cake. Once again, the Whitecaps displayed some really poor defending. Paul Rothrock was left alone by the far post, and he slotted an easy one past Takaoka. No miracles on this Wednesday night in Spokane.
Seattle did well with their low block and counters. However, the Whitecaps shot themselves in the foot with lethargic play and poor defending in leg one. Then, it was not executing their chances and being weak with the final pass and some poor defending late in the second half.
Stat of the match
The Whitecaps only had one big chance on Wednesday night, according to FotMob. That is not enough when you have 14 total shots and five on target. Meanwhile, the Sounders had five big chances from 11 total shots and four on target. One team was clinical, and the other was not.
Tweet of the match
The broadcast angle made it look like viewers were watching the game from space.
What was said
Whitecaps head coach Jesper Sørensen was happy with his team’s performance but obviously disappointed with the result.
“I think we got what we wanted with the 1-0 lead,” he said. “The players played with the right attitude, right mentality and with the right effort. It was a good game from our side.”
“At 3-0 down, you have no room for mistakes or errors and play perfectly, and we weren’t able to.”
He also spoke about the lack of finishing.
“We have to be realistic and honest… we didn’t have the quality, and we didn’t have the quality in finishing,” he said. “But, everything in the build-up to that was good.”
Badwal spoke to OneSoccer after the game.
“Credit to the boys, we pushed until the final minute,” he said. “It was unfortunate, especially in the first game. Seattle played a good game in both games. But overall, mentally, we were strong until the 90th minute. Obviously, unfortunate the loss, but I’m proud of the boys for what we did.”
Wrap-up
On the bright side, Vancouver can now focus on MLS as there will be less fixture congestion for the next few months. They will look to go 5-0-0 on Saturday as the San Jose Earthquakes visit BC Place. Kickoff is at 7:30 pm Pacific.
Now it is time for the Whitecaps to make statements in the league.
