Soccer
Tigres Stronger Club
Four short days prior to this marquee match-up Vancouver played host to the LA Galaxy, but hopes were that that would be a motivational game heading into the CONCACAF one with Tigres.
Playing and using every tactic possible the Whitecaps announced prior in the day that they were determined to open the roof at BC Place in hopes of getting some additional boost.
At game time the outside temperature was sitting at a cool 9 degrees, but realistically it felt like about 3 and in a press release they mentioned to the fans to dress warm as it could also rain, which would make game conditions cooler for those attending.
This match-up was the second leg of the CONCACAF Champions League Semi-Finals and realistically for Vancouver it was for them to leave it all on the pitch and as Head Coach Carl Robinson dubbed it “Mission Impossible”.
The Caps lost in the first contest by a 2 nil score and are up against the extremely talented Mexican League Champions and for them to advance they must win by three goals to have any chance of advancing.
On a positive note the game was on their “pitch” and after all they did play an extremely entertaining match against the Galaxy managing a 4-2 win in MLS play.
Cap’s Striker Fredy Montero managed to also score in the match against the Galaxy and told the media “We know they are a top-level team in Central America and we are looking to score the first goal as soon as possible when we hit the pitch and we believe we can do that.”
Tigres lost this past weekend in a match to Leon in Liga in first division play in Mexico and the Whitecaps recently announced three changes to its 23-man roster that included the addition of Marco Bustos, Russell Teibert and the newest Whitecap Tony Tchani.
They do have impressive strikers that include Andre-Pierre Gignac, Eduardo Vargas and Guido Pizarro and are without Jurgen Damm who is out due to an injury suffered in a World Cup qualifier last month.
Tchani made his first appearance this past Saturday in the 64th minute entering as a sub and mentioned to the media that “he thought he did ok, but I am always harder on myself than anyone else.”
No different than the mailman’s moto of “Neither snow, nor rain, nor heat, nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds, but for the Whitecaps they came up a bit shy in this contest.
The “Caps” showed up to play and it was interesting to see one sign in the crowd that read “Never tell us the odds” and it was surely a message to the
Same approach, different day and team and a much more talented squad than they have faced in a while but there was a brief moment in time it looked as tho they might exactly pull this off.
The majority of the 16,258 were cheering for the home squad, but there were a few supporters showing support for Tigres also sporting various banners with interesting signs painted on them.
Emotions were high and also mixed as they knew they were facing a top level squad and realistically the ball was on their turf.
Sticking to the game plan it was imperative that they got the first goal and they managed to off the foot of Brek Shea getting the first in the third minute following a free kick from Balanos.
Davies was sent in taking over from Shea and would remain on the pitch for the remainder of the match, which initially wasn’t a part of Robinson’s initial game plan.
The 63rd minute was when Tigres came to life as Tigres player André-Pierre Gignac’s placed a strike from outside the penalty area and perfectly delivered it into the top corner of Ousted’s cage.
Tigres removed any possibility of a tie to extend the match after 90 minutes leaving the Whitecaps needing three comeback goals with under 30 minutes
Ousted kept the Whitecaps in the game through 80 minutes delivering two remarkable stops in the 77th minute and a second save following a Jesús Dueñas deflection and one in the 79th.
It was in the 84th minute that the Whitecaps knew it was over when Tigres sent them packing with the Whitecaps’ hopes of earning a home draw wrapped up.