It’s felt like an age, and it probably has for him as well, but Barry Robson finally made his Vancouver Whitecaps home debut against LA Galaxy at BC Place last night.
We caught up with him after the game and asked him how he had found his first taste of playing at BC Place, despite the end result:
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<i>"It was great. The fans have been fantastic with me.
I really enjoyed it, the fans were great, and all you guys and everybody else. It's been a real good experience.
I'm getting older now and I've seen it and done it a few times, but it doesn't make it any easier. There's pressure on you wherever you go.
I just want to make sure that I do my best for the football club and as I've said, all I can give is 100% and I do that wherever I go. And if it's good enough, good, at least I can go home and sleep well."</i>
Robson has a penchant for dramatic debuts (home and away) and last night was no exception.
Just as he did in his first match for Celtic and his home debut for Middlesbrough, Robson scored in the first game at his new home, and it was a beauty of a header at that.
What did he think of his first Whitecaps strike?
<i>"It was good yeah. It was a great ball. The ball always makes it for me and Y-P put in a fantastic ball and he takes as much credit as I do.
I thought young Gershon Koffie had a terrific goal and he had a terrific game. He's a great talent and something that the club and the fans should cherish.
He's a real top talent and hopefully we can keep these young players at the club."</i>
Not only was Barry’s goal his first as a Vancouver Whitecaps, as we <a href="http://www.canadiansoccernews.com/content.php?3410-Barry-Robson-chats-with-AFTN" target="_blank">discussed with him before</a>, by our (possibly) dodgy stats, we make that the 100th goal of his club career.
Did that make it any more special?
<i>"Yeah we had a debate about that didn't we.
For me, it's winning the football match that's the most important thing. I know it's 100 career goals but I hope I can score a lot more for this football club. I hope I can go and win points and take this club to where it wants to be because I know last season it finished low and the club's come leaps and bounds this season.
I think everybody can see that and we need to keep going and we need to keep building and hopefully we can start getting ourselves up the League again."</i>
If the Whitecaps, and Robson, continue to play the way they did last night, and the team can work on holding on to their leads, then that rise up the table will soon follow.
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