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    Michael Mccoll
    It could have been all so different after Ian Christianson was sent crashing in the box as half-time approached and with the game still goalless. Caleb Clarke hit a woeful penalty wide left and the 'Caps were punished when LA took the lead moments later, in the 43rd minute.
    Carl Robinson always talks about "fine lines" and that was one there in a huge game-swinging two minute spell.
    "I think it would have made a huge difference," Koch said of Clarke's missed penalty. "We would have been a goal up shortly before half-time and hopefully would have gained some confidence, some momentum and maybe the game would have been better in the second half.
    "Any time you miss a penalty kick like that, it has huge implications on the game and today it certainly did."
    LA added a second half penalty of their own, after a harsh handball decision on Craig Nitti, after the ball hit his shoulder, and there was no way back for the 'Caps after that, the closest they came being when LA keeper Clement Diop tipped a Clarke shot onto the post in stoppage time.
    The game marked the halfway point of the regular season for WFC2 and saw the young 'Caps slump to three straight losses. That in itself is bad enough, but to be scoreless in all of those games will cause further concern.
    But, onwards and upwards. We'll have a look at the season so far through the eyes of Alan Koch and Carl Robinson later in the week.
    Next up for the 'Caps is a home Cascadian derby on Sunday against Timbers 2. How Canada's second round match-up against Switzerland at the Women's World Cup will affect the crowd will remain to be seen, but treat your dad for Father's Day if you can and take him along to the match.
    AFTN photographer Tom Ewasiuk was at WFC2's loss to LA II to capture all the action before, during and after the game and here's his "Story In Pictures", with a full Flickr slideshow at the end.
    [Also check out Tom's website www.residualimagephotography.com for more of his photos and work].

    Ready for battle - the teams come out

    Oh Canada

    Victor Blasco was lively early and came close to giving the 'Caps the lead

    The game marked Marco Bustos' first USL start, and appearance, at home after injury

    WFC2 get the chance to take the lead after Ian Christianson is sent crashing in the box and the referee points to the spot

    Caleb Clarke steps up...

    But hits his 41st minute effort woefully wide

    And sod's law, LA go up the pitch and take the lead two minutes later after Travis Bowen is left unmarked and heads home

    Worse is to come in the second half as Craig Nitti is wrongly adjudged to have handled after this shot which hits his shoulder

    And Aeriel Lassiter makes no mistake from the spot to make it 2-0 LA in the 60th minute

    The 'Caps try to get back into it, switching to a 3-5-2 formation, but Blasco is thwarted again

    Others try but there is just no way past Clement Diop

    And it finished WFC2 0 LA Galaxy II 2
    You can see more photos from the match (and of dogs!) in the Flickr slideshow below:

    Michael Mccoll
    Having the US hordes here on Tuesday, and days of pre-match build up, and with Canada coming on Sunday, obviously helps.
    Prior to that, Group C wasn’t the most exciting group on paper to get fans’ juices flowing. The games turned out to be entertaining or high scoring affairs though and that also helped get a buzz generated.
    Now some will argue that it was a great group. It contained the World champions after all in Japan. But realistically, how many of the target audience really knew or cared about that fact?
    The first round of Vancouver’s group games wrapped up on Tuesday evening as the US narrowly saw off Nigeria 1-0 to top Group D and send the Africans crashing out of the tournament.
    A vociferous crowd of 52,123 packed into BC Place, the largest crowd for a football match since the renovations at the stadium, and one which the ‘Caps will dream could one day be a regular occurrence for MLS matches. A long term dream admittedly, as we're still a very long away from a Seattle-style attendance here. One day!
    The Vancouver crowds have been good in general for the tournament so far. 25,942 for a Monday afternoon/evening double header that kicked off at 4pm was sneered upon by some out east, but was excellent as far as we’re concerned. Friday’s Group C double header brought out even more, 31,441, making a combined total of 109,506 for the three first round gamedays in Vancouver.
    Considering who was playing, that’s been great and above my expectations. As have the matches themselves. Five games, 22 goals, some of them crackers, penalties galore. Not bad going.
    Sure there’s been a couple of blowouts against Ecuador, but goalfests can be entertaining too if the goals are good, which they were. Plus we got to see the excellent and entertaining dark horse, or should that be lionesses, of the tournament, Cameroon.
    We’ve seen some of the world’s best female players so far. Japan legend Homare Sawa delighted her supporters and long time fans of the women’s game. Switzerland’s Ramona Bachmann, put in a great performance and could still be a star of the tournament. You feel here future in the women’s game is wherever she wants it to be moving forward. Then there were the US girls, some of whom we’ll grudgingly acknowledge are amongst the world’s elite.
    Cameroon were a delight and their coach Enow Ngachu a real character. In Gabrielle Aboudi Onguene and Gaelle Enganamouit they have two players that could find themselves offered some lucrative deals once the tournament is over. Keeping with the African teams, I liked Nigeria centre back Onome Ebi as well. Solid, tough tackling and held off most of the US attacks.
    The fans we’ve spoken to have all pretty much enjoyed themselves. There’s been a couple of reports of some security buzzkill at the first Japan match, but on the whole a good time has been had by all. Well maybe not Ecuador supporters.
    The tournament already feels like it’s been going on forever, and there’s still four matches to be played in Vancouver – two 2nd round match-ups, a quarter-final and, of course, the final itself.
    The Final has already sold out and Canada’s 2nd round match-up this weekend against Switzerland will bring in the crowds and should be a cracker. If that doesn't sell-out but the US game does, then there's something wrong with the general Vancouver fanbase.
    It could also very realistically signal the end of Canada’s run at the tournament if we see the Swiss side of the qualifying campaign and the shooting boots from their slaughter of Ecuador.
    If Canada do advance, that should mean another full house at BC Place for their quarter-final game on June 27th. That seems a long way away right now mind you.
    Outside of the matchday experience at the stadium, the Fan Zone has proved to be a success, especially when the US games have been playing. There's been a couple of thousand fans watching games, with daily combined highs of up to 8000 in attendance.
    The custom built Fox Sports set has also been a talking point and a place fans have congregated.
    So all in all, so far so good. It's hard to see the buzz dying down, but if Canada and then the US crash out early, that may not still be the case. We'll have to see.
    For now, we can say the tournament has been a success. It's set to break the record for most tickets sold for a Women's World Cup and Vancouver has certainly played its part in it all.
    We'll leave you with some fan photos from the five first round games played at BC Place so far and a couple from the Fan Zone. And the excitement's really only just begun. Now the real tournament starts.

    Guest
    Until next time, have a great soccer!
    @24thminute
    @KevLaramee
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    Guest

    Defining moments still to come

    By Guest, in 24th Minute,

    Now the hard part begins, this fall they will begin the "tough" part of their path to Russia. The third round of Concacaf World Cup Qualifier's is a home-away series versus a team like Grenada,Antigua and Barbados level, the fourth round of qualification is a round robin against some teams that are barely better then Dominica, but mostly with teams of the Guatemala, Honduras and Jamaica type of level and can be dangerous for the new "young" Canadian program.
    It will be interesting to see which nations will be in Canada's group, but regardless of the opponents, the true new identity of the Canadian Men National team will be forge during that third round and to have a chance to reach the Hex, Canada will need that new offensive flair it showed last night!
    Now on to the Women. With their win of Group A, Canada has a chance to face a favorable opponent in the round of 16, but to have a legitimate chance to reach the quarters or to even make it further in the tournament, they desperately need more goals. Yes, it is a cliché, to win you need to score more goals then your opponent, but the fact that Canada has scored two goals in three games, one on penalty by Sinclair, is truly alarming. They haven't been able to generate consistent quality opportunities on goal during their group stage games and now with the Sophie Schmidt injury (she is expected to play but what form will she be in) the offensive part of the beautiful games is still a struggle for the Canadian Women.
    With a slower Sinclair and a field of opposition never seen before at the Women World Cup stage, Canada will need either a shift of mentality and a go forward attitude to finally hit the back of the net consistently or just a pure miracle moment like Schmidt's goal, against England in their last pre-tournament game, if they want to move past the round of 16.
    Defining moments to come...
    Michael Mccoll
    Cameroon are no strangers to World Cup shocks. They have thrilled football fans worldwide with their play in the Men's World Cup in recent times. In particular, their fantastic Roger Milla inspired run to the quarter-finals of Italia '90 will long live fondly in my memory and many others.
    While the Indomitable Lions have qualified for six of the last seven World Cup Finals, the women are appearing in their very first ones here in Canada, after qualifying as African runners-up to Nigeria.
    Their appearance builds on their first ever qualification for an Olympics in London three years ago and sees the continued rise of the team under their charismatic coach Enow Ngachu. He never seems to be without a big smile on his face.
    Ngachu has been the coach of the team since 2004 and his building work is now reaping some real rewards and producing some impressive talent, perhaps none more so than Monday's hat-trick heroine Gaelle Enganamouit.
    For the Cameroon coach, it was all about showing that continued improvement on the world stage.
    "Our main objective was to do better than 2012," Ngachu told reporters at Thursday's pre-match press conference. "In the last Olympics games in London, we conceded 11 goals, scored only one and had three defeats.
    "We've been working with this group for the past seven years together. They started with the under-17. After the game against Ecuador, they have started dreaming, but we need to be humble. We have attained our objective."
    So just what has been behind the team's turnaround and recent successes?
    "As a coach, after each game, you must go back to the drawing board and see what went wrong and we discovered that in 2012," Ngachu added. "We made tactical errors. Everybody was young.
    "We've worked very hard. We want to exist on defending first before attacking. We're quite happy because in the last African Nations Cup, we conceded less goals and we had the best goalkeeper in the tournament. So it means we've improved a lot and can only be happy."
    Going into the Ecuador game, it was hard to know what to expect from either side. Ecuador were ranked 48th in the world, Cameroon 53rd. You wouldn't have been surprised by a draw or a narrow win for either side. But the Africans produced a hammering that caught, I think, pretty much all of us by surprise.
    Right now, we don't know if that 6-0 scoreline was because Cameroon were good or Ecuador were just really, really bad. Maybe it was a mixture of both. What 19th placed Switzerland do to the South Americans in the first game this evening, will perhaps be a better indicator as to how Cameroon might fare in the second against Japan.
    It's a match Ngachu and his squad are relishing, no matter how daunting it may be and how much of a one-sided scoreline could be doled out by the defending champs and the side ranked 4th in the world right now.
    "It's a dream come true playing against the Champions," Ngachu said. "It'll be another experience for the Cameroon national team. We know it's going to be very tough but the best team will win."
    Japan looked exciting and patchy in their narrow 1-0 win over Switzerland on Monday. It took a debatable penalty for them to get the job done and they had a few narrow escapes and had to thank some poor Swiss finishing for coming away with all three points in the end.
    They should make it six out of six tonight. On paper, there is only one possible result. But football's not played on paper.
    Japan coach Norio Sasaki genuinely seemed concerned about Cameroon's attacking firepower in his own press conference on Thursday. Ngachu countered by saying he was concerned by both Japan's attack and defence.
    Cameroon played relaxed and were a joy to watch against Ecuador. With no pressure, comes more free-slowing football and Ngachu said you can expect the same against Japan.
    "We're excited to play against Japan," Ngachu admitted. "For us, Japan, so far, is the best in the world. My girls are excited. Over the past years they've been watching the Japanese team over the TV. Today, most of them can recite the names of the Japanese players. It's just like in Playstation. You play against the best team in the world.
    "They're quite excited but we don't have pressure on our side. The Japanese will be having that pressure. We don't have any pressure, so we'll play as usual and if we can have a positive result then fine."
    Whichever side wins, they'll be guaranteeing themselves a spot in the Round of 16. But after banging in six goals in their first game, barring two horrible defensive collapses, Cameroon look set to be a top third placed finisher at the very worst, no matter how they fare against Japan and Switzerland.
    Do the squad dare to allow themselves to dream and look beyond the group stages at what may lie in store? Striker Gabrielle Aboudi Onguene doesn't want to get too carried away but the goal deluge against Ecuador has certainly got them believing.
    "I would say that mentally it is a good thing to score," she told reporters in translated French. "It shelters us, it protects us a little bit. As was said, we came here with the objective of doing better than 2012. We dream of making it out of this first round. We're going to stay focused. So why not? Keep scoring, so that we can advance."
    Ngachu knows Japan head into the game as very heavy favourites and should win comfortably, but whatever the result in this one, the impact that his Cameroon side have made back home has already been immense and if they can advance beyond the group stages, then what it will do for women's soccer in the country will be seismic.
    "Football is full of surprises," he said. "If we can create that by going through to the next round, then it's going to be very fine, and I believe if we do that, it's going to have a positive impact back in Cameroon.
    "From the feedback we've been getting, many young girls have started playing soccer and that is the target for the individual Lionesses of Cameroon."
    Michael Mccoll
    Have a listen! And apologies for the slight echo feel to most of it when we had to change mics a little bit in!
    You can listen to this, and all previous, episodes of the podcast on iTunes HERE.
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    Or after all that, you could just listen on the player below!

    Duane Rollins
    No 24 – Cote d’Ivoire
    They lost 10-0. Yes, it was Germany, but they lost 10-0.
    No 23 – Ecuador
    In some ways an argument can be made that a 6-0 loss to Cameroon is worse than a 10-0 loss to Germany, but we’ll give Ecuador the benefit of the doubt for now. Four goals are a lot in soccer.
    No 22 – Thailand
    They looked tepid against the Tier 1.5 (1b?) Norway. Nothing jumped out us to suggest they are better than what we expected.
    No 21 – Korea
    Maybe the most disappointing performance of the opening round of games. After drawing the US in the pre-tournament we expected more fight against Brazil
    No 20 – New Zealand
    There’s just no danger there. They defended well, but it was against a Tier 2 side.
    No 19 – China
    See above. China’s play one reason it’s difficult to accurately handicap Canada yet.
    No 18 – Cameroon
    First one on the list to likely cause controversy. There is no point to a Power Ranking if you just use results and Cameroon only showed they were much better than a clearly poor side. Much to prove against top sides.
    No 17 – Mexico
    Against Colombia they were the favourite and needed to show more. Yes, they may have been jobbed by a call late, but they got themselves in the situation to be jobbed on merit.
    No 16 – Costa Rica
    Maybe the biggest jump. They didn’t get much on attack, but were impressive in team defense against a much more fancied Spain side.
    No 15 – Spain
    Little bit from column A; little from column B when it comes to ranking the two teams involved in a fascinating battle yesterday. Need to do more than pas the ball.
    No 14 – Australia
    They outplayed the Americans for long stretches, but ultimately were unable to hold off the strong athleticism. Said after they weren’t impressed with the US. Well, if that’s the case, how can you rate the team that lost 3-1 to them?
    No 13 – Colombia
    A wonder goal, strong team defending and what looks like upward potential. Remember they held Brazil in qualifying. England be warned.
    No 12 – England
    Blah. They chased the ball around for 90 minutes. Yes, it was France, but really? Really?
    No 11 – Netherlands
    Got the job done, but barely. If they are to be the dark horse some (*cough*) expected they will need to do more than squeak by New Zealand.
    No 10 – Switzerland
    A fascinating team that showed a lot against Japan. With better finishing they could have pulled an upset.
    No 9 – Canada
    O Canada. One goal in open play over last three games. Then again, no goals allowed over last three games at all.
    No 8 – Sweden
    They took advantage of terrible defending only to give it all back through some interesting choices at the back themselves. Seemed like they had more to give, but maybe the worst performance from a true contender in opening round of games.
    No 7 – Nigeria
    They were impressive. In attack. Still, Nigeria made a bit of a statement in how it played Sweden in opener.
    No 6 – Norway
    Still kind of the contender no one is talking about they were on cruise control in opener. True test is next.
    No 5 – USA
    The opening game win exposed all that was wrong with the Americans, and illustrated all that was right. So long as they have the individual weapons they do they can win any game they are in. But, against the best, they are no longer the clear favourite, or even the favourite at all.
    No 4 – Brazil
    A workmanlike clean sheet win to open the tournament. They didn’t make us sit up and take notice, but also showed nothing to suggest they shouldn’t be considered amongst the elite.
    No 3 – Japan
    The Swiss gave them a scare, yes, but they still control much of the play against a much tougher opponent than the other contenders faced.
    No 2 – Germany
    Yes, ten goals. They will need to repeat the mastery against Norway to have a chance to overtake No 1
    No 1 – France
    The French so thoroughly controlled the game against England – a top 10 team, it must be said – that it was difficult to fully appreciate it. They only scored one goal, but they could have played two weeks without allowing it seemed. Still our pick to be standing in confetti
    Guest
    Tickets are still on sale at The Voyageurs
    Canada will assemble at the end of June in Santa Barbara, California prior to the tournament’s opening game.
    The top two teams from each group; as well as the two highest-seeded third-place finishers will advance to the knock-out stages.
    Canada won the Gold Cup in 2000 and has since succeeded in making it to the tournament semi-finals on two other occasions (2002, 2007); and made it to the quarter-finals in 2009.
    In Canada, Sportsnet holds the broadcast rights to the CONCACAF Gold Cup tournament. Check local listings to see where it will air in your region.
    CANADA
    GK-Milan Borjan | BUL / Ludogorets Razgrad
    GK- Lars Hirschfeld | NOR / Valerenga
    GK- Quillan Roberts | CAN / Toronto FC
    GK- Kenny Stamatopoulos | SWE / AIK
    D- Sam Adekugbe | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC
    D- Nana Attakora | USA / San Antonio Scorpions
    D- Luca Gasparotto | SCO / Glasgow Rangers
    D- Andre Hainault | unattached / sans club
    D- Dejan Jakovic | JPN / Shimizu S-Pulse
    D- Nik Ledgerwood | GER / Energie Cottbus
    D- Ashtone Morgan | CAN / Toronto FC
    D- Karl W. Ouimette | USA / New York Red Bulls
    D- Mallan Roberts | CAN / FC Edmonton
    D- Adam Straith | NOR / Fredrikstad
    D/M- Marcel de Jong | USA / Sporting KC
    D/M- David Edgar | ENG / Birmingham City FC
    D/M- Maxim Tissot | CAN / Impact de Montréal
    M- Tesho Akindele | USA / FC Dallas
    M- Kyle Bekker | USA / FC Dallas
    M- Julian de Guzman | CAN / Ottawa Fury FC
    M- Kianz Froese | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC
    M- Atiba Hutchinson | TUR / Besiktas
    M- Will Johnson | USA / Portland Timbers
    M- Issey Nakajima-Farran | MAS / Terengganu
    M- Jonathan Osorio | CAN / Toronto FC
    M- Pedro Pacheco | POR / Santa Clara
    M- Michael Petrasso | ENG / Queens Park Rangers
    M- Samuel Piette | ESP / Deportivo la Coruna
    M- Tosaint Ricketts | ISR / Hapoel Haifa
    M- Russell Teibert | CAN / Vancouver Whitecaps FC
    M/F- Randy Edwini-Bonsu | GER / Stuttgarter Kickers
    M/F- Simeon Jackson | unattached / sans club
    F- Marcus Haber | ENG / Crewe Alexandra
    F- Jordan Hamilton | CAN / Toronto FC
    F- Cyle Larin | USA / Orlando City SC
    Guest
    Until next time, have a great soccer!
    @24thminute
    @KevLaramee
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    Guest
    Until next time, have a great World Cup!
    @24thminute
    @KevLaramee
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    Guest
    Until next time, have a great world cup!
    @24thminute
    @KevLaramee
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    Michael Mccoll
    Recognised as the finest Japanese female player to have ever played the game, Sawa made here first appearance in a World Cup Finals in 1995, playing three games in Sweden, as Japan went out at the quarter final stage following a 4-0 loss to the US.
    After three appearances in each of the next three tournaments in the US and China, Sawa came to prominence at the world level with a stellar tournament performance in Germany in 2011.
    Sawa played all six of Japan's matches as they lifted their first World Cup trophy following a dramatic penalty shoot-out win against the US in the Final. With Japan looking set to lose out in extra time, Sawa hit a stunning equaliser with three minutes remaining to send the game to penalties.
    That goal was her tournament leading fifth of the Finals, earning Sawa the Golden Boot as top-scorer, along with the Golden Ball award as the Best Player. Her performance also saw her named the 2011 Female World Player of the Year.
    The support the Japanese girls received back home during the last World Cup was exceptional and Sawa is hoping for more of the same this time around.
    "Many, many people supported us," Sawa said. "With that power we could win the title again."
    Sawa made her professional debut in Japan's L-League in 1991, aged just 12. Her international debut came at 15 in 1993 and her World Cup Finals debut aged 16. With nearly 25 years experience in the women's game, Sawa has seen a lot change, especially in her home country.
    "Talking especially about Japan, before, like about 20 years ago, the number of registered players was very small," she revealed. "Also the skills and technique were not enough. It's been very long from that time until 2011, but year by year I think we've developed."
    There's been a lot of talk about the legacy of the women's game in Canada after this tournament, but Japan's win four years ago sparked a marked increase in interest in the women's game in the country.
    After 2011, the awareness and attention among the Japanese people changed dramatically and the country went from 35,000 registered players at girls to senior level before 2011 to its current level of almost 50,000. Still not phenomenal numbers for a country of 127 million but a step in the right direction.
    To put that into perspective, there are 4.8 million registered female players worldwide, with Canada and the US making up 47% of that number.
    Sawa will be hoping to generate more interest this time around and add to her 18 World Cup Finals appearances this month.
    Although no-one else has reached that milestone of appearing in six tournaments before, the Japanese midfielder is likely to find herself having company with that honour in Canada, with Brazilian midfielder Formiga also poised to reach the six tournament milestone. An appearance for Sawa tonight, however, will see her reach the achievement first.
    It will be quite the feat for Sawa, but one which the 36-year-old looked like missing out upon after falling out of favour with head coach Norio Sasaki in recent months through injury and a dip in form.
    Sawa wasn't selected for Japan's 23 woman squad for the Algarve Cup tournament in March this year. A major setback for the midfielder's hopes, but after Japan finished second bottom of their group, and ninth overall in the tournament, Sasaki had a rethink and felt that the squad needed a player of Sawa's experience for the upcoming Finals in Canada.
    Sasaki's late change of heart filled Sawa with boy joy and relief.
    "It's a very special feeling to wear the jersey of the national team," Sawa said. "I want to play for the team and for Japan in order to get a good result in the World Cup."
    With her recent injury concerns, is Sawa ready to go in the tournament? She certainly looked the part at training, cutting a striking figure with her long ponytail, and the veteran feels she's ready to play a key role once again for Japan on the world stage, but she's not taking anything for granted.
    "I am ready to play 90 minutes but it depends on the head coach," Sawa continued. "It's his decision whether I will play on the pitch or not but I am ready."
    As defending champions, a lot of eyes will be on Japan to see if they can follow in Germany's footsteps and win back to back titles.
    Watching them train, they come across as a slick, well-oiled machine, running relentless, productive and impressive attacking drills. Despite sitting fourth in FIFA's Women World Rankings, they'll be hard to beat if they can play to their best. But just how much improvement should we expect to see from the team from four years ago?
    "That's something that I want you to see in the games!," Sawa joked. "That's difficult for me to explain."
    The group stage should prove to be little concern for Japan. Drawn alongside Ecuador (ranked 48th in the world) and Cameroon (ranked 53rd), their toughest game will be their first one against Switzerland tonight.
    The Swiss are ranked 19th in the world and do pose a threat after a strong qualifying campaign that saw them go undefeated, recording nine wins and one draw, banging in 53 goals in the process and conceding just one.
    Japan may be the favourites, but they're not taking anything for granted against the Swiss.
    "Switzerland are newcomers to the World Cup, but they're one of the strongest teams in Europe," Sawa said of the match. "Even though we have won the title four years ago, we are still challengers. We'll respect Switzerland and we want to show our style of football."
    We'll see just what that is, and what threat the Swiss pose, at 7pm this evening at BC Place.
    Michael Mccoll
    We told you it was a busy show, so have a listen!
    You can listen to this, and all previous, episodes of the podcast on iTunes HERE.
    Or download it for your later listening delight HERE.
    We also have an iPhone app, so you can now add our podcast to your phone as an app. Visit the podcast's mobile site HERE and then at the bottom of the screen just click the "Quick Launch" icon and the podcast will be added to your home screen and appear as an app.
    And if that's not enough, we're on Stitcher Radio Network. Download the app and listen to the AFTN podcast on your device, along with over 20,000 other shows HERE.
    Or after all that, you could just listen on the player below!

    Michael Mccoll
    REPORT:
    Los Angeles Galaxy's last defeat at the StubHub Center came on March 8th last year in a 1-0 First Kick defeat to Real Salt Lake. That was 29 games and counting, in all competitions, as Vancouver Whitecaps headed to Carson, California.
    'Caps coach Carl Robinson has said post match that records are made to be broken, so why couldn't it be them? No reason at all as it turned out.
    Kekuta Manneh's 32nd minute strike was the difference between the two teams on the night, but Vancouver had the far better chances throughout, hitting on the counter and squandering their opportunities to win by a few. That's still a concern, but that's also for another time.
    After making six changes to his starting line-up for the midweek loss in Montreal, Robinson returned his big hitters for this one, against a weakened, but still strong, LA side.
    The home side had the better of the early going without creating any real threat to David Ousted's goal.
    Goalmouth action in general was hard to come by, with both defences mopping up whatever was coming towards them.
    The game needed a spark. It came in the 32nd minute and opened the scoring for Vancouver.
    Manneh collected the ball inside his own half, playing it forward to Octavio Rivero who took a few touches before playing it back out wide to the winger. The Gambian had been a handful for the Galaxy defence to start the match and gave them more trouble, cutting inside of a backing off Omar Gonzalez before firing home past Brian Rowe from the edge of the box.
    The young speedster was having an impressive game, both in attack and with a strong defensive shift, and he nearly set Cristian Techera up for the second with four minutes of the half remaining, but the Uruguayan fierce strike was touched off the near post by Rowe.
    A strong first half by Vancouver, and keeping themselves tight in the second was now the key.
    As it turned out, LA didn't really look all that threatening in the final third and Vancouver continued to have the best chances, just not taking them and killing the game off.
    Manneh had a chance to add a second ten minutes into the second half, when he sprung the Galaxy defence, but his first touch let him down and allowed Rowe to come out quickly and block the danger.
    Robbie Keane came close moments later, as you wondered how costly a miss Manneh's could be. But there was more, and worse, to come!
    Sub Alan Gordon came within inches of getting his toe on a dangerous Stefan Ishizaki ball across goal in the 63rd minute, in a lucky escape for the 'Caps.
    As LA pressed, Vancouver should have made it two in the 72nd minute on a quick counter-attack.
    Rivero received a pass from Pedro Morales just inside the 'Caps half, easily turned Leonardo and bore down on goal on a two-on-one break with the 'Caps captain. With Rowe narrowing the angle, the Uruguayan made the perfect pass inside to Morales but the Chilean could only look on in anguish as his shot crashed off the left post with the goal gaping.
    The rebound fell to Rivero but took an awkward bounce and LA cleared the danger.
    The Galaxy nearly made them pay, but Keane was unable to connect on a long ball forward.
    It was deja vu with seven minutes remaining when Rivero found himself on another two-on-one break, this time with sub Darren Mattocks, but the strikers ball inside was too hard for the Jamaican to get on to.
    A concerning as the misses are, it wasn't to matter and the Caps held on for a historic win.
    Vancouver now go into a bye week and two weeks rest until their next match away to New York Red Bulls on June 20th. It just got a lot more enjoyable for them. Psychologically, this result could be massive.
    FINAL SCORE: Los Angeles Galaxy 0 - 1 Vancouver Whitecaps
    ATT: 20,219
    LOS ANGELES: Brian Rowe; Oscar Sorto, Omar Gonzalez, Leonardo, Baggio Husidic; Stefan Ishizaki, Juninho, Mika Vayrynen (Kenney Walker 56), Ignacio Maganto (Sebastian Lletget 75); Robbie Keane, Edson Buddle (Alan Gordon 60) [subs Not Used: Andrew Wolverton, A.J. DeLaGarza, Tommy Meyer, Rafael Garcia]
    VANCOUVER: David Ousted; Steven Beitashour, Kendall Waston, Pa Modou Kah, Jordan Harvey; Matias Laba (Russell Teibert 75), Gershon Koffie, Cristian Techera, Pedro Morales (Darren Mattocks 80), Kekuta Manneh (Mauro Rosales 75); Octavio Rivero [subs Not Used: Paolo Tornaghi, Christian Dean, Nicolás Mezquida, Robert Earnshaw]
    REACTION:
    VANCOUVER WHITECAPS
    On how it feels to get the win tonight:
    "It feels very good; it feels very nice after a long road trip in Montreal on Wednesday and then coming here against the champs, 29 games unbeaten. I challenged them before the game, I said 'you got to believe you can do it', because I firmly believed we could, and I was proved right."
    On the play of Kekuta Manneh tonight:
    "I thought he was excellent, if you look and see what he does off the ball well, his movement, his patterns are getting better, on the defensive side he is getting better and obviously he could have maybe scored another goal or two because he got through once or twice and his touch let him down. With all young players, they make mistakes, it is important you work with them and you continue to evolve with them and we will continue to do that with him. Octavio [Rivero] put two on a plate, one for Pedro [Morales] which he hit the post, Cristian [Techera] was a constant threat, and then Mauro came on and showed passing range as well. I am delighted for the boys because we put a lot of work in this week."
    On the performance of the defence tonight:
    "Excellent, really really was positive with them, because if you do you jobs correctly, individually and collectively then you have a chance to win any game and you rely on your forwards to take chances. Kendall and Pa were excellent, we know Los Angeles likes to attack the fullbacks and get width that way, you have to defend your box and we did that very well today. All of the guys in the locker room deserve a huge pat on the back for their performance tonight."
    On moving forward after this win:
    [On TSN radio] "It's important that we keep a perspective on this. We'll keep our feet ground. I don't get too excited when we get a really, really good result and I don't get too beat up when we don't get a very good result. What's important to me is performance. Over the first period of this season, our performance levels have been pretty high for three quarters of the time. When we come back I've got to make sure that we can kick on again because the quality and belief in the squad, if it continues to improve on a daily basis, on a weekly basis, then we'll hopefully get to where we want to get to."
    KEKUTA MANNEH
    On the team's performance tonight:
    "I thought it was great, we played as a team like we always want to. It was a great result, we have never won here I heard, so it was a good win for us going into the break and we can put our feet up and relax. It was a really good win for us."
    On matching up with Omar Gonzalez:
    "The first time I took him outside, second one I took him inside and on the goal he probably didn't know where I was going to go. I talked about it with the coaching staff and the players, they told me 'you have a lot of potential', but you have to learn the game, go in and out on the defenders and it will be difficult for defenders to predict where you are going to go, so that is what I did. The first two opened up the goal. I had made up my mind, talking with the coaches since last year, just have the ball on your feet, make your mind up, decide what you are going to do before you have the ball and that is what I have been working on and finally pulled it off today."
    On getting the victory going into a bye week:
    "It's really big, like I said we had never won here so it was extra joy for us, but it is a really good win. I don't know where we are standing on the table but I think we are up there now, it is a good win, we can have a week off and everybody go where everybody want to go and then come back and get ready for New York."
    MAURO ROSALES
    On the match tonight:
    "I am obviously very about the team and how we worked, that kind of game makes us think how good this team can be, we just have to believe in this team and believe in the work that we do every day to become a good team. The Los Angeles Galaxy, and this stadium, and their fans, they had a 29 game unbeaten streak, it was a very good game for us, and the motivation was perfect for us. I have high praise for the guys and collectively we were very sharp and focused. We did what we had to do to win this game, and we did what we need to do to win these kinds of games in this environment. If we want to become a very good team, we have to win games like this, so I am very happy for the team."
    On rebounding from the game on Wednesday:
    "We took many positive things from Wednesday, it obviously wasn't the result that we wanted, but we came here with the same mentality, just play in a way to be focused, be together, try to work, and we fought to the end. We did the same in Montreal but we couldn't hold the result last minute, so there were a lot of positive things and I am really happy for the team."
    On winning before the break:
    "Knowing what we did today, we have to come after the break with the same mentality, with the same willingness to go and commit to become a good team. This is the halfway point of the season, but nothing is going to be OK if we just take everything we have done up to this moment and throw it away. We need to keep moving forward, we need to keep moving to the level that we want to be at and everybody knows that. Everybody obviously is going to take a rest, we had too many games and we need that break and it is going to help us charge our batteries for the last part of the season."
    LA GALAXY
    BRUCE ARENA
    On having zero shots on goal:
    “I don’t think it was from a lack of effort, we should have shot a few more times. They did a good job, got a lot of players behind the ball, made it tough in and around the penalty area to their credit.”
    On tonight’s match:
    “Conceding that goal in the first half, it was tailor made for their team. The way they play, and with their speed on the counter, and we gave away a ball in our middle third of the field and they got a goal. They certainly did a very good job having good numbers behind the ball, and countering us in the second half. We had some chances to have a little bit better quality, perhaps create a few dangerous chances, but we fell short.”
    On Vancouver’s centre of defence:
    “They played well. Obviously they are very good in the air and they dominated us there. We weren’t good enough on the ball to play around them.”
    On Robbie Keane’s fitness:
    “Well he is just coming back from being away for two months. I think we’re doing the best we can; it’s been a little bit of a patchwork job in the first half of the season. That’s unfortunate, but that’s the way it goes. No excuses, but we’re a little bit short handed in a lot of the spots on the field and it shows with some of our quality. He’d probably tell you that the last 20 minutes were pretty rough for him. We had to be aggressive with our substitutions to try and get a goal. I decided to keep Robbie out there. It might have been a little too much for him, but it’s probably good for him to get the 90 minutes in.”
    On Kekuta Manneh:
    “He was pretty much their dangerous player in the first half. A couple times, he burned us and we got caught on the goal. He is a good player. Perhaps we could have been a little bit better on a few of those plays. We stopped him a couple times, but the goal, give him credit. He did well to get the goal.”
    ROBBIE KEANE
    On having zero shots on goal:
    “We didn’t play obviously as well as we had too. They played well, give them credit. The game plan’s to stop the balls in the middle. Go through the middle. They defended well so full credit to them, they deserved to win the game”
    On Vancouver:
    “They have pace. When you’ve got pace like that, it very hard for defenders. Especially with someone who is quick with the ball. It’s hard to defend against so they did that very well.”
    On inconsistent season:
    “We’re still in there, so it’s no crisis. We’re inconsistent, but we’re still there in the pack which is the most important considering the inconsistency that we’ve been playing. So as long as we’re there, and everybody gets fit, more minutes that people get on the field, and all the players that come in, I think you’ll see a different Galaxy side. But full credit to the players that have been working their socks off, it’s been a difficult few months. But the players are showing a lot of character. Even tonight, we kept pushing and pushing to get that goal, it didn’t happen. Naturally, when you do that, of course they are going to get chances on the counterattack.”
    OMAR GONZALEZ
    On losing against Vancouver twice this season:
    “I thought they were very organized. I though tonight they played very well. They came here with a set tactic and they played it very well where they got everyone behind the ball. They clogged holes, we couldn’t find Robbie [Keane], we couldn’t find Edson [buddle], and we were just going side trying to open them up but they shifted as a team very well and didn’t allow us to break them up too much. Unlucky on a pass and [Kekuta] Manneh picks it up and just takes off and I tried to take him to the outside and he just cut inside really quickly and got a shot off and that’s how that goal happened.”
    On Kekuta Manneh’s play:
    “I know he likes to cut inside so I made sure to take him outside and close the angle but there was a time where he was more central so I was vulnerable to both sides and I allowed him to cut inside a bit more and that’s why he was able to get open on that shot.”
    On whether Manneh is the fastest player in MLS:
    “[He is] definitely one of them. He is up there with [Fabian] Castillo, fast with the ball. There’s a few guys in this league who are very fast without the ball and also with the ball and those guys are very dangerous.”
    On Vancouver’s counter attacks in second half:
    “The reason why they got so many counter attacks later in the second half is because we’re just going for broke. It’s either going to be 1-1, or 3-0. We wanted to tie the game so we have to take chances and we took chances by sending players forward and we just kept on losing the ball. We didn’t have the quality up front tonight and so we kept on coughing it up and they kept on going on counters. It’s a tale of us not being sharp enough and them making the most of our mistakes.”
    On getting no shots on goal tonight:
    “Obviously we had a tough one. I think it was a long month of May. Maybe guys were a bit tired and we just have to bounce back, I know we will, and it’s going to be a tough game in Columbus. Long travel and we just have to bite down and just grind another win."
    STEFAN ISHIZAKI
    On Vancouver:
    “I know that they were going to play on the counter, and they did. They didn’t have many chances in the game, but they got the goal and that’s all that counts in this game. They are very, very tight. Especially in the center of the field; they are playing with a tight back four and then two guys sitting in front. It made it really hard to find our strikers and really get any possession centrally on their field. We didn’t play the ball fast enough to the wings and we didn’t cross it early enough. Especially in the first half, we played a little bit too slow. We played better in the second half and penetrated them a little, and we did have chances even though we didn’t have any shots on goal, we did have our chances. With a little bit more luck, we could have scored, and maybe even gone for a second goal. But I give credit to them; they played a good game and tactically very smart."
    On tonight’s match:
    “I thought we did well the second half. We switched it, and we had a couple of crosses. But obviously sometimes you can’t just cross it in the area because they have two big men there centrally. [Kendall] Waston and [Pa-Modou] Kah are big guys who are really good at heading the ball. But I thought we had a couple of good chances and Ignacio beat his man a couple of times, went down the line. I did a combination plays with Keane a couple of times, and I went around my guy a couple of times. We were a lot more dangerous the second half.”
    Michael Mccoll
    This isn't the first football World Cup to be played on artificial turf. Finland hold that "honour" in 2003 when ten of the matches in the U17 Men's World Cup were played on such pitches, including the final. Two years later, Peru hosted the whole tournament on them and Canada played several games at the Men's U20 World Cup in 2007 on the surface.
    In the Women's game, the 2012 and 2014 U17 World Cups were played on the surface in Azerbaijan and Costa Rica, as was last year's U20 World Cup here in Canada.
    Elsewhere, a number of World Cup and EURO qualifiers have been played on non grass pitches.
    It doesn't make it right, that's an argument for another time for this grass lover, but it does show the growing acceptance of the pitches around the world.
    What that means is that a number of women in this year's World Cup have played on an artificial pitch, whether at international or club level. The flip side of that though is that the vast majority likely haven't and as such, their unfamiliarity with such surfaces could very well impact their performances and their team's results.
    As of Thursday, all bar six teams had already arrived in Canada to acclimatise to both surroundings, time zones and football turf.
    How used can you get to such a surface in a short period of time if you've never set foot on one before? Or seldom have? It will certainly give some teams and some players a competitive advantage.
    But what can you do? Well you could moan a lot like Abby Wambach or you could say ok, this is the hand we've been dealt, let's get on with it. And that's just what Australia have done, going as far as to say, well if you can't beat them, join them in the whole turf debate, and having a special artificial surface constructed for them to play and practice on ahead of the World Cup.
    "We were lucky enough to have one built for us back in Australia," Matilda's midfielder Katrina Gorry told AFTN. "We've been training on it pretty much since January. So we've had a bit of experience in the last six months. Obviously America and Canada pretty much play all their games on turf so they're probably more experienced on it.
    "But in the last six months, we've had a lot of experience on it. We've come to terms that we're going to be playing on it so that's not really in our minds any more, we're just here to play. The turf is just a part of it."
    That certainly seems to be the right attitude to have.
    The reigning World Cup Champions, Japan, have BC Place as their home for two of their group games, and maybe more as the tournament goes on. They seem pretty unfazed by the whole turf issue.
    Former Women's Player of the Year and 2011 World Cup winner, Homare Sawa, is non-plussed by the fuss surrounding the artificial surfaces and the woman regarded as the best Japanese player of all time is in fact very used to playing on such pitches from her many years playing in the US and with her current club, INAC Kobe Leonessa.
    "I train on artificial grass when I train with my club in Kobe every day," Sawa told reporters through a translator at training on Tuesday. "So it's just natural to me."
    Japan coach Norio Sasaki takes that attitude a step further and feels that the turf will actually be a benefit to his team because of the way that they play their football.
    "Japan has had a training camp in Japan for two weeks before coming to Canada," Sasaki told reporters through a translator. "We trained on grass rather than artificial turf. For Japan, we don't think that we need to change the style of football. It's kind of like an advantage for Japan because we move the ball a lot compared to other countries."
    We'll get a good idea just how much of an advantage or a leveller Canada's turf pitches will be for certain teams pretty soon.
    We'll also get an idea of just how the pitches are accepted across the world with a view to future tournaments being held on artificial surfaces.
    Will we ever see a senior men's World Cup played completely on football turf? You still feel it's unlikely, but if one ever is, Canada will be remembered for leading the way.
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