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AFTN started in Scotland in 1989 in the thriving UK football fanzine scene. Now a website, blog and podcast on both sides of the Atlantic, AFTN's Canadian content is primarily Vancouver Whitecaps focused.
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McKendry underwent surgery for a meniscal tear of his left knee in August. The recovery took a little longer than hoped and the 23-year-old was still rehabbing when the 'Caps preseason camp got underway in January and didn't make his first USL appearance of the season until week two, when he came on as a late second half sub in Portland. But after a lot of hard work and patience, McKendry is back to his best and keen to make an impact in Wednesday's match with the Fury. "The first thing that comes to mind is that it's an opportunity for me to showcase myself," McKendry told AFTN. "I've developed a lot, even over the time when I was injured, I was watching, studying the first team games and trying to get better, even though I was not playing. Now, I'm looking forward to being involved and getting some opportunities." McKendry has looked excellent for WFC2 so far this season, scoring two goals in his six appearances to date, both of them cracking strikes. A lot of players take a little bit of time to readjust to the game when they come back from a long term injury, but McKendry has looked to be even sharper and hungrier than he was before. He looks to have moved up another level and more than ready for MLS minutes. "I think I've just matured a little bit," McKendry told us. "That's been the biggest thing. Last season I think I was a little bit, maybe, overly anxious at times. Now, it's clear to me what I bring to this club and where I can be successful from the midfield position." Robinson has long been an admirer of the Residency alumni. That was what triggered his desire to get McKendry to come out of college a year early and sign a MLS deal. He's previously told us that he fully believes that the midfielder has what it takes to become a MLS staple for the club in years to come, something which his USL coach, Alan Koch, also has no doubts about. "We haven't seen Ben as much as we would have liked," Koch told AFTN after Sunday's draw with Real Monarchs. "He's still been struggling to get through a couple of knocks, then going away with the national team. I thought today he was very, very industrious. He was wanting to get on the ball, he brought a lot of energy to the field. He was one of our best players through the 60 minutes that he played, which is great. "We continue to see him improve and the more performances that he puts in like today, the more questions he'll ask of Robbo and hopefully get a chance in the first team at some stage." McKendry's recent performances have also seen him back in the Canadian fold for the first time in over two years. Having previously worn the red and white of Canada at U18 and U20 level, McKendry hasn't been involved with the national team program since being part of the U20 team that took part in the CONCACAF U20 Championship in Mexico in February 2013. He scored a goal in the 5-1 win over Nicaragua in his only appearance in that tournament. U23 coach Michael Findlay included McKendry in Canada's recent Caribbean tour, with the midfielder scoring in the 3-0 win over Grenada, with a similar goal to his strike against Real Monarchs on Sunday. And overall he found it an enjoyable experience to be back with the national team program. "It was great," McKendry said of the experience. "It was good to be in with the national team. The coaching staff were great and the other players were great as well. I guess we have to get used to travelling all over the place. We were in Guyana, which was an interesting experience, then we had to go to Grenada. Getting used to the travel, with being in CONCACAF, is important." Experience is all part of McKendry's growth and going through a long term injury like he did last year has certainly given him a new perspective on things. It's also an experience he can draw on to help others, including his room-mate Christian Dean, who agonisingly suffered a knee injury last week in training, just days after returning from a foot injury that had seen the centre back miss out on the year so far. It's heartbreaking for Dean, who is one of the most genuine and nicest players you'll find on the 'Caps rosters, but McKendry has been there for him at this difficult time and he feels his room-mate will come back hungrier and stronger like he did. "Yeah, I talked about it a little bit with him," McKendry told us. "A similar injury I think. He got a little bit on the knee. You've just got to stay focused and do what you can to get back as soon as possible. Ice, rest. He'll be back stronger." McKendry's eyes right now are fully focussed on the next two Canadian Championship games with Ottawa and making a case for his first MLS minutes soon. That MLS playing time is his key goal, and will remain so, but right now, he's also thoroughly enjoying being part of the exciting and unbeaten USL side. That's been helping take his game to that other level, with confidence abounding around the team. "I think the difference is we go into every single game expecting three points," McKendry admitted. "Whether on the road or at home here, we expect three points and nothing less. We're disappointed with a draw. They're confident. "The young guys are incredible - Kadin [Chung]. Tommy [Gardner], Alphonso [Davies]. Kyle [Greig] has been a great acquisition. He's banging in goals. It's a great group to be a part of."
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REPORT (by Steve Pandher): A strong start wasn't enough for the Whitecaps to get the full three points and in the end a short-handed Vancouver side had to hold on to a 1-1 draw against Sporting Kansas City at BC Place on Wednesday night. It was a tale of two debut MLS goals, with Christian Bolaños scoring his first as a Cap, while Diego Rubio replied for the visitors. The home side looked to open the scoring early when Masato Kudo almost converted a Cristian Techera cross, with the ball being slightly deflected by Matt Besler away from the striker. Ten minutes later the Whitecaps would strike first off a set piece as Techera's corner found an open Bolaños who side-volleyed his shot past the keeper. That lead didn't last long as Sporting drew even before the half hour mark when Rubio collected a shot/pass from Lawrence Olum and beat David Ousted from in close. Kansas City almost took the lead only a few minutes later after a poor giveaway by Matias Laba led to an attempt by Olum that was stopped by Ousted and then cleared off the line by Tim Parker before Rubio could get to it. Kudo got another chance moments later but once again Besler was able to get a foot in and deny the pass from Techera. The second half couldn't have started any worse for the Whitecaps, with Kendall Waston getting sent off for a second yellow card in the 51st minute, after a poor back pass from Parker forced the Costa Rican to go in for an awkward challenge that was penalized by the referee. The remainder of the match saw Sporting Kansas City control the majority of play and look dangerous, but they were unable to create any clear chances and both clubs ended up splitting the points. Vancouver will only have a few days to regroup with a long trip to the east coast coming up and a match against New York City FC on Saturday. FINAL SCORE: Vancouver Whitecaps 1 – 1 Sporting Kansas City ATT: 18,836 VANCOUVER: David Ousted; Fraser Aird, Kendall Waston, Tim Parker, Jordan Harvey; Matías Laba, Russell Teibert; Christian Bolaños (Kekuta Manneh 78), Pedro Morales (Pa-Modou Kah 54), Cristian Techera; Masato Kudo (Octavio Rivero 65) [substitutes not used: Paolo Tornaghi, Nicolás Mezquida, Andrew Jacobson, Blas Pérez] KANSAS CITY: Alec Kann; Saad Abdul Salaam, Nuno Andre Coelho, Matt Besler, Amadou Dia; Benny Feilhaber, Lawrence Olum, Roger Espinoza; Jimmy Medranda (Graham Zusi 75), Diego Rubio (Dom Dwyer 57), Connor Hallisey (Brad Davis 64) [substitutes not used: Tim Melia, Ike Opara, Seth Sinovic, Jacob Peterson] REACTION: VANCOUVER WHITECAPS CARL ROBINSON On points won or lost: “I’m not sure. I just said that to the guys in there, I’m not sure whether to be happy, to be sad, to be frustrated, annoyed. You know I thought we played very very well in the first half. I thought we played some of our [most] exciting stuff as we have done. We got our noses in front. Credit to them. They got back in the game, but that shouldn’t happen from us. We switched off the second phase. When you do that against good teams you get caught. It was pleasing but disappointing in the first half. Second half is just a catalogue of errors from us. We.ve got to make sure that we don’t to that too many times, because three times in nine games we’ve played with 10 men. We haven’t conceded a goal, which is good. So the character shown towards the end of the game is phenomenal from that group in there, especially when their backs are against the wall. So, pleased from me in that respect, but we’ll brush ourselves down again and we’ll go on a nice long trip tomorrow.” On the two yellow cards on Kendall: “I’ve got no complaints about the second yellow card. I think it’s a poor decision, not just by Kendall, but from a number of players that were made. I just got told the first card is not a yellow card. So that’s a frustrating thing for me. But there was a number of frustrating things, because there was tackles that were missed, and there was a hand ball on the floor when my guy’s breaking through, which was missed. And I tried to ask the referee at the end of the game, but he didn’t want to shake my hand. So, that might tell you something.” On team discipline and inability to field a steady line-up: “That’s a frustrating thing. You want to try to get into a rhythm and a groove, and we’re nine games in and we haven’t able to field a settled team. Is it the discipline? I think you look across the league generally, which I do because you’ve got to review games and look at games, but all you can do is focus on yourself. Do my team need to be better, do we need to be better? Yeah, ok, I’ll accept that. But if the sending off today has been caused by a yellow card, which was deservedly so, and a non-yellow card, then I think I can’t really criticise their discipline. If it’s a blatant red card, then by all means. You know we had one of them in Kansas City away, I think it was a red card. I’ll accept that and I’ll take the blame for that.” CHRISTIAN BOLANOS On his goal: “Even me, I was surprised. It was difficult but I just tried to shoot in the goal. I was lucky to put the ball just in the corner and very happy for make my first goal.” RUSSELL TEIBERT On getting into the starting line-up at home: “I told another reporter when the national anthem was playing before the game, what was going through my mind was my first game at Empire Stadium and you know you get goosebumps on your body thinking about it. But I remember just the sound of the fans on the opening day and you know it kind of felt like opening day all over again for me just because I’d been out for a little while. It’ll always be a pleasure to play in front of the home fans whether it was at Empire or at BC Place today. It’ll always feel special.” On whether it was points lost or won: “We got down to 10 men, but again we’ve shown in the past, I think we’ve been down to 10 men three times this year and we can still play when we’re down a man. I think the game was there for us in the first half, maybe we should’ve capitalized on a couple of chances. You know we did have a couple times where we lacked focus but that’s the way the game goes. I think after we go down to 10 men we showed a lot of character to not get scored on and to finish the game and get a point out of it. But with that we still looked dangerous and we still had a couple chances and we could’ve capitalized on it and took three points in there.” SPORTING KANSAS CITY PETER VERMES On tonight’s match: “We were a little bit beat up from our game on Sunday, we were depleted. It was a hot day, we weren’t used to it. It’s not very hot in Kansas City at the moment so we haven’t really had a chance to acclimate to it. I actually thought we brought pretty good energy playing away from home. Getting a point, yeah it’s ok, but whenever you go up a man you always want more. I thought we actually got a couple opportunities here and there but they did a good job, they were really compact in the middle and also compact in their two lines. They made it really difficult for us to go up through the middle. Everything was wide and that made it difficult. Any time you go on the road in this league and get a point, it’s a pretty good thing.” On not creating more chances after Zusi and Davis subbed on: “Sometimes the rhythm, it’s hard for them, they come in late and they’re not in the rhythm of the game. It would be nice for them to have a little more but like I said, many times as a player and as a coach, you’re in a situation where you’re playing up a man and you are playing against a team that is extremely galvanized in their way that they’re now going to defend the game, and so there’s not a lot of space. It’s difficult to break a team down. Probably the one thing that we weren’t good at it, was when they surged forward, we needed to get at them a little bit quicker so that they couldn’t get behind the ball. Outside of that, everything else is what it is.” Thoughts on Rubio’s performance: “He’s played a couple of games now, he was pressing way too hard to score, it’s what he wanted to do so bad, and I thought it took him out of his game and I had a long talk with him and I just said ‘listen, you’ve got a lot of other things that you bring to our team, and when you get your chance it will come, you don’t have to force it.’ I thought today, he did a lot of other things for us in the game outside of scoring, but I also think it was good for his confidence to put one in the back of the net. And for any goalscorer that’s an important aspect.” On goalkeeper Alec Cann: “It was an important move for us to give him a shot to play because we had two more competitions we’re going to have to play in with the U.S. Open Cup and also Champions League in the summer time. So we’ve really got to rely on both keepers and we really haven’t had a chance to play him play him yet in a game with us, so I thought he did a good job. There’s nothing he could have done about the first goal, it was a great finish. Bad marking on our part but tremendous finish. It wasn’t his fault. Outside of that I thought he managed the game real well.” ALEC KANN On tonight’s match: “It’s good to battle back and get a point away from home. I’m proud of the guys and the way they fought the whole game.” On having a man advantage for 40 minutes: “You can’t be too disappointed with a point away from home no matter what the circumstances. We would have obviously loved to get three to take back to Kansas City, but a point is very important, especially at this point in the season.” On upcoming game against LA Galaxy: “Just keep training hard. We have a quick turnaround, so just rest the legs and be ready for Sunday.” DIEGO RUBIO: On tonight’s match: “Everybody told me that it is always difficult to play here in Vancouver. Of course they were playing with 10 players for I think 30 minutes, so of course we are supposed to win. I think we made the effort, but that happens in football. They tried to defend the last 30 minutes and they did a good job.” On coming away with a draw: “Of course we are disappointed, we always want to win. This team always works to win so of course we are disappointed in a draw.”
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Montreal's Maxim Tissot saw his first minutes of the year, coming on as a first half time sub, just 20 minutes in, during the Impact's loss to TFC. Russell Teibert made a massive two minute appearance for Vancouver, but that was "bettered" by Toronto's Mo Babouli who managed one whole minute! The weekend's full contributions by Canadians reads as follows. Orlando's two goals in their 3-2 loss in New York both came courtesy of Canadian players. One from each team! Cyle Larin opened the scoring just three minutes in, before the Red Bulls hit back with three unanswered goals. Karl Ouimette brought the game back to within one again when he turned the ball into his own net with six minutes remaining. You can watch both below. Will Johnson got his second assist of the season on Sebastian Giovinco's second goal for TFC in Montreal. In the updated season so far standings, Vancouver's Fraser Aird continues to lead the way in appearances and overall minutes played, making his seventh start and eighth appearance of the year in the 'Caps 3-0 win against Dallas and taking his minutes for the season to 668. Cyle Larin leads Canadians in MLS with four goals so far this season, while Dallas' Tesho Akindele and Toronto's Will Johnson lead the way with two assists each. Larin also leads the Canadian players in both shots (16) and shots on goal (9). Here's the full 'Canadians In MLS' totals after week eight.
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REPORT (by Steve Pandher): The Whitecaps ended their three game winless and 372 minute goalless streaks with a 3-0 victory over league leading FC Dallas. After a Maynor Figueroa own goal gave Vancouver the lead in the first half, the 'Caps got goals from Jordan Harvey and Kekuta Manneh, the latter being their first that a Whitecaps players has scored from open play this season. However it was a different story to start the match, with the visitors controlling the majority of play and chances, either missing them by the slightest of margins or being robbed by the outstanding play of David Ousted who earned the cleansheet with another 'man of the match' performance. Five minutes after Ousted's first big save of the night, a stunning acrobatic tip over of a looping Maxi Urruti effort, the Whitecaps got on the board when Manneh sent in the ball from the left side of the box which Chris Seitz punched out. (Un)fortunately it was sent right into the path of a retreating Figueroa who had the ball come off his chest into the net giving the 'Caps the lead into the half. Minutes after the restart, Dallas came close to drawing even but Ousted came up huge with a reflex save from a shot by Michael Barrios from just inside the six yard area. After another big stop by Ousted after the hour mark, the home side doubled their lead in the 63rd minute when Jordan Harvey collected the ball from a corner and fired it past defenders and the keeper to get his second of the season. Vancouver would put the match to bed 15 minutes later when Manneh would be sent in alone by second half sub Blas Perez's first touch of the match. The winger beat the charging Seitz to the ball and slipped it past him for his first of the season. The Whitecaps will have little time to savour the victory as they return to B.C Place on Wednesday to face Sporting Kansas City, but it will do wonders for their confidence and self belief moving forward in a stretch of four home matches in a five game spell. FINAL SCORE: Vancouver Whitecaps 3 - 0 FC Dallas ATT: 22,120 (sell out) VANCOUVER: David Ousted; Fraser Aird, Kendall Waston, Tim Parker, Jordan Harvey; Matias Laba, Andrew Jacobson, Cristian Techera (Christian Bolanos 80), Nicolas Mezquida (Russell Teibert 88), Kekuta Manneh; Octavio Rivero (Blas Perez 77) [subs Not Used: Paolo Tornaghi, Sam Adekugbe, Pa-Modou Kah, Masato Kudo] DALLAS: Chris Seitz; Atiba Harris, Zach Loyd, Walker Zimmerman, Maynor Figueroa; Michael Barrios (Kellyn Acosta 74), Victor Ulloa (Mauro Díaz 71), Carlos Gruezo, Fabian Castillo; Maximiliano Urruti, Tesho Akindele [subs Not Used: Jesse Gonzalez, Ryan Hollingshead, Juan Esteban Ortiz, Carlos Lizarazo, Mauro Rosales] REACTION: VANCOUVER WHITECAPS CARL ROBINSON On tonight’s match: “We scored one goal from open play today, so I’m delighted. We win a game of football. I say this and don’t make a big thing of it. It’s about winning games and I know that, I understand that. We won the game today with a little bit of luck, which we haven’t had in one or two weeks. A good set piece goal and then a fantastic Blas Perez touch and Kekuta Manneh on the run. It’s nice, we’ll take it, but we’ll move on. It’s three points, we’ll move on, we’ve got a big game on Wednesday.” On the team’s improvement: “It doesn’t help and make it easier, when you’re not scoring as many goals as you’d like, but you go through ruts, as a group of players, as a club. Sometimes it goes against you and doesn’t go your way, but you focus on performance. We did that last week. We were well below our standard at DC United and I was the first to admit that and take responsibility for that. Last week, we were a lot better. I think we should have gotten something out of the game and we didn’t. Again, no excuses. Today, we rode our luck a little bit, but they’re a good team. They’ve got good players, but today we showed that we are.” On David Ousted’s crucial performance: “You know, I think his job is to keep the ball out of the net. So, he did what he’s paid for. He did his job very well today. As did Kendall [Waston] and Tim [Parker], and the two fullbacks. We’re playing against three or four top players in the league today. But, the one save is phenomenal. I’ll let him talk about it because I’m sure he’ll be up here or whatever. So, excellent save, but he did his job, which is good.” On the difference for Kekuta Manneh and Cristian Techera tonight: “A little bit of confidence, I think we’re getting up to the levels that we know we can play. They both probably should have scored at certain times. Kekuta gets his goal. Cristian, if the dink goes in, the little lob, then everyone is raving about it. You know, we haven’t scored as many goals as we’d like and I keep getting reminded of that. We’ve got to just keep going, the wide players, the forward players, they’ve just got to keep going and the goals will come.” On whether he was happy that it was Kekuta Manneh who got the goal at the end: “To be fair, I don’t really care who scores from open play. Individually, I think they all want to score, which is good. I think the two or three times that we made the wrong decisions at the wrong time, it was because they want the goal. For him, I think his confidence will grow from that in an important week for us. The other guys should be proud of their work rate as well. Cristian Techera, obviously Octavio Rivero and Nicolas Mezquida as well. I thought he put in a very, very strong performance.” Thoughts on Matias Laba’s performance: “Matias is a top player, we know that. I think sometimes, when he doesn’t play to the level that we used to see in him, everyone sort of jumps on the bandwagon with him. Players don’t go out there to play poorly, they go out there to give their effort and try their very best. And sometimes it’s your day, other times it isn’t. I’m happy with the group of players I have in there on a daily basis.” On whether we saw glimpses of last season in tonight’s performance: “Yeah, maybe. I’ll have to see it again. I’m pleased from today because Dallas are a good team. They come into our place, they’ve scored a lot of goals. I kept getting reminded of that this week that they are the highest scoring team and deservedly so. I’m pleased that we kept a clean sheet and that’s why I said I’ll take one goal and a clean sheet. Houston came into town a couple of weeks ago, when we were missing a couple players and we kept them quiet as well. So we can do it, we just got to do it more consistently than we have in the first seven or eight games.” On whether we should expect to see Pedro Morales soon: “I think there’s a good chance, yeah. Pedro wanted to play today. I thought the guys who played in Salt Lake played very, very well, without any luck. So there is a chance, yeah. Obviously, there will be some new faces on the team on Wednesday. We have a busy week ahead of us. It’ll give us confidence, the three points, but we’ll just chalk it down and move on to the next one. Hopefully, you, we, me will get to see him on Wednesday.” KEKUTA MANNEH On the importance of tonight’s win: “We had a few bad results in the running and we got together and met, and we decided that we need to change things around if we want to have a good season. That happens to teams, they go through bad runs but then they turn things around. We felt like this was our chance, FC Dallas is a good team but they’re going to let us play and if we get chances, we’ll take them. I thought we did that today and this is very exciting, we needed that win.” On the attack breaking through tonight: “For us, we just kept believing. We were creating chances, and if we were not creating chances, we’d be worried but we created a lot, it felt like. The week before that, we knew that it was just going to be a matter of time before we start putting them away. It finally happened today, I’m really excited, and hopefully we can continue that with the game on Wednesday.” DAVID OUSTED On his performance tonight: “I thought I played well today. There were times today that I had to step up and make that save. I’m happy with my performance today.” On how the team responded: “I’ve said in the past few weeks that we were just going through a rough patch and that’s when the leaders of this team step up. It’s when the veterans of this team take responsibility and I think they have. You see a lot of guys step on the pitch tonight wanting to take responsibility and take the ball. The young guys wanted the ball as well, and that’s what it takes. MLS is such a long season that you’ll go through some rough patches, and that’s when the leadership steps up. We got a great locker room. We got everything we need in there to be a successful team but once in a while, it takes the leaders of this team to step up a little bit more.” On his health status after taking a fall in the second half: “I took a little bit of a knock but I didn’t think it was that bad. I’ll visit with the medical staff in the next couple of days but I know I should be fine.” FC DALLAS OSCAR PAREJA: On tonight’s match: “Disappointed. It was one of those nights where we have what we wanted, we created chances. I thought the team looked good, but we were not fine in the last third. We didn’t finalize it in the first half. One of our mistakes and they took it – I would say that in that play that was an accident when the ball hit and it went in. But that’s the game, we have to accept it – it has happened to us before when we don’t create as many options and we’re sharp and effective. Tonight, Vancouver was very effective and I have to recognize that. Especially in the last 15 minutes of the first half when they scored and in the last 15 minutes of the second half when there was the space and they just started taking advantage of that.” On not playing Mauro Rosales in his return to Vancouver: “I considered all those emotional parts of the game, but at the time of the game we have to see just what the unit is that is needed and Mauro is a very important player that we have used and we will use for sure. I think tonight I decided just to keep him there.” On putting Mauro Diaz in after missing four games: “I’m glad to see him finally in the game. Still, we get shortened days of training for him so unfortunately we couldn’t play him the whole time and I wanted to keep our plan with him and have him at 100 per cent. But Mauro came and he looked very good so I’m happy to have him back on the team in full form. We look forward to seeing him in the next month.” On missing Matt Hedges in a game like this: “I mean it would be easy to say that after the disappointment like that defensively. It is normal in the game, when you lose that way that you start to see the pieces that are missing. But we trust in the guys that we want and unfortunately today we were not sharp, especially in the last 20 minutes.” On what they need to work on for the next two road games: “This group has been recognized and I have and people have seen it, that this is a group that has a lot of character. We have a group of players that will bounce back, we have proven that. So when we’re looking forward for the next games, it’s just to get points. It’s not an easy journey in this league. You see how competitive it is in this league, and especially in the conference games. We obviously want to win all the games that we compete in. But today we are going with empty pockets and next week we prepare for New York to get points there.” WALKER ZIMMERMAN On tonight’s match: “I think our locker room is a little disappointed right now. I thought, especially in the first half, we had many chances that if we put away, the game is a little bit different. I don’t think we’re happy about the way the goals went in – a little soft and another set piece goal that we’ve conceded. Overall, pretty disappointed.” On their defensive performance: “They got a few chances, but at the same time I think we definitely put our mark on the game with our chances. I think if one of them went in, like I said, it makes it a little different. Not thrilled with the goals we gave up. I feel like we kind of beat ourselves, but that’s the game sometimes.” On not maximizing on chances: “Credit to Ousted, he had a good night, saved some point blank shots. We had some that just narrowly missed. So we’ll get back to the drawing board. I mean we’re not too concerned – we feel pretty good about the performance we put in.” VICTOR ULLOA On tonight’s match: “We’re leaving with a sour taste. We feel like especially in the first half we created a lot of chances and we just need to be able to tuck them away.” On not finding the back of the net: “I think their keeper made some great saves. We were just unlucky tonight not to be able to put a few away. One miss happened on defence and it cost us a goal – the own goal.” On their defence: “I think in the first half that goal was just unlucky. In the second half, we lost a bit of the organization in the back and in the midfield and it cost us two more mistakes and two more goals.”
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There's a lot of chat to be had, so have a listen! Here's a breakdown of where to listen to each guest in the podcast this week: Benito Floro (04:16) Scott Arfield (13:46) Will Johnson (22:48) Cyle Larin (33:20) Christian Bolaños (42:01) Tim Parker (45:58) Cole Seiler (51:36) 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!
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There's a lot of chat to be had, 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!
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There's a lot of chat to be had, 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!
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To get started, head over to the MLS Fantasy Football site, pick your squad, you team name and join the overall fun. Once that's done, or if you have already set your team up, you can join one or both of AFTN's private leagues. Click LEAGUES on the menu then CREATE AND JOIN NEW LEAGUE then JOIN AN EXISTING LEAGUE / JOIN A LEAGUE then JOIN PRIVATE LEAGUE then enter our appropriate league code below. To enter our Classic League, the code you need is 10200-2431 (Autojoin Link - http://fantasy.mlssoccer.com/?autojoin-code=10200-2431). And to enter our Head to Head League, the code you need is 10200-2433 (Autojoin Link - http://fantasy.mlssoccer.com/?autojoin-code=10200-2433). So join today, spread the word and share it with your friends, and let the battle begin. We'll give you some regular updates over the course of the season. Good luck everyone! And in the meantime, here's some resources to help you on your way to hopefully a successful fantasy season: Fantasy Soccer 101 Fantasy MLS on Reddit MLS Fantasy Boss MLS Fantasy Insider podcast MLS Fantasy Viz
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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!
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Now our knowledge of the women's game has some gaps, so we turn to an expert to look ahead to the tournament and how Canada might fare, as we chat with journalist, and AFTN regular, Harjeet Johal. 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!
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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!
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And catch up with our choices from previous years: 2011 awards / 2012 awards / 2013 awards / 2014 awards ********** AFTN WHITECAPS PLAYER OF THE SEASON : WINNER: DAVID OUSTED - The Dane was basically the reason that the ‘Caps finished where they did, with a string of crucial point winning and point saving stops throughout the year. With 15 clean sheets during the year (13 for the second successive regular season, one in the playoffs and one in the Canadian Championship) his importance is clear. He knows it. The ‘Caps know it. He’ll be back for next season but no deal has been done yet for a contract extension. Whatever he’s looking for, they need to pay it. Runner-up: Cristian Techera Our outfield Player of the Year for sure. After coming to Vancouver in April, Techera showed exceptional qualities during the second half of the season. Finished the year with 7 goals and 5 assists, second on the team in each category. He’s just finding his feet in MLS and we have high hopes of what next season will bring from The Bug. 2014 winner: Pedro Morales 2013 winner: Camilo Sanvezzo 2012 winner: Joe Cannon 2011 winner: Camilo Sanvezzo ********** AFTN WHITECAPS YOUNG PLAYER OF THE SEASON : WINNER: TIM PARKER - When pretty much the whole first team, USL side and Residency qualify for this award, it’s a tough one! We could have given it to Techera. He’s only 23 after all. But since he’s an old man in the squad, we went with a player a year younger. Parker excelled in his rookie season. The best performing first year draftee the ‘Caps have taken. Dislodging a wily veteran and a player brought in from South America as a first choice centre back along the way, Parker finished the season as the ‘Caps starter alongside Kendall Waston and the position is his to lose moving forward. He didn’t look out of place or a rookie in his 17 MLS appearances, all but one of them a start. Also grabbed the ‘Caps first ever CONCACAF Champions League goal. Composed and confident, the best is yet to come from the New Yorker. 2014 winner: Matias Laba 2013 winner: Kekuta Manneh 2012 and 2011 winner: Caleb Clarke ********** WHITECAPS GOAL OF THE SEASON : WINNER: GERSHON KOFFIE v RSL (30/5/15 - 2-1 home win) There were a number of cracking goals this year, a lot of them from defenders, but this has pretty much been the unanimous winner overall. What a strike. We just need him to do these things a lot more often. If he’s still here next year that is, which we don't expect him to be! 2014 winner: Erik Hurtado v Seattle (24/5/14) 2013 winner: Camilo Sanvezzo v Portland (6/10/13) 2012 winner: Darren Mattocks v Toronto (11/7/12) 2011 winner: Eric Hassli v Seattle (11/6/11) ********** WHITECAPS GAME OF THE SEASON : WINNER: 2-0 HOME WIN v LA (04/04/15) There wasn’t really a clear cut winner like previous years. We could have gone, of course, for the win over Montreal that clinched the Voyageurs Cup, just for what it meant. But that wasn’t actually that great a match and it was an understrength Impact side that headed west. The 2-1 win in New York in June was exciting, with two Ousted penalty saves, but the ‘Caps basically struggled against a ten man Red Bulls. In the end, we went for the dominant 2-0 win against LA. It felt like a coming of age win for Carl Robinson’s young side against the defending MLS champs. It was also one that sent the ‘Caps to the top of the Supporters’ Shield standings for the first time, setting up a season where winning it wasn’t a far-fetched thought, but a real possibility. 2014 winner: v Seattle (10/10/14 – 1-0 Cascadia Cup clinching away win) 2013 winner: v Seattle (9/10/13 - 4-1 away thrashing of Sounders) 2012 winner: v San Jose Earthquakes (5/5/12 - 2-1 win at BC Place) 2011 winner: v Kansas City (2/4/11 - 3-3 draw at Empire Field) ********** SAVE OF THE YEAR : WINNER: DAVID OUSTED v PHILADELPHIA (09/05/15 - 3-0 home win) - So many great saves from the Dane this season, including three penalties, but this one just shades it. Did he know too much about it? Of course he did, he'll tell you! 2014 winner: David Ousted v New England (22/3/14 – 0-0 away draw, MLS) 2013 winner: Marco Carducci double save v Victoria Highlanders (28/6/13 - Thunderbird Stadium, PDL) No award in 2011 or 2012. New award last year ********** WHITECAPS TO WATCH IN 2016: WINNER: MARCO BUSTOS - The first two-time winner in this category. This could very well have been his first team breakthrough year but an early season injury derailed Marco’s progress. When he did return, to USL action, he showed what he is capable of with 7 goals, 2 assists and a string of strong performances. Expect more MLS minutes for Bustos next season and that breakthrough year we’re all hoping for. No pressure! Runner-up: Ben McKendry - Another player hindered by injury this season. After signing his first pro contract in January with MLS homegrown deal, McKendry started the USL season a little slow before finding his feet and really hitting his stride. Was expected to get minutes in the Canadian Championship and Champions League games before a season ending injury and an operation has left him waiting another year for his MLS debut. Robinson is a big fan of the BC native, telling us that within two years he expects McKendry to be the box to box midfielder the team will be needing. 3rd: Victor Blasco - Carl Robinson likes what the Spaniard could bring to the MLS squad but just needs to see it on a more consistent basis. Blasco looked good in the early going but once he got his first professional goal, he took his game up to another level, finishing the season with 4 goals and 6 assists. We expect him to get a look in the preseason camp before the 'Caps monitor his progress during another season in the USL. 2014 winner: Marco Bustos 2013 winner: Sam Adekugbe 2012 winner: Ben Fisk 2011 winner: Caleb Clarke ********** HERO OF THE YEAR : WINNER: PA MODOU KAH - We hated him at Portland, we love him in Vancouver. That’s football! We were big fans of what Andy O’Brien brought to the Whitecaps, both in the centre of the defence and in the locker room, but Kah has taken that up a level. A big calming and mentoring influence on Kekuta Manneh’s the pinnacle of Kah’s team spirit came when he bought the entire squad rings to celebrate the club’s first ever Canadian Championship win. Riding around and picking up a medal on a hover board also adds to his awesomeness! 2014 winner: Carl Robinson 2013 winner: Carl Robinson 2012 winner: Young-Pyo Lee 2011 winner: Joe Cannon ********** VILLAIN OF THE YEAR : WINNER: RICARDO SALAZAR- Refereeing in MLS felt worse than it was last year and that's saying something. There were some terrible decisions throughout the league and a lot affecting the 'Caps. Carl Robinson's breaking point seemed to be reached with his epic rant after the loss in KC, but referee Ricardo Salazar's inept performance in the late, late loss to NYC took the biscuit. He was lucky to get out of BC Place in one piece after awarding Frank Lampard as non a penalty as you could imagine. As the bottles rained down on his head postgame, he bizarrely was not disciplined by MLS or PRO. 2014 winner: Mark Geiger 2013 winner: Will Johnson 2012 winner: David Ferreira 2011 winner: Tommy Soehn ********** TACKLE OF THE YEAR: WINNER: MATIAS LABA (at MONTREAL 12/08/15) - Another back to back winner! It was one of those that you just couldn't help sitting at home and screaming "what a tackle" out loud as soon as it happened. It was just such an involuntary reaction and coming with the scores all tied and approaching half time in the Canadian Championship final, a vitally important tackle to boot. Can he grab a hat-trick of wins on 2016? Let's hope we have a few to pick from. You can watch it HERE. 2014 winner: Matias Laba (Home v Dallas 4/10/14) 2013 winner: Nigel Reo-Coker (at San Jose) {new award that year} ********** MISS OF THE YEAR AWARD: WINNER: KEKUTA MANNEH at SAN JOSE (03/10/15) - No matter how many times you watch this, you still find yourself asking "how did he, or someone, not score that". You're in to stoppage time, you're tied at 1-1. you need the three points to keep your Supporters Shield hopes alive, there's second left and then a quick breakaway with the ball at the feet of Manneh on a 2 on 1 surge. What could possibly go wrong? A lot as it turned out. Thankfully not as costly as we feared at the time, but lucky it wasn't. This one will likely still give Kekuta the sweats every time he thinks about it! (Watch below from the 3:20 mark) Runner-up: Octavio Rivero (home v Toronto 07/03/2015) - Now we're also going to include a runner-up here as it was very close to call between these two. Rivero's First Kick miss made us wonder just what kind of player Carl Robinson had brought to the club. Mind you, one season on, we're still wondering a little! This was a horror miss. Blame the turf! (watch below from 0:22 mark) 2014 winner: Darren Mattocks (Lifetime Achievement award) 2013 winner: Nigel Reo-Coker (v Columbus) {new award} ********** BEST AWAYDAY : WINNER: SEATTLE (3-0 win on 01/08/15) - Maybe we should just retire this award now. A Seattle awayday has won it for the third straight year. There's just something about taking the absolute piss out of the Sounders in front of their own fans that will just never, ever get old. This 3-0 trouncing was magical though thanks to two fantastic goals from Pa Modou Kah and one hell of a free-kick from Pedro Morales. Sadly it was all downhill against our Cascadian rivals after these three points. 2014 winner Seattle (Cascadia Cup clinching 1-0 win - 10/10/14) 2013 winner: Seattle (Cascadia Cup clinching 4-1 win - 09/10/14) 2012 winner: Orlando (preseason Mickey Mouse Cup win!) 2011 winner: Portland (in general) ********** MOST EMBARRASSING MOMENT : WINNER: PLAYOFF BLANKS - The 'Caps worked so hard to get to the playoffs and to get that previously elusive home playoff game, which is why it was sad and disappointing to see them end the year with a whimper rather than a bang. No goals over two playoff legs against Portland. In the first they were facing a tired team that had just been through 120 plus minutes of football less than 72 hours ago. In the second they had nothing to offer after Manneh went down injured. Embarrassing? You could argue they came up against a tough Timbers side or that it's harsh to call it that after what had been before, but to go out in such a weak way was poor and if the players weren't embarrassed by the lack of fight they put up, then they should have been. 2014 winner: The Camilo Saga 2013 winner: Jun Marques Davidson's headbutt against Philadelphia 2012 winner: Failure to beat TFC in three games 2011 winner: The Empire grass pitch debacle ********** DISGRACE OF THE YEAR : WINNER: MLS SCHEDULING - Just who comes up with the MLS schedule and who thought it was a good idea to schedule two crunch Vancouver clashes with Dallas during an international fixture window? The two top teams in the West, battling for Supporters' Shield honours and missing top players to international duty. While we're at it, with 20 teams in the league there is no reason whatsoever for teams to get bye weeks and then force teams to cram in less attended midweek matches. The 'Caps end of season schedule was baffling. In a 22 day stretch between August 30th and September 19th, Vancouver played two MLS matches. Way to help a team's rhythm. And they ended the regular season with two out of three midweek matches. WTF is up with all that? Someone needs to give their heads a serious shake. 2014 winner: Late "fans" 2013 winner: Losing the Voyageurs Cup by not having a man on the post 2012 winner: Sekeres and Price for reaction to "Fuck You Dallas" chant 2011 winner: Sportsnet ********** THINGS WE'D LOVE MLS TO CHANGE : WINNER: THE STANDARD OF REFEREEING - Maybe this should be the other award we should retire, since this has won it four of the five years we've done these awards now. But man, it just never seems to get any better. In fact if anything the standard has regressed. Whether it's awarding penalties that aren't, ruling off goals, missing the point and foul completely, this year felt that the PRO refs had got even worse. Something need to be done to save Carl Robinson from blowing a gasket and having to fork over so much of his money to the fine fund. Runner-up: Stop playing MLS games on international dates - (See above). It's not hard. Fans want to see the best players turn out for their clubs. It devalues the league to have crunch games like Dallas v Vancouver played with so many players away on international duty. There are so many other alternative dates. It's beyond ridiculous now and if frankly embarrassing. 3rd: Reward academy players who show promise - I'd love to see MLS fall into line with leagues and clubs around the world when it comes to rewarding academy talent. I'm not talking about financially here, but in terms of rewarding effort and performance down the ranks. If a youth player has had a stand out week or two in the Residency or USL, then Robbo should be allowed to reward that by putting him on the bench to see how he fares with the first team. A standard practice the world over. 2014 winner: The standard of refereeing (back from the dead!) 2013 winner: Transparency of rules 2012 and 2011 winner: The standard of refereeing ********** THE WILLIE JOHNSTON "DID THAT JUST REALLY HAPPEN?" AWARD : WINNER: PA MODOU KAH RIDING A HOVERBOARD AFTER CANADIAN CHAMPIONSHIP WIN - Nothing else needs said. Epic. Legend. And the fact he collected his medal by riding up on it is even better. 2014 winner: Nigel Reo-Coker's wanking gesture on national TV 2013 winner: Three goals in 140 seconds in Caps v Portland match 2012 winner: Darren Mattocks aerial goal in Toronto 2011 winner: Eric Hassli's double jersey sending off celebration ********** THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY AWARD: WINNER: DARIO ZANATTA - Former Residency goalkeeper Callum Irving came a close second here, after the 'Caps have lost his homegrown rights and he'll be heading into the draft, but instead we're giving it to another Residency player they've lost out on. Dario Zanatta was looking like a top prospect. He'd banged the goals in at U16 level, he was doing it at U18 level and with the USL team here, that looked like the natural next step. Except the Whitecaps came in with a lowball offer to the striker and he felt he had no option but to continue his footballing career in pastures new. After a few trials in the UK and Europe, he settled in at Hearts in Scotland this summer. He's excelled with the Jambo's U20s and has now made three appearances for the first team, the most recent of which came on December 27th in the 2-2 home draw with Celtic and in yesterday's 3-2 win over Dundee United. Zanatta's future looks very bright, but sadly for the 'Caps, this was a major mess up from the front office in letting him get away. 2014 winner: The missing link - a new striker (sound familiar?!!) 2013 winner: Alain Rochat 2012 winner: John Carew 2011 winner: Robbie Savage ********** QUOTE OF THE YEAR : WINNER: RUSSELL TEIBERT - "Every team in this league has stars, we do too. It'll be a match up with 11 men, all humans." (05/03/15) - With a lot of the focus on TFC's expensive players coming to Vancouver for First Kick, Rusty is keeping his feet firmly on Earth. 2014 winner: Andy O'Brien - "They keep chanting my name for some reason. I don't know why it is!" 2013 winner: Nigel Reo-Coker's comments on Dallas' divers 2012 winner: none awarded 2011 winner: Tommy Soehn - "It doesn't take much to turn a team around" ********** THE "PLEASE JUST SHUT UP" AWARD: WINNER: POINTLESS JOURNALISM AND CLICKBAIT SITES - If there's one thing that seems to piss me off more year upon year is the seeming non-stop rise of pointless journalism. "How can you say that when yesterday you ran a piece on funny football related TV shows?" I hear you cry, well, let me continue. Now it could be argued that most journalism is pointless (!) but there's a number of sites out there, and you know who they are and they know who they are, that seem to feel the need to write an article on every little announcement as if they seem to think that that is actually quality journalism. If the 'Caps put out a press release for example or something is said on twitter and you put that article out as a "news story" verbatim, without any comment or analysis, what point are you actually serving the football community and football media in general? You're a cut and paster, not a journalist or blogger. It's fine once in a while but all the time? Same with humour. We run a lot of nonsense, but at least it's original nonsense that some thought and time has gone in to! Sites need to decide - what are you? A breaking news site or a blog/site that wants to actually analyse what goes on behind the initial story? If you want breaking news on the 'Caps, surely their own site is the place most people go. It's like the string of people on matchdays that tweet out things like "1-0 Caps. Rivero". Yeah, like I haven't already seen that a couple of dozen times in my feed. Also a two or three hundred word "story" is not quality journalism. It's a facebook post. Are you really proud to have your name to that or something that is just a virtual word for word paste of a press release? I'll admit, in these changing times of technology and low attention spans (you still reading this far?!) and everybody wanting to be first to report something or to make sure that no-one else has some content that you don't, the days of the long form article may be numbered, although we still get an excellent number of visitors every month for such things. For me, it should always be quality over quantity. Don't run five or seven articles a week because you feel you have to or your managing editor it telling you that's the standard. That's why all our writers are told write what you want, when you want. That way you get the stuff people actually want to take time to write. When quality football publications like "Plastic Pitch" may go out of business but websites that chase the clicks and ad revenue continue to thrive, it's a sad world. Ok, rant over. Happy New Year! 2014 winner: People wanting the 'Caps to open the upper tier 2013 winner: Media who can't grasp concept of football decisions being made above the manager 2012 winner: Old media fuddy duddies who just don't get football crowds 2011 joint winners: Craig MacEwen and Martin Nash ********** HAIRCUT OF THE YEAR : WINNER: CHRISTIAN DEAN'S BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN STREAK- Like my own hair, 2015 was a thin year for 'Caps haircuts. So we're going for the bizarre blonde flash that Dean favoured early in the season. Felt like a cross between the Bride of Frankenstein and some superhero that had been given superfast speed powers. Interestingly, Dean's best performances came once he got rid of that look! 2014 winner: Russell Teibert's Playoff special 2013 winner: Tommy Heinemann's Werewolf look 2012 winner: Greg Klazura's Shaven Locks 2011 winner: Eric Hassli's Mohawk ********** THE MUSTAPHA JARJU "WHAT A WASTE OF MONEY" AWARD : WINNER: THE 'CAPS ILL THOUGHT OUT CASCADIA CUP SCARVES - Flashpoints between the 'Caps Front Office and the Supporters' groups have reduced in recent years. Publically at least. But the club gave themselves a PR nightmare when they tried to produce a Cascadia Cup scarf at the start of the season, going against the supporters' trademark rights to the image of the trophy. There was uproar online and in the end profits were donated to charity as a tense agreement was reached late in the day. But it all left some bad tastes in the fans' mouths along the way. 2014 winner: Nigel Reo-Coker 2013 winner: Darren Mattocks 2012 winner: Kenny Miller 2011 winner: The Empire grass pitch ********** THE PAUL BARBER "TALKING OUT OF YOUR ASS" AWARD : WINNER: THOSE WANTING THE UPPER BOWL OPENED - Every year it's the same old chatter. A lot of it coming from the vapid non-football talking heads on the radio. "The 'Caps need to open the upper bowl to cash in on their growing attendances". It's absolute nonsense. The market is not there yet to justify it. "But Seattle do it", "they're stunting growth" and "it'll add to the atmosphere" are all thrown out. Well, We're not Seattle and adding a bunch of non regulars and, often, newbies, isn't going to create a cacophony of noise as some expect. Others argue it will make the 'Caps more money to spend on players, forgetting that money has to be spend on increased security, policing, concessions, cleaning etc. Plus opening up a small section of the upper bowl would look terrible, as the Women's World Cup demonstrated. I'm all for opening up the entire lower bowl. The Portland playoff game was a success in that regards. But the demand is not there for every game and I think people fail to realise just how tough it has been for the 'Caps to sell out all the games they have. It's a long, hard slog. Even the crucial regular season finale against Houston took a while to sell out. The demand is not there yet and may never be. Opening up the upper bowl for a one-off does little for the 'Caps sustained long term growth. 2014 winner: Omar Salgado and his string of apologies for his attitude 2013 winner: Darren Mattocks' Jamaican TV interview 2012 winner: Media pundits disrespecting Caps achievement in reaching playoffs 2011 winner: Paul Barber ********** And that's the end of our 2015 awards. Share your thoughts on the award winners below. Who knows what next year will bring? Hopefully even more success!
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MONDAY 19.00 - 19.30: THE MUPPETS - Documentary series following Seattle's Emerald City Supporters group. 19.30 - 20.00: TWO BROKE GIRLS - The continuing comedic adventures of Toronto fans Max and Caroline. After selling their cupcakes on the street to cover their TFC betting losses, they now have to sell their bodies after being convinced that with all the money spent, 2015 would finally be Toronto FC's year. Will they ever learn? And can they raise more than ten bucks a time if they're wearing their TFC strips? 20.00 - 21.00: EMPIRE - Bobby Lenarduzzi and Carl Valentine join the AFTN crew for more chat about the 'Caps NASL days at Empire Stadium. This week, those crazy shootouts and other weird and wacky rule changes. 21.00 - 22.00: NCIS LOS ANGELES - The NCIS team face their toughest task yet. Can they find where Steven Gerrard's talent has gone? Has it sunk without trace? Having looked all at sea in MLS, they're going to have to dive deep to try and recover it, unaware that it's lost forever. 22.00 - 00.00: MONDAY MOVIES - THE NOTEBOOK - No romance here in this dramatic re-enactment of real life events from the US Open Cup. Starring a spoiled little brat Charlie Sheen as Clint Dempsey and Stevie Wonder as referee Daniel Radford. Expect tears, tantrums and origami as the Deuce lets rip. TUESDAY 19.00 - 20.00: HOW TO GET AWAY WITH MURDER - Educational series for MLS clubs analysing LA Galaxy's magical workings of the league's salary cap. 20.00 - 21.00: LEGENDS OF TOMORROW - Ongoing documentary series chronicling Vancouver Whitecaps' Residency program. 21.00 - 22.00: KARMA AND GREG - Comedy in which a bumbling Toronto football manager gets his just desserts as once again it's shown that spending a shitload of money doesn't guarantee success in Major League Soccer. Tonight's episode - "It really is a bitch Greg". 22.00 - 23.00: CHICAGO FIRED - Comedy-drama about an out of touch, no longer with the times manager called Frank who finally gets found out in the Windy City and heads down to where many other elderly Canadians go out to graze, Arizona. 23.00 - 00.00: THE HEX FILES - Mulder and Scully are called when unexplained phenomena are reported in Vancouver, where not only is a Canadian men's national team match being played in the city, but Canada also beat Honduras in World Cup qualifying in the said match. Paranormal or alien activities are surely at play. With hopes raised, surely horror is around the corner. WEDNESDAY 19.00 - 20.00: HOUSE OF CURDS - Depressed by his Seattle soccer team's futile existence, an overweight football manager puts on his elasticated pants and runs away to Canada on a personal journey to find himself and eat as much poutine as possible. A cheesy comedy. 20.00 - 21.00: SUITS - Mockumentary series about Major League Soccer's executive. In tonight's episode there's panic when there's no clean napkins left and a new player acquisition rule needs to be written. 21.00 - 22.00: THE MYSTERIES OF MAURO - Tonight, just how does Mauro Rosales get his hair so soft and shiny? 22.00 - 00.00: MIDWEEK MOVIE - DEEP IMPACT - An African footballer's desire to move back to London leaves a hole in his Montreal team the size of a comet hitting the Earth. A PR disaster movie. THURSDAY 19.00 - 19.30: KOFFIE OR T? - In our new gameshow, Vancouver Whitecaps players are given five random facts and have to guess whether each one is about Gershon Koffie or Russell Teibert. Hilarity ensues, but who will win this week's much sought after golden milk carton? 19.30 - 20.00: THE LEFTOVERS - Fly on the wall documentary series telling the sad tales of what happens to the MLS players not selected in the annual Waiver Draft. Tonight's episode - "Why yes, I would like fries with that". 20.00 - 21.00: ELEMENTARY - Criminal drama set in New York City. Sherlock and Dr Kendall Waston investigate how the city's new expansion team can spend a fortune on star players yet fail to make the MLS playoffs and finish the year with the worst defensive record in the league. Spoiler - after taking one look at their defence, the answer proved elementary. 21.00 - 22.00: ASH VILE - Shocking reality. After his previous derogatory remarks made about MLS, washed up has-been Ashley Cole shows how shameless he and the Galaxy both are, as rumours swirl around his potential move to LA. 22.00 - 23.00: SAVING HOPE - Non stop drama in the life of a female goalkeeper. Can anyone help her? 23.00 - 00.00: THE WELSH LATE LATE SHOW - Robert Earnshaw's talk show. Tonight, the former Welsh international dissects his knack for coming on in the dying minutes and scoring goals. Featuring footage of his late, late winner for Vancouver against Portland throughout the program. FRIDAY 19.00 - 19.30: THE WEAKEST LINK - Our TFI Friday gameshow hour kicks off with a blast from the past. Tonight, Mo Johnston, John Carver, Chris Cummins, Preki, Nick Dasovic, Aron Winter, Paul Mariner, Ryan Nelsen and Greg Vanney battle it out to see who will be crowned the biggest managerial clusterfuck in Toronto FC history. This one is too close to call and is sure to go down to the wire. 19.30 - 20.00: BARGAIN HUNT - The Whitecaps FO sends Carl Robinson and his blue team to central America with $500 to see what bargains they can find. Remarkably they come back in the allotted one hour with a striker, a midfielder and a bag of balls to swap for Darren Mattocks. 20.00 - 21.00: LAST MAN STANDING - Documentary chronicling the mass exodus of LA Galaxy players this MLS offseason. Will there be anyone left to turn out the lights? 21.00 - 22.00: LENNY DREADFUL - The Steven Lenhart story. 22.00 - 00.00: FRIDAY FILM NIGHT - INGLORIOUS BASTARDS - Biopic set in the world of PRO Referees.
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