Michael Mccoll

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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!

Carl Robinson had previously told us that he wouldn’t add just for the sake of adding right now and in the short term. He has some pieces lined up to add in January already. He also indicated that just adding squad players wasn’t of interest to him and that anyone he brought in would have to be a difference maker. That makes it interesting to see that the ‘Caps have added Costa Rican right back Jordan Smith on loan from Kendall Waston’s old club Deportivo Saprissa. The deal is until the end of the season and is clearly to have a look at the 24-year-old. If he impresses, the trigger will be pulled on a full transfer. What this will mean for the future of Steven Beitashour at the club will be the interesting aspect of all this. The veteran is on big money but not producing the performances to merit it. His deal will be up at the end of the season and his reputation would see him in demand from elsewhere in MLS. Smith has been brought in for right-back cover right now of course. Tim Parker can play and do well there, but you have to feel Robbo could see Parker as a starter in the centre back role by the end of the year. Of course there already is a back-up for Beitashour’s position in Ethen Sampson. The South African has failed to impress this season and has been playing left back in USL in recent games. We’ve been told that Robinson is trying to secure a loan deal to take him off the ‘Caps roster numbers and free up an international spot. I’d be surprised to see him back on the MLS roster this time next year. Wednesday night’s Champions League game against Seattle was last chance saloon for Sampson as far as I’m concerned. He didn’t excel and looks set to mosey on off into the sunset. The first of many depth players to move on? Make that the second, as it’s already started. The Whitecaps also confirmed this morning that Erik Hurtado has been loaned to Norwegian side Mjøndalen IF till the end of 2015. Robinson says that he is still very much part of the club’s plans, but I don’t think we’ll have too many people pining for him now that he is in the fjords. Erik the Viking’s move has been on the cards for a while. Robinson and Greg Anderson were seen in deep discussion with him after the game on Wednesday, with a “keep the chin up son” feel to it all. He needs to play, but not for the ‘Caps in MLS. So a great move for both parties. Hurtado and Sampson are great examples of how shallow the Whitecaps depth actually is. Wednesday night was a frightening example that the 12 to 22 spots on the roster may not be as deep as we thought. At the very least, they can’t play together as a team. The first warning signs were there with the performances of many of the players with the USL team. WFC2 play considerably better when the likes of Hurtado (not that he went down much!), Sampson and Rodriguez and their peers are not down there playing with them. There’s been a couple of times this season where there’s been nearly a full USL starting eleven of the ‘Caps MLS depth guys. They haven’t done well together there. The last time was a 4-2 defeat at Portland last month where there was little fight, spirit and competency shown outside of Robert Earnshaw, Marco Bustos and Kianz Froese. So it was no surprise to see that again and a lack of any cohesion and team chemistry midweek. Put some of these players (Parker, Dean, Froese for example) into the first team with the majority of MLS starters and they thrive. Make too many changes and chuck them all into together and it ends up looking like they met for the first time in the car park. One of Robinson’s most interesting postgame comments on Wednesday was, ”It gave me a few answers to questions I had in my mind with some players, which was good”. Good for him, not for the players in question you have to imagine. Cold fact is that some of the fringe guys are simply not MLS starting quality. Some will maybe do for one game at a push, but if they have to cover for a long time, there could be issues. That’s why Smith has come in. That’s why Hurtado has, temporarily for now, moved on. You have to think that Diego Rodriguez’s days are also numbered. I had high hopes for the Uruguayan but with, first, his injuries, and then a loss of confidence, he’s not going to be here too much longer. Factor in some poor performances in USL, the form of Parker and Dean, and Wednesday’s nightmare marking job that led to Seattle’s goal, his confidence must be close to shot just now. Shame. Nice guy and does have talent. With Hurtado gone, it’s hard not to see another attacker being added in to the mix pretty soon. Might already have been filled and still to be announced or a free agent from elsewhere. What is certain is that Smith’s addition and Hurtado’s departure should be the final warning to many of the ‘Caps current depth of shape up or you’ll most certainly be shipped out and replaced.

Now 21-years-old, Cain is about to enter his senior season with the Wright State Raiders this fall. A Canadian youth international, Cain first headed to the University of Northwestern Ohio, where he led the team in scoring in his Freshman year with ten goals. He then made the cross state transfer to the Wright State University in Dayton where he added a further two goals in 19 games of his second year and two in 21 games this season just past. Although the college route isn't for everyone who graduates from the 'Caps Residency, opportunities were few and far between just three years ago, but Cain has loved his time in the college game. "It's a lot different in America than it is in Canada," Cain told us. "It's a great experience. I wouldn't trade it for anything. I've learned a lot living there and I've grown up a lot too. It's a different game and it makes me adjust. It's good." As we said, Cain will be going for PDL Championship glory this Sunday when his K-W United side face New York Red Bulls U23s at Starfire Stadium in Tukwila, Washington. After a strong season, the striker can't wait for a chance to lift the trophy. "It's great," Cain told us. "It's a great feeling. I haven't been in a big final since I played with the Whitecaps and that was years ago. So it's going to be great." K-W United got to the Championship game after a dramatic last-second win over Seattle Sounders U23s on Friday night. Cain came on as a second half sub in that game, but with most of those watching expecting the match to head into extra time, the striker watched German midfielder Julian Buescher win it late with his free kick. "Julian's great on the ball on set plays," Cain said. "I was hoping it was going to go in, but I didn't know. Before the free kick, I thought it was going to go to extra-time but we pulled it together, riled up the gang and got it in." This is Cain's second season with K-W United, but it's not his first experience of PDL play and he played for Whitecaps U23s in the league in both the 2011 and 2012 seasons. And the reason he's currently at K-W in the first place is due to another Vancouver connection, his former Residency coach Stuart Neely. "My first year I came here because Stuart was coaching," Cain told us. "I got in contact with him and he told me to come. It's a great team. We had a great season last year but fell a bit short. This year, once again we're strong again and this time we feel like we're going to do it." After that Cain will be heading back to Wright State for his final year, where he is studying Media Relations. And after that? "My focus is to become a professional," Cain told us. "I'm really determined. I really think I can make either a USL team or a MLS team. My goal after college is to go on some trials with some clubs and see what I can do." With the Whitecaps not keeping homegrown rights on Cain, he will be free to be picked up by any club side now, but he's also looking at overseas as an option. So does he have access to an European passport that opens doors for so many players here? "Unfortunately I don't," Cain said. "I just have a Canadian passport, but because I'm half Jamaican, I'm working on getting a Jamaican passport to try and get over. It'll be easier with that in England." We wish Wesley (and Adam) all the very best in today's big PDL Championship game with New York Red Bulls and don't forget you can follow his college progress, and that of all the other 'Caps Residency alumni, in our regular "Caps In College' feature come the fall.

REPORT: With two games in five days against Seattle, competition priority was a hot topic in Vancouver this past week. In the first match of a busy eight game August, 'Caps coach Carl Robinson put out the strongest line-up available to him for the MLS encounter at the Sounders. And it worked a treat. A two goal burst from veteran center back Pa Modou Kah at the start of each half had Vancouver looking comfortable. Pedro Morales' late free kick stunner had them ecstatic. Vancouver looked in an attacking mood from the off and took the game to their fierce Cascadian rivals. And they got the reward for their endeavours early. The 'Caps won a free kick to the right side of the box six minutes in. Nicolas Mezquida floated the kick in and it was met by the head of Kendall Waston but his effort was straight at Brad Evans' chest. The rebound bounced off the Sounders defender straight into the path of Kah, who showed remarkable composure and skill to volley home the opening goal. The Whitecaps kept pressing and the Uruguayan trio of Mezquida, Cristian Techera and Octavio Rivero were linking up superbly. Rivero had a couple of half chances, then Mezquida forced a save from Stefan Frei as the 'Caps went for the killer second, but it wasn't to come. Seattle had a couple of what couldn't even really be called half chances, and David Ousted was having a quiet night. The 'Caps nearly got that second with six minutes of the half remaining when Rivero played a neat touch outside to the overlapping Jordan Harvey but the left-back's fierce shot rattled of the stanchion from a tight angle. Vancouver survived a penalty shout on a handball on Kah and a subsequent goalmouth scramble that saw Ousted produce a fine point blank stop and the 'Caps went in at the half with a one goal lead. If there were fears that Seattle might regroup and come out looking a different team, then Vancouver extinguished them quickly and added a second four minutes into the second half, and it was that man Kah again! The 'Caps won a corner on the left and Techera played it short to Kekuta Manneh, who had all the time in the world to give it back to the Uruguayan who hit a low first timer into the box and Kah deftly backheeled it into the net. It was some goal and gave Vancouver a little bit of breathing space. Mezquida nearly added a third when his free kick crashed of the left post on the hour mark and Laba nearly got in on the act minutes later when his fierce rising long range drive was just held by Frei. Seattle pushed to try and get something going but they fell three behind in the 75th minute when substitute Pedro Morales curled a beautiful free kick through the wall and past Frei from 20 yards out. The Sounders had a couple of chances for a consolation but nothing too threatening, with Lamar Neagle's deflected shot that landed on the roof of the net, the closest they came. It was a great win for the 'Caps. One of their best in MLS. We've been here before though. It counts for nothing if they can't keep it going. The way the team is playing though, you feel that this time could be different. FINAL SCORE: Seattle Sounders 0 - 3 Vancouver Whitecaps ATT: 53,125 SEATTLE: Stefan Frei; Tyrone Mears, Brad Evans, Chad Marshall, Dylan Remick; Erik Friberg, Gonzalo Pineda (Cristian Roldan 60), Osvaldo Alonso, Thomas (Andy Rose 76); Clint Dempsey, Chad Barrett (Lamar Neagle 63) [subs Not Used: Troy Perkins, Oneil Fisher, Darwin Jones, Zach Scott] VANCOUVER: David Ousted; Steven Beitashour, Kendall Waston, Pa Modou Kah, Jordan Harvey; Matias Laba, Gershon Koffie, Cristian Techera (Russell Teibert 85), Nicolas Mezquida (Pedro Morales 72), Kekuta Manneh (Darren Mattocks 79); Octavio Rivero [subs Not Used: Paolo Tornaghi, Tim Parker, Deybi Flores, Erik Hurtado] REACTION: VANCOUVER WHITECAPS CARL ROBINSON On the match: "It was a really positive and strong performance by the guys tonight and I’m absolutely delighted for all the guys because they put a huge amount of work in, which is what you need to do when you play Seattle away. And you get your rewards and we got our rewards tonight so we’ll enjoy it. The performance was absolutely fantastic and every single one of my players tonight carried out the instructions I asked them to do because we need to be organized and disciplined to play against a very good team. They did it to a tee so I’m delighted about that." On starting the upcoming stretch against Seattle in this way: “Yeah, but they beat us in our backyard, which was a tough one to take even though we played very well. We played very well today and won the game so we’ll enjoy it, but get back to work on Monday because we’ve got another huge game against Seattle on Wednesday. We need to try and get as many fans out as we can – Vancouverites – to put them under pressure because this is a hostile place. It’s tough to play.” On taking the initiative in the counterattack in the first 10 minutes: “It was a little bit the personnel that I have. We were very young in the front six players – I think the oldest player we have is 23 years of age. We just thought the enthusiasm of the young players – we’ve got a young squad – and the energy they can bring to the table would go out and surprise them a little bit. And that’s exactly what happened – we played some of the best football of the season in the first half.” On playing a down Seattle team: “We got the result today. They’re a top team, without a doubt, but going through a tricky patch at the moment. Every team goes through tough patches. You just look across the league – last year as an example with New England. They didn’t win nine or 10 games then managed to get to MLS Cup Final. Without a doubt, [seattle] is a good team.” On the unlikely heroes tonight: “Yeah, it’s a team effort. As I say, there’s no ‘I’ in team – that’s a big slogan in our dressing room and I make sure the boys know it. It’s not about any individual – it’s about the team. I think spreading the goals is nice, but when our strikers catch fire, we’ll be okay.” On Pa-Modou Kah’s finishes: “He says he [has good finishes], but he talks a lot. I haven’t seen them, but I’m delighted for him because he’s been brilliant since he joined the club at the start of the year. He got a little bit of criticism early on – unfairly criticized because he’s so important to me. From a young manager’s point of view, you need your senior players to come up big from Monday to Friday and sometimes on Saturday, and that’s what he’s done today. He’s so important in the locker room for me.” On if Kah’s performance sends a message to the critics: “Listen, football is a brilliant game and opinions in this game vary. Some people think you’re the best player and some people think you’re the worst player. No one is right and no one is wrong –it’s the reality of the game we’re in. He’s played better this season for me, but I’m sure you’ll talk about him more this game than games where I think he’s played better for me.” On Matias Laba: “We talk about Mati week in and week out. I said when I signed him that he’s arguably the best midfield player in the league, or one of the top, top midfielders, without a doubt. He’s getting stronger and better and continues to improve. He’s the youngest one in the league, but he’s outstanding. I wouldn’t swap him for anyone, I’ll tell you that. And I mean it.” On expecting a little more chippy match between these teams: “Well, we’re not playing netball, we’re playing soccer, so that’s what happens.” On the decision to be more aggressive with the fullbacks: “I thought they were trying to get Clint underneath, and Clint is a massive danger for you if he gets underneath to one strike you. I thought it would be Obafemi, but it wasn’t, it was Chad [barrett] so we gambled a little bit with the fullbacks. We were aggressive and it worked tonight because we got a positive performance and a good result. If it didn’t, and the result was the other way, I’m sure you would’ve said why did you attack with your fullbacks so much so today is our day.” On getting the players’ chemistry going: “I keep stressing to you – we’re young. And when you’re young, you make mistakes. When you make mistakes, sometimes people are overly critical. When you’re critical, players lose confidence. I try to be super positive with these guys. Yes, they make mistakes, but I’ll back them to the hilt, and I’ll continue to do that because I haven’t met a player yet that plays brilliant every single minute of every single game. The group I’ve got in there, it’s a pleasure to work with day in and day out. I’m going to push them because I think they’re a special group, but they’ve got to be willing to buy into that. You see today that they are, and all season they have been.” On how big of a statement this result makes: “We won the game. It’s not a big statement for us at all. We take three points off Seattle, which is going to be there without a doubt to win the Supporters’ Shield. We’ll enjoy the occasion and we’ll get better with Monday so for me, no statement.” DAVID OUSTED On the clean sheet by the defence: “Yeah I thought we played well. Kah’s two goals is one thing, I congratulated him, but even better I thought we defended fantastically all night The back four was very solid and the midfield did an incredible job. So, I’m delighted to come here and get a clean sheet and a big win.” On the importance of a big win in Seattle: “I think the performance is a huge milestone for us, I haven’t seen us play this well in a very, very long time. And that’s almost more important than the result for me. Seeing us obviously win, but with a performance like that is massive.” On why they were able to play so well: “You know what, I think we had a good idea of what we had to do. We had good tactic coming in here, we needed to move the ball and not get in too much of a scrap with them. They’re a physical team, and they’re a good team at that [physical play], so moving the ball and keeping them away from us and the ball was huge. We did that so well tonight.” On the importance of playing Seattle again on Wednesday in CONCACAF Champions League: “It is [important], we want to do well in CONCACAF. Obviously it’s a little weird having them three days after this one. But, we go in with a lot of confidence now and we know what we have to do Wednesday. It’s going to be more tough on Wednesday because they want to get revenge for this one coming into our backyard, so we need to be on our toes.” On the importance of the entire group scoring goals: “I think it says that things are starting to work now. I think we are a team who could be really good on set plays, and we haven’t scored enough goals so far. Now they’re coming. Hopefully we’ll continue doing that, and hopefully Mati [Laba], Pa [Modou Kah], and Mauro [Rosales] continue and a few other guys step in. Pedro steps in today and makes an incredible free kick goal, and we know what Octavio [Rivero] can do, we know what Nico [Mezquida] can do, so I believe the goals are coming. We train hard, and hopefully that pays off.” PA-MODOU KAH On both his and the team’s performance: “First of all, I am very happy with the team. The way we played today was a really true professional football game, like from the first minute to the 90th minute we played fantastically. It’s just amazing because we have a special group here and we can go a long [way], but every day we have to come in to work and work hard, and we really did that today. It’s also good for the team, and also for the Cascadia rival, because it’s a derby game and you come in the backyard of one of the best fans in the league and you beat them 3-0.” On the Whitecaps’ tactics in the game: “I think it was not only about counter [attacking], like I think we also played very well in possession. We kept the ball and we were cutting them through the middle, and they really had no answer to us. You know, that’s the way football is. But today, we played very well. The whole team, I’m very proud of the guys. But that’s something we have to keep going because we can always improve, and we are going to keep on improving. Now this game is done, because we have the first-ever Champions League game for the Whitecaps coming up Wednesday, against the same opponents. So it’s up to us now to prove that what we did today, we can also do on Wednesday.” On whether he has scored as good goals as he did today: “Yes. I have one of the best goals, when I was playing Holland it was one of the best goals of the year. It was crowned one of the top 20 goals of the year in Europe. But, to have two finishes like this today it is just unbelievable, especially two days after my 35th birthday. Like I said earlier, there’s ten goals a year [on set pieces]. I put my two goals so I’m done for the year hopefully. Now it us up to Octavio [Rivero], Kekuta [Manneh], and the rest to score.” On the importance of Ousted’s kick-save toward the end of the first half: “Like I said, there is a reason David’s an All Star, and he proved it today again. That was a wonderful save. He didn’t have much to do, but when he was called upon he came strong and that is what we need.” SEATTLE SOUNDERS SIGI SCHMID On the overall game: “Obviously it was a disappointing match for us…It’s one of things where a team is already in a rut and then you take an early goal, and everyone’s head drops a little bit. I think it took us a while. I thought towards the end of the half we started to play a little better – I thought we could come back in the second half and do well – and we take another early goal in the second half off of their corner kick, and everyone’s head drops a little bit. We got ourselves a bit back into the game – obviously we had more looks on goal, more shots than in the previous few weeks – at the end of the day it wasn’t good enough.” On Clint Dempsey: “The plan was for him to go all 90 minutes. We weren’t worried about that based upon what he had done, so his performance was like everybody else’s. Sometimes I felt we forced some balls into him, we needed to go somewhere else with it. I thought Vancouver did a good job of killing that space in front of their center backs, making it tough to play into Clint.” On the starting line-up: “It’s a disappointment because we had different starters from the last game, and I don’t think anyone in that locker room is pleased with the result. It’s disappointing because we felt we had a good week of practice, even though Clint and Chad Marshall weren’t here the whole week, but it is something we need to do better.” On establishing connections between players: “It’s never going to be that easy. I tried to caution people who thought, ‘OK everybody is back so it will be snap of the fingers and it’s going to all happen again.’ That’s not the way it works. You’ve got to get players back to playing again and on the same page. [Erik] Friberg has never played with Dempsey before, today is his first game playing with Clint – we tried him in a slightly different position to begin the game, so that was an adjustment. Clint hasn’t play with Thomàs, so there are connections there that aren’t established.” On the reaction of the Vancouver players at the final whistle: “They went out and celebrated on our field a little bit and that pisses us off. We’ve got to make sure that we right that and we pay them back for that. I don’t think teams should come in here and be taking snapshots and pictures on our field. It pisses me off and I think it pisses off our players. When you play back-to-back and close together, that maybe heats up things.” STEFAN FREI On what he could have done differently on the goals: “I have to go back and look at it. There’s always something you probably could have done better but disappointed to give up three goals on set pieces.” On giving up goals on set-pieces: “Well the third is probably a good finish. In general we just gave away too many silly free kicks around the box and maybe one was just in a nice sweet spot for him to take advantage and obviously he took advantage of it. A center back with two goals for them is right spot at the right time but still we have to be in the right spot at the right time. You can’t just always say it’s bad luck. We have to win individual battles, we have to be sharp defensively on set pieces and do better.” On the need for the team to come together as a team: “It’s huge; I think we’ve been trying to take it one game at a time. People might say this is an important game or that is an important game. I think any game is a chance to get out of a slump and any game is a chance to get back on a run. Whether that is on Wednesday or the following game, right now Wednesday is our next game and we have to prepare for that so tomorrow we have the day off. We’ve got to make sure we take care of our bodies and after that we have limited time on the field to get ready but we have to make sure we get better in those limited days.” On Vancouver's celebrations at the end of the game: "To me, if you take a team picture like you just won a trophy on an enemy's field , so to speak, I take that personally. If somebody comes up to me and tells me I played a good game and laughs in my face, I take that personally." BRAD EVANS On the potential for revenge on Wednesday: “Yeah, not so much revenge. We’ve just got to back to playing our style of soccer and get back to our winning ways so our focus is on us, not on the other team.” On what went wrong: “Three set piece goals. The first one takes a deflection off my hip and bounces straight to Kah and he bangs it in. The second one, short corner, shoots, and Kah gets another cheeky little touch, little back heel. And the third one the wall separates and he bangs it in. So that’s a consolation goal at the end and team-wise we have to defend as a team and offensively as a team too so not good on both ends tonight.” On the loss being different with more guys back: “No, I think every loss is crappy, obviously. Considering the circumstances and losing so many in a row now is not an ideal situation but the only thing we can do is put a smile on, come into practice and get back to work. I say put a smile on but we’ve all got to have good attitudes moving forward so we can’t sink the ship right now. So, if changes need to be made that’ll come from up top but we’ve all got to come in and work. We’ve got a big one on Wednesday night.”

It was no more than K-W deserved, after coming closing on numerous occasions during the match, hitting the woodwork three times and causing numerous goalmouth scrambles. Leading scorer Ben Polk had a shot cleared off the goalline in the 18th minute. The rebound fell to Oyvind Alseth on the edge of the box but his shot cannoned off the crossbar. When Sergio Camargo hit the left post with a rasping shot in the 32nd minute, you wondered if it wasn't going to be the Canadian's day. Even more so when Polk hit the crossbar again six minutes into the second half. Seattle also had their chances, in an entertaining and fast-paced game that was swinging end to end, with Joseph Gjertsen coming within inches of giving the host the lead five minutes in and Guillermo Delgado doing everything right to create a chance out of nothing a minute before the break, but lobbing hit final effort just over. The Sounders were looking lively in the closing stages after bringing on sub Derek Johnson, with Whitecaps Residency alumni Wesley Cain causing Seattle problems with his pace up front for K-W, before Buescher grabbed the late winner. "We had the better chances but Seattle were a very, very good team," Pozniak felt. "Very organised and very quick on transitions, so it was always a little bit dangerous. But in the end, a little bit of quality and we scored a great goal." So when Buescher lined up that game winning free-kick, what was going through Pozniak's mind? Was he already planning his tactics for extra time? "No, no," Pozniak told us. "Actually I've seen Julian bang those in during training all the time, so I had a feeling it was going in." The K-W head coaching position is Pozniak's first stint in management at the senior level and what a start to his managerial career. Pozniak retired at the end of 2012, having played club football in five countries and being capped for Canada internationally. The defender played in MLS with Toronto FC in their inaugural season and also had a stint with Chivas USA in 2008. Many AFTN readers will also be familiar with Pozniak for the three seasons he spent with the Whitecaps from the 2008 USL Championship winning side up to 2010. To reach the Championship game in his first season in management means as much to him as it does the players, but he puts a lot of the success down to the earlier work done by another ex-Whitecap, former PDL coach Stuart Neely. "It's fantastic," Pozniak enthused. "I couldn't have asked for a better start to coaching at this level. I've had great support and we've also recruited some fantastic players, which made it easy for me. "We had great groundwork from the year before from Stuart Neely, my predecessor. So the returning players, who are our captains, Sergio Camargo and Nate Ingham, set the tone already. So it made my job easier the first couple of weeks and ever since then it's gone uphill." But the job is only halfway done and K-W United will now face New York Red Bulls U23s in Sunday's PDL Championship game. The Red Bulls had a dramatic late semi-final win of their own at Starfire Stadium. Having taken an early lead, then wasting several chances to kill the game off, New York let Florida side Ocala Stampede tie things up late in the first half. The second half then became an edgy affair, with no further goals to break the deadlock. With penalties looming, Ocala's Anthony Arico was sent off for a lunging challenge in the New York box and the Stampede were punished when Joe Farrell hit a stunning looping effort into the next with six minutes of extra time remaining. It'll be a tough game, but a very winnable one and K-W United are top seeds for this Final Four. New York won the Mid Atlantic Division and then the Eastern Conference Championship and have a number of returning players and from their successful academy. How much does Pozniak know about them and did he get an opportunity to watch any of their semi-final? "I got the chance to watch their first half," Pozniak told us. "We were warming up so we didn't see the second half (or extra time) but we've got a pretty good idea of how they play and what they're about." The PDL Championship game kicks off at Starfire at 2pm on Sunday afternoon, with admission only $10. If you're staying down in the area after the 'Caps game at the Clink tonight, then get yourself along and cheer on the Canadians to lift the trophy. Good luck to K-W United. And we'll leave you with some photos from Friday's semi-final win.

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But football-wise, they've got better season upon season, making the Central Conference semi-finals in 2014 under former Whitecaps Residency head coach Stuart Neely. With Neely moving back to coaching with Toronto at the start of this year, another former Whitecap took the reigns, in the shape of defender, and former Canadian international, Chris Pozniak, who played for the 'Caps from 2008 to 2010 in the old USL days. Pozniak guided K-W to a second place finish in the Great Lakes Division, losing just two games all season and finishing just a point behind the defending PDL champions, the Michigan Bucks. That set-up an all-Canadian Central Conference quarter-final showdown with Forest City London, which they won 2-0. Heartland Division champions Des Moines Menace were next up in the semi-finals and were dispatched 3-2. K-W United were now one game away from their first-ever Central Conference Championship and the Final Four and they got there with a 3-1 over Michigan Bucks and with a Whitecaps hand in each of their goals. Polakiewicz set up Ken Krolicki's 9th minute opener, before adding a second himself five minutes later. Cain made it 3-0 in the 55th minute, sending the Ontario side on their travels to Washington this weekend. Both Cain and Polakiewicz graduated from the Whitecaps Residency program after the 2011/12 USSDA season and were part of the 'Caps U18 side that agonisingly lost out on the 2012 Championship game to an 82nd minute goal in a 3-2 defeat to FC Dallas. After graduating, Cain went the NCAA route and has just finished his Junior season with Wright State University Raiders. Lead the team in scoring in his Freshman year with ten goals, adding a further two in 19 games of his second year and two in 21 games this season just past. He will enter his final Senior season this fall. This is the second season with K-W United for the Guelph native, as he looks to keep up to match shape for the NCAA season ahead. Cain made 12 appearances for K-W last season in regular play, grabbing one goal and one assist. This year he's made 17 appearances, grabbing that one crucial goal last Saturday. Polakiewicz graduated from the Residency after the Championship game and played some PDL for the ‘Caps. He initially moved to Poland and joined top division side Slask Wroclaw, but soon returned to Canada to play PDL with K-W United in Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario. He’s with the club again this season and has made 11 appearances with two goals and assist. Another BC connection on the K-W side is defender Quante Abbott-Hill Smith, who played with the SFU Clan and was on the first preseason camp roster with WFC2 back in February. If K-W United are going to make history then they're going to have to do it the hard way, facing off against Seattle Sounders U23s on Friday night at 8pm. If they can get through that, they will face the winner of NYRB and Ocala Stampede on Sunday afternoon at 2pm. Tickets are still available, cost $10 for each day, and can be bought HERE. AFTN will be there, so get along if you can and lend some Canadian cheers to the guys.

Robinson gave the youngster a rest to save him for the Canadian Championship game against FC Edmonton. The Canadian was fired up to be playing for the 'Caps in the national cup but unfortunately that's where disaster struck for Adekugbe and he was forced off just 17 minutes in with an ankle injury. The severity of that injury to his right ankle soon became clear and Adekugbe hasn't kicked a ball in anger since that game on May 13th. But after a lot of work, a lot of rehab and what must have felt like the longest 11 weeks of his life, Adekugbe is back, raring to go and looking to regain that left-back role, no matter how late into the season it now might be. "It's been a while," Adekugbe told reporters at training on Tuesday. "It was disappointing. I was able to get into the team and getting a run of games. To be hit by such a big injury was obviously disappointing but I'm happy to be back. "It's never good to come back at the latest time possible but there's games coming up. I'm hoping to get back into the team by training well and just doing a lot of stuff to get back into the team." Adekugbe returned to full training last week. He's walking and running fine, and although he may be back in the mix with less than half of the season remaining, that freshness could yet give him an advantage in his quest to get back that starting left-back spot. "It does, but obviously it's harder to get back into the groove of things because the season's gone on for so long and people are almost playing at their prime and at their max fitness levels," Adekugbe said. "Now it's just for me to get back into that zone where I'm getting match fit, I'm getting up and down and I'm able to get that volume of fitness back. "It's disappointing, but there's nothing I can do. Everyone is going to get injured so I'd rather it be now than when I'm older and it's harder to recover from." Having joined the 'Caps Residency program in 2011, Adekugbe is now in his third MLS season with the club. He's worked hard, developed his game and impressed many watchers. But despite knocking on the door for first team minutes, the 20-year-old has had to play the waiting game for his chance to seriously challenge for the starter's job. Adekugbe made his MLS debut in the last game of the 2013 season under Martin Rennie, starting against Colorado for the suspended Harvey. He made a further four appearances last year, but only one of those was a start. This season, he already has seven to his name, all of them starts. But while he's been away the landscape has changed a little and he's perhaps not only battling Harvey for left-back minutes, but also Christian Dean. With Harvey suspended once more, the centre back came in at left-back and put in an excellent and assured performance in Sunday's win over San Jose, offering the Whitecaps more size and athleticism in the position. Dean has also looked good there in USL games, so Adekugbe could find himself with more of a battle to establish himself as a regular starter than he had at the start of the year. It's a battle he's aware of and ready for. "I have to crawl over a lot of people," Adekugbe admitted. "Dean played really well on the weekend. Jordan has been playing well ever since he got back into the line-up. It just makes me want to play harder and do things more positive and do things even better to get myself back into the team. Competition's all over the place, so it's not just me, it's everyone else as well." It's exactly what Robinson wants in his squad and how Adekugbe bounces back and battles back will tell the 'Caps coach a lot about his young player and the hunger and desire is already clear for all to see. But being back in training and being up to full match sharpness are two very different things, as fellow defender Diego Rodriguez has been showing of late. Rodriguez has been playing the last few USL games as he tries to fully recover from his own injury and Adekugbe is likely to follow suit and play some minutes for WFC2 in their game at Tulsa Roughnecks on Friday evening. So does Adekugbe feel he needs just one or a few of those USL games to get back into full match fitness and a return to MLS action? It's hard to really say until he gets out there. "Obviously you want to play a MLS game before a USL game in terms of quality," Adekugbe admits. "I've been working well with the fitness staff. I'm a pretty fit kid. Obviously it's been a while since I played a game, so I wouldn't say I wouldn't like to play in the USL game but I'd also like to play in the MLS games as well. "Games are games and I'd still be getting fitness in either or. I wouldn't expect myself to play 90 minutes straight away, unless I could and I feel great, but who knows?" From the Whitecaps point of view, Adekugbe's return couldn't have come at a better time. With eight games, over three competitions, coming up in August, Vancouver's squad rotation and depth will be tested to the max. Every player should see playing time, and Robinson already has his eight line-ups planned, selected and drawn up on a whiteboard in his office. That's all pending unforeseen circumstances, of course, but Adekugbe is very much part of those plans and fans are likely to see him again in first team action as early as next week's home Champions League tie with Seattle. Is that a realistic target game? "I think so," Adekugbe feels. "I think I could have been fit last week and I might have been pushing it. But we got a good result and Christian played very well. I think I could play the USL game coming up this Friday, the Seattle game coming up Saturday or the game on Wednesday. "I'm feeling pretty confident in my injury now. I've gone over it, now it's just about a matter of me getting more training. I was able to train all last week, training this week, so hopefully it's just around the corner now."

The Whitecaps are getting a pretty fresh Teibert back in the squad. The 22-year-old didn't start any of Canada's Gold Cup games, coming on as a sub in all three matches for a combined total of just 49 minutes. Benito Floro's decision not to start Teibert raised ire in some quarters. It shouldn't have been a surprise though, as Floro has only started the Whitecap twice in the past two years. After some friction between the pair at the start of last year, it looked like the Spaniard had buried the hatchet after starting Teibert in the World Cup qualifier in Dominica at the start of June. He even scored, albeit just from a penalty, but they all count and it was his first international goal. But then the Gold Cup came around and Teibert found himself back out of favour. Frustrating? I'm sure it was, but he wasn't showing it back in Vancouver, instead focusing on the positives from his experience at the tournament. "It's a learning experience for me again," Teibert said. "I walk out of that tournament with my head held high. Walking out confident because I did everything I could for my country. "Whether it was in a starting position or whether it was coming off the bench, I wanted to play whatever role the coach asked me to play and I did, to the best of my ability." Canada's loss is the Whitecaps gain and head coach Carl Robinson will now have Teibert available for this weekend's crucial Cascadia Cup clash in Portland. The young Canadian is unlikely to see the start. He admits he still needs to get back up to full match sharpness after having not played a full 90 minutes for a while, but expect him to feature at some stage during the game. Robinson is delighted to have a relatively fresh Teibert back in his squad, although he wouldn't be drawn on Floro's decision not to use his player more. Well not too drawn! "Rusty came on in three games, so I'm delighted he managed to get three more international caps under his belt," was Robinson's take. "I thought the game against Costa Rica, he came on and was lively. "Each manager has his own decisions and dilemmas. Benito's decision to not start Rusty was his decision. Rightfully or wrongly, that's his decision. You'll have to ask him about that." And despite the lack of gametime, Robinson feels that Teibert still has a very bright future ahead of him on the international stage. But for now, his prime concern is Teibert as a Whitecap. "Do I think Rusty's got a big future for Canada?," Robinson asked. "Without a doubt. He's got a big part to play for me here right now. He'll be involved at the weekend. "It's great to have him back because he brings an energy about him and about the place. I'm delighted that he's playing international football again because this time last year he wasn't. He wasn't even in the mix. Step by step. You can't run before you can walk." Teibert has primarily played as a defensive midfielder under Robinson in his favoured 4-2-3-1 formation. Under Canada, with their one man DM role, Teibert has been playing a more attacking role and on the wing. Confusing for the player or a chance for the Whitecaps to see one of their guys in a different position without having to do the experimenting themselves? "I actually don't mind it," Robinson told us. "I want my players to learn to play in different positions. When Martin [Rennie] was manager here, Rusty played on the right side of midfield, even though he's left footed, and he played some very, very good games. "I wanted to try and play Rusty in a more central role because I think his attributes bring a lot to the table. The way he gets on the ball, the way he covers ground, the way he connects passes and he's done fantastic for me in that role. "Benito plays him on the right, like he's played before, it's great. Part of players development is being able to play in a number of positions and fortunately Rusty can. I even played him at left back today [in training], which is good!" Some of Floro's team selections and tactics may have been frustrating, but the entire Gold Cup campaign was a downright disappointment, as Canada once again crashed out of the Group Stage, winless and goalless for the second straight tournament. Although Teibert feels that there were positives that could be taken from Canada's performance, he acknowledged that work still needs to be done in certain areas and particularly in the scoring department. "I'm proud of the team because we created chances and kept a couple of clean sheets," Teibert began. "But again it felt like the same old story of not being able to finish off our chances. Not being able to score a goal. I think we just got to keep plugging away and if we can finish off our chances, we put ourselves in a good position." But can they actually find the ability to do that? After the failure at the 2013 Gold Cup, surely no-one thought that another tournament with no goals was on the cards? "It's happened in the past," Teibert said. "You go into a tournament with every expectation, with every possibility. Obviously you don't want that to happen. You try and make a difference, do as much as you can. But at the end of the day, things happen the way they do and things happen for a reason." I'm sure we're all eager to eventually find out just what that reason is and whether a truckload of broken mirrors was involved. But for now, Teibert turns his full focus back on to the Whitecaps and he's fired up to return for a Cascadian derby down in Portland. And he'll be facing a familiar face, and a good friend of his, in Will Johnson down there. Johnson turned down the opportunity to join Canada's Gold Cup squad as he continues his return from injury. Whether that will put him in Floro's doghouse will remain to be seen, but all Teibert knows is that he can't wait to get back to battling him on the pitch again this weekend. "He made a decision not to go to the Gold Cup for personal reasons," Teibert said of Johnson. "I can't really speak too much about that because I don't know the full story. It's always nice to play against him and it'll be a battle, not only between us but between both sides." After all the disappointments of the past few weeks, Teibert just can't wait to get back into action with the 'Caps again and they don't come much bigger to return for than an away Cascadian derby. "It's a big game," Teibert said. "A big game in a lot of different ways. Cascadia match. Playoff hunt already. Rivalry. Personally, playing against Will. Him coming back from injury. Our fans travelling down to Portland. It's going to be an exciting match and I can't wait to just be there."

"The U18 team, we saw this year that they didn't get beyond the group stage [of the playoffs] but they performed very well" Whitecaps President Bobby Lenarduzzi told reporters at an executive roundtable on Monday. "One of the reasons that they were handcuffed at the actual championships was because Kianz Froese and Marco Bustos were up [in the MLS team] and weren't playing there. So that's actually success as far as I'm concerned. "If we don't get the results but we're pushing players up then that's our yardstick. Our U16s got beyond the group stage but unfortunately lost on penalties. But lots of players that we think have an exciting future with the club." Despite the successes, no-one at the Whitecaps is resting on their laurels. They know there's still a lot of hard work ahead to get to where they want to be with their long-term strategic plan for youth development in Vancouver, British Columbia and throughout Canada. And it is the growth of the lesser publicised Whitecaps Academy Centres in recent years that has perhaps seen the biggest boost for the club's desire to develop that Canadian talent pool and have the widest range of young talent available to them. The Whitecaps now have Academy Centres throughout British Columbia, and have recently established three key centres in Saskatchewan and one in Manitoba. They've been a huge success and there's more to come. "I'm very proud of what we do in the Academy Centres," Whitecaps co-owner Jeff Mallett told the roundtable. "This was originally about BC but now we realise that we have the opportunity to establish ourselves across the Western provinces and more and more young players from the east are considering us in their selection of developing their football careers, which is a big bonus for us as well. So we'll continue to develop on the Academy side." That message was echoed by Lenarduzzi, who confirmed that the next part of that Academy development will come as soon as this week. "The Academy centres are something that we are proud of and as time goes on, I think we'll be even prouder and we intend to have our footprint all over Canada," Lenarduzzi added. "I know we have territories in Quebec and Ontario that we can't stray in to, but that won't stop us from investigating those areas outside of that. "We currently have nine Academy Centres and we're in 13 cities, three different provinces and we'll have an announcement later this week that will actually incorporate another province, so we're excited about that." That province is Ontario and the announcement will officially be made on Thursday in London in conjunction with the Elgin Middlesex Soccer Association. Although Major League Soccer has identified restricted development territories for their three Canadian clubs, the Whitecaps area allows them to venture into western Ontario, and they very much want to take advantage of that. The Whitecaps goal is a simple one. They want to be the first choice football club that the best players and the top prospects from throughout Canada want to come and play for. "Our job is to be the best choice out there and be a way of having, through our coaching staff, a clear path through USL to the first team," Mallet explained. "And all the things the players are looking for - minutes, time, being able to develop. "Really that's it at the end of the day. I think we are very competitive in North America. I'd argue that we're in the top three or four in North America. Our objectives are to be as high as some of the European or international clubs, South America included, to put ourselves on that level. "As it comes to individual players, some are going to come through, some are not. Whenever someone doesn't come through, we analyse it of why and try to improve it the next time through." Why would a kid near Toronto or Montreal want to move west when they have MLS clubs on their doorstep? Simple. Right now, the Whitecaps have several factors going for them in their desire to be a young player's preferred club of choice. The key one is Carl Robinson's philosophy of playing young players and build the 'Caps around young talent that will hopefully be in Vancouver for many years to come. Young players want to come to a club where they see that the manager is prepared to give them a shot. Several players on the Whitecaps MLS and USL squads have made that very point to us this year. They signed with Vancouver because they knew that they'd be given their chance and it was then up to them to take it. It's a philosophy the club have embraced and Mallett was keen to highlight the role he feels Robinson has played in the Whitecaps continuing to be a "proper football club", not just giving lip-sync to it but actually being heavily involved and hands-on in every aspect of the club from the youth teams up. "Carl has been the living, breathing example of how to set up a proper football club," Mallett stated. "He's carried out what we hoped the organisation would be, which is having a coaching philosophy that runs from the 14s, and eventually maybe even younger, threads all the way through. "There is a clear path and the gaffer of the shiny MLS club knows the name of the players at the 14s, sitting at the 16s, knows who's on the bench in the USL, meeting with Alan Koch. These are the things you want and then the global connection. I think he's done a fantastic job and structurally this is what we were looking for." But the Whitecaps are also looking at that area in a player's life and career between youth team and the pro ranks, and feel their investment and plans in that regard will also attract players to join their academies. The 'Caps are naturally fully aware some players won't make the grade at all, while others may need a bit more time and development before they're candidates for the MLS squad. That's obviously where the USL team comes in and the now established pathway between the Residency, that and the first team. The Whitecaps are now fully embedded up at the University of British Columbia. The USL team play out of UBC's Thunderbird Stadium, the MLS squad primarily train there and the 'Caps new, state of the art training centre will be up and running there soon. But being on a university campus gives the club another opportunity to explore to ensure that young players throughout Canada want to be part of the Whitecaps system from the ground level up - giving the players both a football and a college education. In the past, if players graduated from the Residency their options were limited and if they wanted to plan for the future and get a degree, then going down the NCAA or CIS college route was really the only way to go, but that meant putting your pro footballing aspirations on hold for four or five years, or more often than not, for good. But that is no longer the case and the Whitecaps USL team can present a player with an opportunity to do both. WFC2 defender Chris Serban is the perfect first example of that. Serban graduated from the Whitecaps Residency program last summer and headed to UBC, becoming a pivotal player for the UBC Thunderbirds team and winning Rookie of the Year honours. The talented full-back then signed a pro contract with the 'Caps to play in USL in February and a key driving force behind his decision to do that was the fact that he could play football and continue his studies and degree at UBC at the same time. Ben McKendry came out of college at New Mexico in his Junior year to sign a MLS contract with the 'Caps and is now looking to finish the final year of his degree at UBC in his spare time. Going forward, the Whitecaps are actively exploring options with the university to offer players both an education and a USL contract. It's something that would attract players from not just Canada, but worldwide. And with such an option and path on the table for them it should also act as another driving reason for young Canadians to choose the Whitecaps and their academies over other teams. Not all would, or could, take that path but the carrot would most certainly be there to strive to achieve it. "It's been discussed," Mallett told us. "It's a unique asset we have and there's certain parts like that. Being a father, education is very important. It's not the UK model and other parts of the world where it's not looked at, at the level it is here. So we believe we have the asset. UBC is interested in doing that and we believe that could be a unique offering for our club." But back to the Academies. Thursday's announcement will make it 14 Academy Centres in four provinces, with more to come. But the key to the expansion of these Academies is to not overreach too soon or too fast and to protect the quality standard in each Centre before moving on to the next one. But the Whitecaps already know that there's a huge demand from kids across Canada to be part of their set-up. "We prefer to go slow growth," Lenarduzzi told us. "There are kids in other parts of Canada that we've identified that we'd love to relocate. We think that they're that talented. You can't discount the branding aspect of it as well, from a commercial point of view, but it is development driven. "We feel that if we can get ourselves around the country and for that matter, eventually other parts of the world as well, what we don't want to do is to feel like we've got the plan and do more than we're actually capable of doing. "Bart Choufour [Whitecaps Pre-Residency head coach] is now full time with us and that's made a huge difference because he's been able to get to these Academies outside and within British Columbia and provide the curriculum that the different clubs that we're working with and provincial associations are just desperate to have it." So just what is the plan for these Academy Centres and just where do they fit into the 'Caps current Residency program? For now, they will operate as 'Prospects' and 'Skills' Academies, playing games locally and provincially. The players will be monitored and assessed and once the Whitecaps identify a player as having that top potential to make the next step, they will be invited to head west to join the Residency program and play for their age appropriate side in USSDA. As the Academy Centres continue to grow the Whitecaps also haven't ruled out putting further teams into the USSDA in years to come. "I think looking down the road that is something that we'd certainly consider," Lenarduzzi added. "But what we want to do first and foremost is just make sure that we're doing a good job of what we're doing currently." The eagle eyed amongst you will also have noticed the throwaway line above about expanding outwith Canada. So to us, that clearly meant a South American Academy! Grow our own Latino talent. They do come on trees right? As ridiculous as that may sound (Barcelona are in Burnaby now after all), we did in fact ask about that and the 'Caps aren't ruling anything out! "We want to do what we're doing right now well," Lenarduzzi replied with a smile. "But then there's no reason why, as we evolve, that you can't look at that kind of situation. Then as those opportunities present themselves look at them for sure." Just let that sink in for a few seconds. The Whitecaps 'brand' on the lips of people outside of Canada and North America. Jeff Mallett feels it's not as out of the box as you may have initially thought and he's witnessed the huge rise in awareness in Major League Soccer and its teams these past few years, and the Whitecaps want to be a part of that and play a part in developing that awareness further. "I get to travel a lot in the football circles, not just in the UK but in different parts, and the MLS on people's radar," Mallett told us. "Just in the last year, it has changed dramatically. It really has as a viable option to come in. The teams that have come in with a second team in LA, the New York team, with Manchester City involved. "So when you go around and talk to real people involved in football, sitting down working with these 16s and 18s in these countries, it's on the map. Legitimately on the map. Honestly, two years ago, people were aware of it but not much talk, but it's come a long way. "So for us to be out there is not a bad idea. Nothing in the foreseeable future. We've got so much work to do here to finish this off before we scope, planting flags too far abroad." Never say never though!

We've made our feelings known on this a lot over the years. That's a debate (again) for a whole other day, but in summary, we're always club before country. Whether that be my home one of Scotland or my adopted one of Canada, that feeling is the same. We're a Whitecaps site. Ultimately, we don't care what country the Whitecaps players come from, we want to see a winning side and the best players making the squad and getting the playing time because of their talent, not their passport. That said, we also absolutely love it when "one of our own" makes it and a youth player we've followed, talked to and supported from the Residency ranks comes through the pathway to the first team. That's why this site is packed with coverage of the 'Caps USL, U18 and U16 teams. For others, country comes first and Canadian clubs, whether at MLS, NASL or USL level should primarily be concerned with developing homegrown talent to help the national team and help Canada qualify for another World Cup. Always easy to say when it's not your money being spent on running said club. And for those people, the Whitecaps can do no right. How dare they play South American talent when there's Canadians that should be playing? How dare they actually do what they exist for and try and win trophies and make playoffs by playing their best players? The irony of it all, is that if you look at the Whitecaps developmental pyramid and its aims, the national team actually sits at the top of the pyramid, with the MLS team nestling in underneath. That doesn't fit their narrative though. Homegrown player development has been at the forefront of the Whitecaps since the current ownership group took over. The club deem it as a success goal but feel that it's still very much an ongoing process. "Once Greg Kerfoot and Jeff [Mallett] and the two Steves [Nash and Luczo] got involved, it was really a primary focus for us," Whitecaps President Bobby Lenarduzzi told media at an executive roundtable on Monday. "We wanted to be a club that developed players and as a result of that, we invested significantly in it. I think we have been trailblazers in MLS. "When we entered the league, our questions were actually related to what can we do with player development and we were actually getting back from them not a lot of information because clubs hadn't been interested in developing players. When you look at what's going on now, I think we were the catalyst to get that going." The 'Caps admit that it hasn't all been smooth sailing and there have been errors made to get to where they are at right now. "In our regard, we started up and I can be the first to tell you that we made mistakes along the way because we didn't have a model in North America to follow," Lenarduzzi added. "We couldn't emulate what they do in Europe because they don't have scholarship opportunities there. "They have infrastructure, they have league play. We didn't have any of that. So we've actually come a long way in that regard and I think we're starting to see the benefits of that now." Indeed they are. The Whitecaps now lead the league in homegrown talent on their MLS roster, a stat Lenarduzzi says makes him "very proud". It currently stands at eight and counting. The ultimate goal is to have 50% of the MLS roster made up of homegrown, developed players in a five to ten year timeframe. This season is shaping up to see the highest percentage of minutes played by Canadians for the Whitecaps in the MLS era (get all the stats on that on the excellent Out Of Touch blog). Again, that doesn't fit the whole narrative for those that feel that the Whitecaps don't do enough (anything?) for Canadian soccer. Neither does the excellent work done by the 'Caps in their Residency program in producing the talent that packs Canada's U23, U20 and youth teams. It's at national team level that the naysayers point figures. Why aren't the three Canadian MLS clubs packed to the brim with Canadian players? That's what Benito Floro certainly feels judging by his pre-Gold Cup media conference call where he described MLS as "a foreign league" out to help the "American program". "We have three teams who are playing in MLS," Floro added. "But only two or three players are starting. That’s a bad position for us, no?" To be fair, he is correct. But is that the fault of the clubs or a good indication that the players aren't good enough for that level compared to who else is on their squads? If he wants the answer, he should look at his recent results with Canada. Right now there are 10 MLS players on Canada's Gold Cup squad. Only one of them is a Whitecap, Russell Teibert, and he's not a starter under Floro. So is that the 'Caps fault as well? The solution for Floro is a Canadian league. That would also appear to be the path that the Canadian Soccer Association want to go down. All the murmurs points to the CSA establishing a D1 Canadian league, with an announcement imminent. Canada DOES need a national domestic league. Just not a top tier one. There is no way it can rival Major League Soccer right now, despite what the fantasists and idealists would have you believe. A 2026 World Cup bid aside, a domestic league is the only way to grow the game here and have a decent place for young Canadian talent to play and develop when they're not good enough to be part of the Whitecaps, TFC or Impact set-ups. As far as Lenarduzzi is concerned, going for such a top tier league right now is not the correct way to go. "As far as a domestic league goes, we have a USL team," Lenarduzzi said. "We have teams below our MLS teams that are developing players and, in all three [MLS club] cases, the majority of players that are playing in those teams are young Canadian players. "So if we're talking about the short term and the lack of MLS players on the Canadian roster, that's unfortunately a short term view because it's not going to happen overnight. It takes time to develop players. "So in terms of four and eight year cycles, I think the next one you'll see some of the players from the Canadian teams as part of that national team that are currently trying to qualify. The next cycle, my hope is that if we're all doing our jobs properly that there's going to be more players to pick from. "As far as the Canadian league option goes, I don't think there's a real need for it quite frankly." You can picture the pitchforks being readied in some circles already! But he is correct. A D1 league does not instantly make these players world beaters overnight. Neither does playing against players of a similar ilk. They need to be challenged by top talent and be exposed to CONCACAF players and their style to succeed at international level. A D2 or D3 tier development league, in addition to the existing NASL and USL clubs would seem to be the more realistic way to go. Even having Edmonton and Ottawa moving to this new Canadian league would make sense and run it as a tier below MLS. And talking of the USL sides, the initial rumblings around the new Canadian league seem to indicate that the CSA want to have teams in the three big markets of Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal.Support and sustainability-wise, Vancouver would struggle to support a new side as far as we're concerned, so could there be pressure or a mandate from the CSA to force the 'Caps to move their USL team to a new Canadian league? "That's probably a question that you should ask the CSA," Whitecaps Vice President of Soccer Operations Greg Anderson told us. "But I don't think it's something that they can mandate. We've had sanctioning of our USL team and I'm sure it's something that we could work through with the CSA if they wanted to take that step to start the league." While many would have you believe that the CSA are unhappy with the Whitecaps for their perceived lack of commitment to the Canadian program, the relationship between the two parties is in fact strong. "I think it's good," Lenarduzzi said. "From our perspective, as a club, and the three MLS clubs, someone has to develop the players and you're not just going to snap your fingers and have development emerge overnight. "So there needs to be a patience there. We're all relatively new at it, but I do think over time, there will be the fruits of the labour that will start to be clear. Russell Teibert is a great example of that. Sam Adekugbe is another example of that." You can also add in the likes of Kianz Froese, Marco Bustos, and others, who are just going to get stronger as the years go on and undoubtedly play their part for both the 'Caps and Canada. The Whitecaps are more than doing their bit for the development of Canadian soccer. Don't let the naysayers tell you otherwise.

Patience has been the key for Dean during his time in Vancouver. We've written about it before, but after being drafted third overall by the 'Caps in last year's SuperDraft, it was a tough first year for the California Golden Bears alumni, but not an unexpected one. With 123 MLS minutes logged in his rookie MLS season, Dean only made one start and four overall appearances for the Whitecaps last year. For most rookies, that's actually not the worst return, but when your college defensive partner, Steve Birnbaum, gets drafted in the spot just before you and goes on to make 21 appearances for DC United in his rookie season, you would understandably wonder what might have been had another club taken you instead of the 'Caps. But Dean found himself surrounded by a number of top centre backs in Vancouver last year and he took the opportunity to learn from the likes of Andy O'Brien and Jay DeMerit, put his head down, worked hard and improved his game with the hope of fighting for a spot this past preseason. When O'Brien and Johnny Leveron left, his hopes must have been high but the additions of three new centre backs in Pa Modou Kah, Diego Rodriguez and draft pick Parker has actually seen Dean fall down the pecking order and the depth charts. Again, a tough blow to take, but Dean knew there was no point pouting over it and the only way to improve his lot was to show Robinson and the rest of the coaching staff that he deserved to be in the frame for MLS minutes by continually producing and impressing in training and in USL action with WFC2. And he's done just that. Dean's played in eight WFC2 matches this season and has continued to show improvement and development week upon week. And it's not gone unnoticed by Robinson. "I think especially in the last two or three weeks, he's grown," Robinson told AFTN at training on Friday. "He's matured. He's looking at being a better player. The little things, he's doing a lot better now. Never underestimate the small details in defenders. We're lucky we've got five fantastic centre backs in the squad. They'll come through or they'll have their confident spurts at different times. "Christian seems to have found his rhythm at the moment playing in USL and in training. He's trained very, very well the last few games. His chance will be around the corner, without a doubt. Whether it's this Sunday or whether it's next week, he'll get his opportunity because he's not far from being ready now." All of Dean's hard work culminated in his first professional goal this past weekend against Seattle Sounders 2, a moment he described as "awesome" and building upon his first international goal for the US U23 team against Mexico earlier in the year. It's nice to get those rewards when you put the work and effort in. Building on it all is now the key. Dean's attitude has been first class. As disheartening as the additions to the 'Caps MLS squad must have been over the offseason, he again put his head down and worked to battle for a spot. And there may be some battle between Parker and Dean for their minutes on the pitch, the pair have become good friends off it, supporting and challenging each other. "Tim's probably honestly one of my best friends on the team," Dean told AFTN back in April. "We're both American, we're both coming out of college, we're both fighting for that spot. "But once one of us gets it, I think we're both going to be happy for each other that we got the opportunity and once we see the other person got it, we're going to know we can get it. So it's just going to be a fight until that times comes." It's been Parker who got that opportunity first. The rookie has made four appearances with the first team so far this season. Three of them starts and most of them coming in the right back role. Parker got his first MLS start as centre back two games ago in the win at New England. Dean was delighted for his friend and seeing Robinson be true to his word and give the younger players their chance has been a shot in the arm for him. "It makes me excited," Dean admitted to us. "Tim deserves his chance. He's been playing fantastic during training sessions and scrimmages. The guy's a professional. I'm trying to learn, even from him right now. "It's an exciting time for us young players, with Sam [Adekugbe] getting time at the beginning and Deybi [Flores] getting time and Kianz [Froese] getting time. All the young players are coming in and showing what we can do. It's an exciting time for our team." Dean is a versatile player. He's been playing two positions with the USL side this season, both centre back and left back. He's partnered Parker well when they've played together and I wouldn't have too many fears about both of them playing alongside each other in a MLS match. Of course, he's in the team to hone his skills and playing two different positions perhaps makes that a little bit harder, but he's enjoying the opportunity to work on both roles. "I'm playing two positions here, at centre back and at left back, so I'm learning each position," Dean says. "I feel that when I do get the opportunity to play with the first team I'm going to take it, whether it's left back or centre half." He's been looking particularly sharp in the left back role once he found his feet and got used to playing regularly there. It was from that position that he grabbed his first professional goal against Seattle last Sunday and he's been getting up and down the wing well. Does he have any actual preference between the two positions? "I like both right now," Dean says. "Left back's a lot of running, it's fun, keeps my fitness up. I wouldn't mind playing either." Dean looks comfortable at left back and for a player that stands 6-foot-3, he's pretty good with the ball at his feet for a big man. "I used to play striker," Dean laughs. "Then as I got older I started moving back and back and further back, and thinking I just need to keep my footwork up." His continue improvement has been noted by both Robinson and USL head coach Alan Koch. It needs to continue and it needs to be more consistent. Once that all clicks into place, Dean's not going to be too far away from seeing the pitch once again in Major League Soccer action. "Christian was very, very good [against Seattle]," Koch told us. "Getting up and down the flanks. When you have somebody like him who can play two positions, it hard for him to get into a role of being comfortable. But he played very, very well against Portland two weeks ago. I had a chat with him, I didn't think he as good, particularly in the first 20 minutes, against Orange County. He was a lot better again [on Sunday]. "Just like all the other young guys in our team, he has to find consistent performances and that's hopefully going to improve his chances of getting playing time in the first team." That time should be coming soon from what Robinson has indicated. When it does, it's then up to Dean to seize that moment. With the Whitecaps having a crazy August, playing eight games in three different tournaments, Dean will undoubtedly see some first team minutes during that spell. But he's not even thinking that far ahead and is targeting July for his first MLS minutes of the season. "Yeah, not even August," Dean told us. "I'm aiming to try and get into games this month if I can. Just showing what I've got in training sessions and everything. As a player, you always want to play and when you get the opportunity you just have to take it."

The 'Caps looked a little out of sorts in the first half and T2 headed into the break with a one goal lead thanks to a long range effort from Fatawu Safiu, and although Ben McKendry nearly equalised immediately, Vancouver weren't at the races. Head coach Alan Koch gave the 'Caps the kick up the ass they needed during his half time team talk and WFC2 and they were back on level terms two minutes after the restart and captain Tyler Rosenlund grabbed his first goal of the season when he put away an Andre Lewis cross. It was a much different 'Caps side now and they deservedly went ahead in the 63rd minute when Victor Blasco and Billy Schuler combined for the third time in two games and the Spaniard curled a nice finish into the net to put WFC2 into a 2-1 lead they didn't give up. In fact, they could have added to it and McKendry could only look on as his low effort crashed off the left post and then centre back Craig Nitti tried to lob T2 keeper Justin Luthy from his own half but saw his fantastic effort crash off the crossbar. Another three points and although Koch was left happy with that, he wasn't pleased by the Jekyll and Hyde performance from his team. "Pleased with the second half, not pleased with the first half," Koch told us after the match. "I thought we were very lacklustre in the first half. I think they clearly wanted it more than we did. We were a little bit naive how we approached the first 45 minutes. Addressed a couple of things and full credit to the guys, a much, much better performance in the second half." Also pleasing was Victor Blasco's third goal in two games. We wondered if last week's strikes would now spur him on and open the gates for more and it's looking like it has, although Koch also felt the Spaniard's performance matched that of the whole team over the 90 minutes. "In the second half, yes he did [look good]," Koch told us. "I had a chat with him at half time and said the first half wasn't good enough to be honest if he wanted to build on last week. You expect him to come out firing. He didn't do it in the first 45 minutes but full credit to him, he did it in the second half. "He took another step forward in the right direction and hopefully he can keep doing the same thing." The game did have some other disappointment for Vancouver, with Brett Levis being stretchered off late on after coming off worse for wear in a 50-50 challenge. The midfielder has been having a good season for the 'Caps but left the stadium on a cart with his foot and ankle heavily bandaged up and he was unable to put any pressure on it. A big loss for the team and with Caleb Clarke and Jackson Farmer away with Canada on international duty at the Pan Am Games, the WFC2 squad is getting down to the bare bones. With a busy month coming up, how will they cope? "The same way we've dealt with it all season long," Koch added. "Obviously when we're healthy, it's great and it's nice and easy. But when you're players short it gives other guys an opportunity to step in. Caleb was gone today and Billy Schuler stepped in and put in a great 90 minutes work. "If Brett's gone for a little while it'll give somebody an opportunity and they'll come in and do the exact same thing." WFC2 are in action again this coming Wednesday when the previously Western Conference leading Colorado Springs Switchbacks come to UBC. It'll be a tough game, but this month gives the 'Caps the chance to make a real push for a playoff spot. With a trip to Portland coming up next Sunday, and then a home and away set against Tulsa Roughnecks, points are up for grabs against two teams below them in the standings. Koch is hoping to use the recent results to now push on down the stretch but he's not looking too far beyond the next game right now. "We want to make the playoffs," Koch stated. "That's our goal. We'd like to push on and see how well we can do this last little bit of the season. We don't look too far ahead to be honest. We're going to focus on Wednesday. "We know next Sunday down at the Timbers will be a tough game, but we know we'll have a tough game on Wednesday first. So we'll go one game at a time. We're not looking too far ahead of that, particularly with the group that we have. We'll get ready not to take care of business on Wednesday." AFTN photographer Tom Ewasiuk was at WFC2's exciting win over Portland to capture all the action from before, during and after the game. Here's our "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]. The WFC2 Starting XI Fatawu Safiu sparks the game into life in the 35th minute with a long range strike That beats Paolo Tornaghi and nestles nicely in the net Never nice to see happy Timbers Curva Collective in the house and in full voice for the canines in attendance After a half time kick up the ass, the 'Caps come out firing and Tyler Rosenlund grabs his first of the season in the 47th minute Then in the 63rd minute, the dynamic duo of Victor Blasco and Billy Schuler link up again And the Spaniard curls home from inside the box to make it 2-1 WFC2 Blasco is blazing a trail this month in USL Ben McKendry lets rip and nearly make it three for the 'Caps But can only look on as his effort crashes off the left post Not all good news for the 'Caps as Brett Levis comes off second best in a 50-50 challenge And is stretchered off in some pain Robbo congratulates Alan Koch on another win against a Cascadian rival. Next weekend they'll plot a double header down in Portland Pa Modou Kah has some advice and words of encouragement for the younger 'Caps One man and his dog - as if his looks didn't make Christian Dean a babe magnet already! You can see more photos from the match in the Flickr slideshow below:

The game got off to the best possible start for the young 'Caps when Cole Morokhovich headed home Daniel Sagno's cross just over a minute in. It looked like the scene was set for a joyous and historic night up on the mountain at SFU and the Whitecaps went for the killer second. Despite numerous chances, with Terran Campbell having a dipping long range effort tipped over the bar midway through the half, and several goalmouth scrambles, that second goal didn't come and the 'Caps were soon made to rue those missed opportunities. While Vancouver dominated the first half, Georgia United came out all guns blazing to start the second and thought they'd got back on levels terms four minutes in when USSDA leading scorer, the 32 goal Patrick Okonkwo, powerfully headed home a free kick but was called offside. But the 'Caps didn't learn from their slack defensive play and were soon punished seconds later when the outstanding Andrew Carleton, who just turned 15 in June, curled home a low cross to tie things up. Vancouver nearly restored their lead when Campbell went on a strong run and flashed a shot just past the left post in the 54th minute and it was those fine lines that Carl Robinson always talks about as Georgia went up the pitch and scored. It was Carleton again, this time brilliantly curling a free kick around the wall and perfectly placing it into the bottom right corner of the net. Quite the turnaround but it only served to spur the Vancouver players on in front of the large crowd and Michael Baldisimo tied things up again with then minutes remaining, coolly slotting home a Kadin Chung cross that came through to him at the back post. 2-2 and very much game on. That goal set up a grandstand finish, with both goalkeepers needing to be in top form. Georgia pushed hard to finish it in normal time and Frazer Poulter was lucky to see his attempted clearance head goalbound but tipped around the post from under the crossbar by Luciano Trasolini. The 'Caps keeper was called into action again moments later when another Carleton free kick looked to be heading in before Trasolini tipped it on to the cross bar and Poulter cleared the headed rebound off the goalline. Vancouver were on the rack and Trasolini stood tall again to tip another dipping Carleton effort on to the bar, this time a long range deflected one from just inside the 'Caps half. But the 'Caps had the final chance of normal time when Campbell saw his effort cleared off the line and we were heading to two ten minute periods of extra time where first Nicolas Apostal and then Noah Verhoeven had chances to win it for Vancouver in the closing moments, but found Georgia keeper Samuel Morton in fantastic form. And I still feel the Caps should have got a penalty in the first half of extra time! So it came to penalties. Midfielder Munir Saleh (pictured below), who had been excellent throughout, stepped up first but saw Morton save his kick. The next nine were all buried, perfectly placed as well, and Georgia advanced 5-4 on pens to face New York Red Bulls in the semi-final in Carson California this coming Thursday. A truly heartbreaking end and Wednesday's loss will still sting for the losing 'Caps and hurt like hell these many hours later. But they should be proud of the performance they put in, the season they had and what lies ahead for them. Carl Robinson was there to offer some words of encouragement to the team at the final whistle, but just what do you say a group of young guys to pick them up after a game like that where they left everything out on the pitch? "I said to them football's happens like that," Robinson told AFTN. "Sometimes decisions are made by the gentleman up above that you don't agree with and it's important you learn from these occasions and these times and these moments. "But more importantly they had all their loved ones in the crowd supporting them. I said to them when I'm finished talking go over there and give them a hug because they're the ones that will be there for you through thick and thin, whether things go well or not. "And I said, they should be proud of themselves because they did everything to win the game. Unfortunately the penalty shoot-out, as we found out last year in the Amway Cup when Toronto beat us at home, they didn't deserve to beat us, they did, it happens. But it's how you grow as a player from that." And although it may not feel like it right now, this game will be a great moment of growth for all of the players and teach them some valuable lessons in their development. Might all sound a bit clichéd but it is true. The loss should hit home hard the need to take their chances for one. The 'Caps could have been out of sight by half time. It'll also let some players know where they are compared to their peers and what they need to work on over the summer. It was a great team effort, but there were some fantastic individual performances in there, all of which should be used as a springboard to further develop their games. Robinson agrees. "Some fantastic performances from some of the individuals," Robinson told us. "I went round and I spoke to some of the individuals because I felt they deserved the respect of me speaking to them as a group but also individually. "Kadin Chung and Tommy Gardner were absolutely fantastic. Munir, who missed the penalty, tough moment for him, but he'll come strong. He was the best midfielder on the park for me, without a doubt. We've got some great young talent, great young Canadian talent, coming through." Little comfort to Vancouver but they lost to a very good Georgia side with some really strong talent. Morton was a different maker in goal and was solid throughout, keeping his team in the game in the first half. It was clear to see why Okonkwo had hit so many goals this season. He looked a player mature above his years and it's no wonder he's picked up a full ride scholarship from my eavesdropping in on relation's conversations! Then what can you say about Carleton? The Man of the Match, two great goals, couple of other close calls and coolly tucked away the winning penalty. He's already been capped by the US at youth level and certainly seems to be one to watch. I wonder if Robbo managed to stick some discovery rights on him! Georgia were delighted by their win, as they should be. Celebrating three times on the pitch in front of the shattered 'Caps was perhaps a bit excessive (once at the final whistle and two rounds of Olés), but it's what I would have hoped the Caps would have done if they had won down there. And if they wouldn't have (too un-Canadian?) then they need to add that side to their game if they want to make it. We need players that have that niggle to rub victory and success into the faces of those who they have beaten. Nice guys don't win in this game, you need that ruthless streak. That they also need to learn. If I was U16 head coach and U18 head coach Rich Fagan, I would use those celebrations to spur the guys on come the new season starting in September. Take this picture below: Print it off, pin it up in the dressing room and remind the guys how they felt with the defeat last season. Remind them how bad it was to see Georgia celebrate winning on their turf and tell them to make sure they don't have that feeling again come next year's playoffs. You grow and develop by using such failures and low points to take you to that next level. It can sometimes be the best motivation going. So what about the future? Well the Residency program certainly appears to be in great shape. This U16s group is likely the one that will produce the next crop of homegrown talent to join the MLS and USL squads. Half the group will move up to the U18 level next season. They've all got another two or three years of development at youth level ahead of them but if they continue to develop and fulfill their potential, you can see a number of the players making the next jump when they graduate from the Residency program. The Whitecaps have the highest number of homegrown signings on their roster in all of MLS (eight and counting). The latest additions of Marco Bustos and Kianz Froese are blazing a trail for this current group of young talent. Then you have all the homegrown guys on the USL roster as well. It was great to see so many former homegrown players, and other MLS first teamers, in attendance on Wednesday night in a crowd of several hundred. It lets the young players know that this is a Club. A Club with a pathway from the first team all the way down to the pre-Residency teams. The path is set now for the players in the Residency. They have something to clearly aspire to and that is one of the most pleasing aspects of the Whitecaps for Robinson right now. "We've created a clear pathway now, which is the hardest thing to do because sometimes clubs are disjointed and they don't have that pathway to create for young players to easily transition through from the Residency to USL to the first team," Robinson told us. "My job, 18 months ago, was to try and create a pathway and I think I've done that by playing the guys in the first team. "Creating a pathway with the USL, the club have been fantastic giving us support with the USL team, which is an important part of their development and we've got great young talent coming through the Under 16s and 18s now. There certainly is and it's not just here in Vancouver. The Whitecaps have set up a string of academies recently on Vancouver Island and throughout other parts of British Columbia, expanding into their development territories in Saskatchewan and Manitoba and soon to be western Ontario if reports are to be believed. It's a great investment from the club and one which will just add to the Residency talent in years to come, but Robinson doesn't want to rest on his laurels and stop there. "I want to go a step further and I want to try and identify these guys as 11, 12 and 13-year-olds," Robinson added. "We don't want to miss any talent because if we do, we're not doing our jobs correctly. So it's a lot of work, a lot of miles, a lot of conversations but it's definitely worthwhile because if you look at the bigger picture, we want to find the best Canadians. "It'll happen over a period of time. It's not going to happen overnight and it's a process. We've got the first steps in the correct order with our process. Now we've got to go and find more players and find the best players because we don't just want standard players, we want the top players, because there are top players out in Canada, without a doubt."

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"I'm really happy," Blasco told reporters after the match. "I've been working hard for that for a long time. The most important thing is the three points, so thanks to my teammates." You could sense that it was just a matter of time before Blasco got those first goals, and they must have come as something off a weight off his shoulders. "Yeah, it's a bit like that," Blasco told us. "I had a bit of pressure for that because I've been always used to scoring goals. It was taking a little bit long, but now I'm happy. I was kinda calm though because I've plenty experience scoring goals. I knew it was like. If I take my time and was calm then there you go." Blasco has scored goals wherever he’s been. The 22-year-old (his birthday was on Canada Day!) came through the fabled Barcelona academy system before leaving to play with the youth and reserves teams of Mallorca, Cornella and Sabadell. Current WFC2 head coach Alan Koch had scouted Blasco in Spain and brought him over with the initial plan of playing NCAA soccer with the SFU Clan. That move was delayed to allow Blasco to head over to Nanaimo to play for Vancouver Island University Mariners, while taking classes to improve his English. As fate would have it, Koch moved on from SFU to take charge of the Whitecaps USL team and he knew a player he wanted to bring with him. When we ran our profiled Blasco in March, we asked Koch about what Blasco could offer the team. "If you watch him in a training session, you’ll see within five minutes" he told us. And it’s true. Blasco has impressed with his skills and touch in training and scrimmages. He just needs to put it all together in competitive games, and these two goals could very well be the spark that now sees him kick on and impress on the pitch for the rest of the season. There’s no doubting that Vancouver Whitecaps’ USL team is packed with talent. Some of it is more honed than others at this stage of their careers. Some of it is raw. Some of it has taken a bit of time to find its feet in the pro ranks and get fully going. It’s a young side and with that, as Carl Robinson regularly highlights with the MLS team, comes inconsistency, and that is also what Koch wants to see from Blasco. "When he scored that goal, you could kind of see a weight off his shoulders instantaneously," Koch told us. "A huge sigh of relief for him, which is great, and he went back and scored a goal right away. Hopefully that game's the catalyst that gets him going. "Good game by him, but he's still capable of more. We see special things from him in training. He just needs to figure out how to be more consistent. If he can do that in every game, he won't be in the USL for very, very long." The aim for all the players on the USL squad is to grab people’s attention, impress and ultimately land a MLS deal with the Whitecaps. Not all will make it with the ‘Caps, not all will make it to a higher level at all, but you get the feeling that Blasco is certainly one of the players that the Whitecaps are taking a close interest in to see how he develops and where his ceiling may be. Blasco has played in 13 matches so far this season, starting 7. With two goals and two assists, it’s not a bad return for the winger, and he also sits third on the team for shots on goal. Much like the team, it was a somewhat mixed start to the season for Blasco, who was sent off in the home opener against Toronto, before finding his rhythm. So on a personal level, how has he found his first season with the Whitecaps so far?. "I think it was kind of a rollercoaster a little bit," Blasco told us. "I've been playing good matches and some of them not so good. I've been getting used to the league also because here they play different. Also, fitness-wise, I was struggling a little bit, but now, every day that passes, I'm getting more used to it and I'm more happy and comfortable with the team and the coach." As Koch says, consistency is now the key fir Blasco and putting in the type of performances he had as a super sub against Seattle, week in and week out. That in itself is a challenge for all the young players on the USL team due to squad rotation and the minutes being shared around between the squad players and the MLS players coming down to play. But that is just the nature of the beast and Blasco knows, to thrive in the environment, you just have to find way to succeed. "When we all came here, we knew it wasn't going to be easy because a lot of the MLS guys come up and down," Blasco admits. "We all know our role here. We're all to work for the group. So every time we get our chance, we need to take it the best that we can."

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!

The Sounders had the best of the early chances and Marco Carducci did fantastic to dive and knock the ball off the feet of Oalex Anderson as he looked poised to open the scoring. It was a pretty end to end game in the first half, with the 'Caps shading the better play, led by an impressive Marco Bustos, Brett Levis and Andre Lewis. WFC2 could have been a couple of goals up if Bustos had perhaps played a quicker pass on a couple of breaks. WFC2's pressure was to pay off though four minutes before half time when Christian Dean grabbed his first professional goal after a neat one-two with Brett Levis. Dean had looked dangerous in the left back role, getting up and down the wing through the half and his work was rewarded by a well taken goal. 1-0 to the 'Caps at the half, and it was a half that showed just how good this young 'Caps side can be. They're certainly starting to click and develop as the year goes on. But not for the first time this season, they let their lead slip and S2 tied things up in the 67th minute when WFC2 failed to clear a corner, allowing Oniel Fisher to lay the ball off to Sergio Mota and the Brazilian curled a 20 yard beauty past a diving Carducci. The game seemed destined to end in another stalemate before WFC2 sub Victor Blasco stole the show. The Spaniard had come on as a 77th minute sub for Lewis and won all three points for the Whitecaps with two goals in a 78 second spell right at the end of the match. Not only was the brace his first goals of the season but they were also his first professional goals after a youth career in Spain and a college stint here on Vancouver Island. Blasco's first came in the 89th minute when fellow sub Billy Schuler cut the ball back and he slotted home from eight yards out. The pair combined again in the last minute of normal time when Schuler played in Blasco and the winger took a step inside his man before curling the ball past Charlie Lyon in the Sounders goal for a 3-1 final. A great and well-deserved win for the Whitecaps that moves them to within three points of the final playoff spot in the Western Conference standings. "Great game," was WFC2 coach Alan Koch's take after the match. "I thought we played very, very well. Good performance, great result. Obviously lots of little things that we can tidy up. We did give them a couple of chances that we're not happy with, but with a young group you obviously expect that. "Very, very pleased with the overall performance. Not only from the guys that started but the guys that came off the bench and made major impacts in the game today." One of those disappointing aspects for WFC2 was letting another lead slip away, although Koch was delighted with how his team regrouped. It's another sign of his this squad is growing. "Frustrating," Koch told us. "We try to play and with young players we're going to make mistakes. Happy to be 1-0 up, not happy when they scored. You could kind of see our guys take a bit of a pause for a second, kind of gather themselves thank goodness and then push towards the end. "You've got to play for the full 90 minutes, which we did today, and we deserved to get the three points. Full credit to the guys. I think everybody was good from top to bottom." WFC2 are in action again this coming Friday and it's another Cascadian derby as Timbers 2 come to town. It's a 7pm kick off, so head along if you can. AFTN photographer Tom Ewasiuk was at WFC2's exciting win over Seattle to capture all the action. Here's our "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]. The Caps had some early pressure with Marco Bustos and Andre Lewis linking up well And the pressure pays of when Christian Dean plays a neat one-two with Brett Levis And hits a great finish to make it 1-0 WFC2 It was also Dean's first professional goal And you can see just what it meant to the big man Not for the first time in the game, Marco Carducci had to be at his best to keep out S2 While at the other end, Seattle's Lyon roared But when Sergio Mota unleashed his 20 yard curling beauty in the 67th minute There was nothing Carducci could do to keep it out Look who it is! Robert Earnshaw makes his return after his recent calf injury With a draw looming, up steps Super Sub Victor Blasco inn the 89th minute And the Spaniard slots home Billy Schuler's cutback to put the 'Caps ahead again Another first professional goal! And with three points likely secure, it's joy all round But Blasco wasn't finished yet! And he curls home his second just over a minute later to make it 3-1 Whitecaps! Blasco loves it and the fans love him! The goalscorers embrace! You can see more photos from the match in the Flickr slideshow below:

It's the quarter-final match-up many people were predicting, including ourselves in Podcast 113. We also tipped England for the win though, so let's hope that doesn't come true as well! Both teams will also have expected to be facing each other at this stage and they know each other's game inside and out. The two sides have played each other a number of times recently, most recently in a pre-tournament friendly in Hamilton, where Canada narrowly won thanks to a wonder strike from Sophie Schmidt. You can't read too much into friendlies of course, and the more worrying match for Canada to be concerned with is England's 3-0 win over them in this year's Cyprus Cup Final in March. That's a win that certainly has the English girls believing they can book a semi-final place come Saturday night. "We've played them quite a bit actually," Taylor told us. "Obviously beating them in Cyprus was a boost. We played them not too long pre World Cup in Hamilton and lost 1-0. Every time we play them it's a physical battle, it's a scrap. There's not many opportunities in it. It is kind of a close game and that's what we expect as well. So it is going to be a hard game, an even game, but we have every belief that we can beat them and win." Taylor didn't play in that friendly against Canada at the end of May. After suffering a non-contact knee injury while training with her NWSL club side, Portland Thorns, in April, the 29-year-old striker wasn't even sure if she'd be recovered in time to play a part in her first ever World Cup. "Obviously it was an unfortunate time with the injury," Taylor mused. "All the time throughout rehab it was a race against the clock. At times it was going well and looking really good and at other times it looked like I might miss out here. Fortunately there was just enough time to make it back, so step foot on the field again was good news." After some intense rehab work back in England, Taylor recovered just in time, and made her World Cup debut in England's final group game against Colombia, coming on as an 81st minute sub. She almost scored too. A second substitute's appearance came in the Round of 16 win against Norway, with Taylor coming on in the 63rd minute with the scores tied at 1-1 and playing an important part in England's win. The appearances have been the pinnacle of Taylor's initial goals in the tournament. She didn't just want to be part of the squad, she wanted to play a part in it and play a part in making history for the English girls. So after all those weeks of rehab and being touch and go to even make it, how did it feel to step out on that pitch in Montreal against Colombia? "It felt pretty special," Taylor enthused. "It was just amazing, but at one point I thought I might have just missed it. Then coming on against Norway and playing a part in helping us make history was amazing. "I've got goosebumps even talking about it! Obviously that's something that we want to continue on and we have every chance of doing it this weekend." The signs are there that England are starting to hit their stride in this World Cup, highlighted by the fighting back quality they showed to beat Norway. After losing their first game in this year's tournament 1-0 to France, England have regrouped and ground out three straight 2-1 victories to set up this quarter-final clash. Scoring two goals in a game seems to be something of a pipe dream for Canada these days. The next target for Taylor is a World Cup goal. She already has four for England in her 10 appearances to date, including a hat-trick against Australia at this year's Cyprus Cup. Taylor could even get the start against Canada, if England coach Mark Sampson wants to mix things up a little. He's certainly not afraid to do that, having already used every outfield player during the tournament. She will most certainly feature at some point and will be a danger to the Canadian defence. Taylor has scored goals wherever she's been, after starting her career with Tranmere Rovers as a 15-year-old. After attending Oregon State University on a scholarship, playing spells in five countries followed, before she headed back to the US in 2014 to play in the NWSL with Washington Spirit. Despite her successes an England call-up was missing. The reason didn't appear to be because of her travels or where she was playing, but more to do with the fact that she turned down an invitation to a training camp under previous England coach Hope Powell in order to concentrate on her schooling. Did Powell hold a grudge? Well, no further call was forthcoming until Sampson took over and brought her into a camp in Spain as a 27-year-old. In these times of young female international footballers, had Taylor given up ever playing for England or did she always hold out hope that her time would come if there was a coaching change? "I thought, yeah, if there was a coaching change," Taylor readily admits. "But I waited a number of years for that and towards the end I kind of accepted that it potentially might not happen. So rather than just have my focus on England and everything like that, I kind of just had to shift my focus a bit on what's best for my football. How can I just be the best footballer and enjoy what I'm doing? That mentally for me really helped. "I tried coming to America and playing in NWSL. It's a great standard, a very good league, professional environment and I love the lifestyle, so for me, they were the right decisions. And as much as I was still training hard and committing and sacrificing as any international footballer would, it was just nice when the coaching change did happen and I did get the chance." Taylor is now back in her second home of Oregon, playing with Portland Thorns and loving every minute of it. As much as she liked her time in Maryland with Washington Spirit last year, it wasn't her spiritual home. After playing four years with the OSU Beavers, that is Oregon and she jumped at the opportunity to head back. "Yeah, that's exactly what it was," Taylor happily admits. "I enjoyed my football at the Spirit the year before but it never felt like home. The last few years, everywhere I've played is to become a better player and that's the sacrifice I've had to make the last three or four years. "It just got to a point where I want to actually be somewhere where I feel settled and want to be. With the option to come to Portland, it's a great organisation. They've got a good vision as a club. The fans are phenomenal. It's an awesome place to live. I've still got friends there. It just felt like the right move for that stage of my career." Taylor says the Thorns have been great with her since she joined them in March, even to the point that depending how much further that England go in the tournament, there's been no pressure or discussions from them on when they need her to head back Portland. "It's not even something I've spoken to with the club," Taylor told us. "They're very respectful of national team commitments. That's one thing I really do like with playing in the US in general and the club. "Especially once I did my knee, eight weeks ago or whenever it was, they were like 'whatever you need'. If you need to fly straight home to England and get surgery, if you want it here, what can we do for you. So there's a lot of respect there. "It depends on what I need. Depending on what the staff here say, they'll probably go with. If I need a break or if it's good to straight back into training. I'm happy to do anything. I'll just do as I'm told really! The league obviously doesn't really break for this, so I imagine the majority of players will be returning quite swiftly to Portland for the second half of the season." Amongst those Portland players heading back to the Thorns after the tournament are three Canadians - Kaylyn Kyle, Christine Sinclair and Rhian Wilkinson. Taylor hasn't really had the chance to get to know the Canadian girls yet, with them only playing a couple of games each due to their residency with the Canadian national team. It's meant there's not even been the chance to have some inter-nation banter between Taylor and them. "No, not really" Taylor laughs. "I had a couple of Canadian teammates at Spirit, so probably more so than with those guys. Again, it's just more so with the timing of being there. They kind of just flew in for a couple of games. It's all friendly and everything. It's at the level where it's not talking shit to each other! Maybe change though, depends how the game goes! But they're all lovely girls but I just don't think it's quite at that level. I'm not a huge shit talker anyway!" There's no doubting that Portland is a "soccer city". To me, it the number one such city in America. Any team that can draw five figure crowds to PDL U23 games is a hotbed of football fervour. But it's not just the male Timbers sides that draw exceptionally well, the Thorns also pack in the numbers and it warms Taylor to her English cockles to see how the city treat the club and the players. "Growing up in England, it's a big football place but not yet for women's football," Taylor says. "In Portland, I feel they equally respect the men and the women. You can tell by the crowds that they do. It's just nice. It's nice to be respected for what you do." Football is a world's game and Taylor has actively explored that, playing in five countries and three continents, with spells in America, Canada, Sweden, Australia and obviously England. It also hasn't affected her international chances. She spoke about that with English coach Sampson who told her to play where made her happy. It was only her form that mattered, and that form saw her on the England Player of the Year shortlist in 2014. With all that's she's seen on her travels, how does she feel the women's game is growing around the world? The gap between the top four or five nations and the middle chasing pack certainly seems to be narrowing if this World Cup is a gauge. "It is now, definitely," Taylor feels. "When I look back to when I left England when I was 18 to now, you would just never have imagined the strides that it's made. The US has stayed quite consistent I would say. It's probably harder to tell. "It was a huge jump going over to college when I was 18, just in terms of professionalism and training every day. The high professional standards. That, for me, is where I've developed in that area because I've been around it so much. "But now, if I compare the English league to the college, then yeah, I think the standard in the English league playing full time. So that just shows how much it's grown. I've just had a great experience going abroad and you can see the different styles, different philosophies, what other countries implement. It's helped me become a more well-rounded player." Amongst those travels were three summers spent with Ottawa Fury in the W-League from 2007. "I loved my experience in Ottawa," she continued. "It was during Oregon State, so with the nature of having the summer off and the W-League, they sort of go hand in hand. I played most summers in college. It's better than taking the summer off and doing my own running, so I just decided to play W-League. "My first time doing it was with the Boston Renegades and it was just from there. The next summer Ottawa had contacted me. I think we had played them the year before and I'd heard that it was a good set up, so I gave it a go and it was a really, really good organisation. "I can say it was one of the better organisations I've been involved in, in terms of the clubs I've played for in the past. I loved it. It was really good. I've played, I think, three summers total there. It was just a great way to stay fit during the summer. Obviously it's amateur status, but professional standards. That's what I loved about it." She's used to Canadian crowds cheering for her, but on Saturday she's going to have over 53,000 cheering against her in Vancouver. On such a big occasion, for both countries the crowd could be a big factor. Both sets of players are used to playing in front of big crowds, but Taylor feels that the massively pro-Canadian crowd could actually be an advantage to the English in terms of the pressure they will provide to the home nation. "We've kind of discussed it," Taylor admits. "Obviously we know it's going to be a huge factor, the crowd. When you compare it to being from England, and it's a real football culture and you've got a real football crowd. Even experiencing men's football, I don't think the Canadians, and no disrespect to Canadians, but as a nature, as the game goes on, they don't really cheer and support at the right time. Now, before Canadians are up in arms. She has a point. You see it at MLS games and you've seen it in this tournament. Even last Sunday, the BC Place was loud, at times. On other occasions they fell quiet and the whole tension of the occasion seemed to set the mood for a large patch in the middle of the match. "They cheer and do different things that probably we would expect to see," Taylor continued. "I think it will be a little erratic to be honest, but we're expecting that. The crowd may cheer at something which maybe a normal crowd wouldn't cheer at or go silent when a normal, experienced crowd would probably help. "I think it's one of those, we've just got to take it as it comes. We do have experience playing front of a big crowd. We played at Wembley in November, which was a huge occasion for us. "But on the plus side, knowing the pressure on us in that game at Wembley, you can flip that around and say well the pressure's massively going to be on Canada and it has been. You can see it throughout the tournament. The pressure's been on them the whole time and it's only going to get more for them, so we can kind of take that as an advantage to us."

Wirth graduated from the Whitecaps Residency program last summer, having joined the program in 2011. With many USSDA and PDL games now behind him, he headed to Oregon State University. Initially sharing starts in his rookie year with Junior keeper Matt Bersano, Wirth played five games, four of them starts. Despite winning three games, allowing just three goals and keeping two clean sheets, the Beavers coach decided to stick with the more experienced Bersano for the remainder of the season. It's hard to knock that decision as the Beavers made it to the postseason for the first time since 2003 but with Wirth used to splitting time with the Residency teams these past few years, and seeing regular gametime, being completely kept on the bench for the remainder of the season must have been a bit of an adjustment. Still, that's the life of college soccer, so onwards and upwards. Bersano has now moved on from Oregon, turning down a pro contract with RSL's USL side Real Monarchs to go to grad school at Penn State. His departure will hopefully open more doors and opportunities for Wirth with the Beavers in his sophomore season. He has a great chance to establish himself now as Oregon's number one keeper and the signs during OSU's spring schedule seemed to indicate he would be. "I'm looking very positive for that looking ahead," Wirth told AFTN recently. "Hopefully I'm going to be the guy and we can make it to the tournament again." With just 405 minutes of action logged last year at Oregon, Wirth made the decision to keep himself busy, fit and sharp during the college offseason by heading back to play some PDL this summer. With the Caps U23's team no more, Wirth has headed east to join Calgary Foothills in their inaugural PDL season, where he's splitting the goalkeeping duties with fellow Whitecaps Residency alumni, Sean Melvin. There's a couple of other Caps connections too, with Residency graduate Tim Hickson and Sam Adekugbe's brother Elijah also on the Foothills roster. When we spoke with Nolan a couple of months ago, the original plan was to play with Vancouver Victory in Washington's Evergreen League, but he's made one appearance for Calgary so far, in last Sunday's 2-2 draw with Washington Crossfire. "It's just to get some more game time," Wirth told us back in March. "But in the summer I will be training with the Whitecaps again and then going whenever I'm able to get some time in, just for game time." Wirth was recently back in Vancouver, playing in goal for the Beavers in March's friendly between OSU and WFC2. Oregon were on the wrong end of a 3-2 defeat that day but for Wirth, it was just nice to be back and catch up with some old friends. "It felt good," he told us. "It felt good to come back to where I started. I obviously know a handful of the guys on the WFC2 team, so that always just gets me riled up to play because you want to play against your friends that you grew up with." And a lot of those friends have also been his teammates on the Canadian national team these past few years. Wirth was one of nine Whitecaps Residency products on Canada's 20-man roster for the 2015 CONCACAF U-20 Championship in Jamaica in January. Canada may not have had much success in what were the qualifiers for the recent U-20 World Cup in New Zealand, crashing out in the group stages after a strong start, but on a personal level, the tournament was a success for Wirth, who got the nod over his fellow Residency alumni Marco Carducci in three of the five group games. As disappointing as the tournament was, Wirth feels that the Canadian team can still take positives from it. "I felt that there were lots of lessons that we all took from the whole tournament. I feel it was just a building point and everybody needs to look forward from that." It certainly feels like too talented a group not to go on and do well for the national team at the next level these coming years. As for Wirth's plans for his own footballing future, with the Whitecaps maintaining his MLS right and with the new pro pathway of WFC2 in USL, is that enough to see him come out of college early? That's a decision still yet to be made. "I'm kind of just taking it year by year," he told us. "I'm going to keep that bridge with the Whitecaps and keep all my options open."

"I've been in Vancouver probably eight, nine years now," Day told AFTN. "So my history with the club is that I was kind of with the Residency before then I moved away to take another job then upon coming back I was kind of in and round the club and the PDL group last year, and working with Niall [Thomson] and Steve Meadley last year. "It's just kind of dovetailed since then, coming back into the Residency, but it's where I wanted to be. I've wanted to be involved for a long time and lots of discussion with the club." Englishman Day headed back to Vancouver with nearly 13 years of coaching experience under his belt. After spending close to five years as a staff coach with Charlton Athletic Community Trust, Day first came to Canada, and British Columbia, in April 2008 where he took up the role of head coach with Quest University in Squamish for nearly three years. During his final year at Quest, Day also took on the role of Staff Coach with the Whitecaps Residency program for the first time and was head coach of the Youth Prospects sides before moving on to the much sunnier climes of Greece to become the Elite Academy Director with Arsenal FC's first Greek academy in Loutraki. Nice work if you can get! After a couple of years in Greece, Day returned to BC where apart from being a staff coach with 'Caps PDL side last season, he has been head coach of Surrey United's U17 boys and U16 girls teams, technical consultant with West Coast FC and an assistant coach with the Whitecaps Girls Elite Regional Excel Centre program. It's interesting, but not unusual over here, to find a coach that has taken charge of both boys and girls sides, but Day feels what he's learned from his involvement in the women's game has been nothing but beneficial to his own development and in what he can bring to the 'Caps U16s. "As far as coaching the girls sides, it's only as long as I've been in this country I've done it to be honest," Day told us. "I've enjoyed it. I think some coaches are scared of coaching on the female side, but I can say from first hand that there's a lot of things you can learn coaching on the female side that are very useful to use on the male side. "So this has all not been new to me. I've coached professional athletes before at the Junior level, so just really excited to be here and enjoying every minute of it." Day's wealth of previous experience and his existing knowledge of the Whitecaps Residency program certainly set him in good stead for his appointment and allowed for a smooth progression once in situ. "It's been good," Day told us. "Like you say, I've been in and around the club for quite a few years now, so as far as the transitional period goes, it's probably one of the easiest ones that's going to be there. I'm sure that was factor in bringing me into the club. "It's a good group, well it's better than that, it's an excellent group. I think the mandate for me was to try and continue on the work that has been done in the past and try and improve it leading into the playoffs and not really try to change too much. It's a group that's expected to do well and I think part of my job has just been to carry that on." And carry it on he has. The 'Caps U16's finished the season unbeaten in their last five games, winning four of them, as they wrapped up the Northwest Division of the West Conference for the second straight year. They've continued that into the playoffs, winning their first group match on Tuesday 6-1 against Concorde Fire and look to be a good bet to make the quarter-finals once again and hopefully beyond. The players have played a big part in the smooth transition. The current U16 set-up is like a well-oiled machine and plays as a very cohesive unit. The 2012/13 USSDA season had been a tough one for the U16s but one of what can now be seen to be a huge benefit. The 'Caps fielded a very young squad, with a lot of U15s and even U14s seeing gametime. The thinking behind it was to keep a core group together for more than just the two seasons. Grow them together and develop a chemistry and understanding that would reap the benefits on the pitch. The U16s performances for these past two seasons have proved that plan to be a huge success and the chemistry that exists within the squad has made it easy for whoever comes in as head coach. "Yeah it has," Day admitted. "It always happens that way. Part of our job, of course, is to push players up and a lot of the guys have been with Rich in the Under-18s this year. We made a conscious decision to bring those guys back, well predominantly most of those guys back, for the playoffs. "When you're looking for cohesion in the team, the more the players have played with one another and trained with one another, it just becomes more natural to them. It's a very fluid group and we expect that to be a bonus and a strength for us going in to the playoffs." Another big boost for the U16s in this year's playoffs is the ability to draw on last year's experiences. A number of the squad were part of the 'Caps side that won their playoff group last year and advanced to a narrow quarter-final loss. Heartache and disappointment build character for sure and just makes a player hungrier to get that success. With a mix of returnees and new faces to the U16 squad, that experienced from last year will be important to draw upon this week and beyond in the playoffs. "I think it has to be," Day said. "Everyone's got those nerves going in to it, but the more players you've got that have been there and done it, it can just kind of put the other guys at ease. Those experienced players will know the standard, will know what to expect. There's trials and tribulations that are there with the weather, stop-start intervals and all that kind of stuff. We're going to need that experience for the younger players this week to really sort of kick us on. "But at the same time, you've got to also gain that experience by doing it. That doesn't mean that because you're a first year going in to this tournament that you're going to be inexperienced, it's just part of your development and learning. But we see it as a benefit and hopefully that will be proven this week." As we mentioned in our piece on 'Caps U18 head coach Rich Fagan yesterday, all the players within the Whitecaps Residency at the moment now have a clear pathway from the pre-Residency groups all the way up the MLS first team. The WFC2 USL side was that vital missing link and having that team now, and seeing the likes of Jackson Farmer, Jordan Haynes and Mitch Piraux come all the way through the 'Caps youth ranks and into that squad, has given a boost and a generated a buzz for Day's U16 group. "Absolutely," Day told us. "You talk about my involvement with the club over the years and I've watched that grow as well. There is now that serious pathway from being a pre-Residency to making the first team. That wasn't always the case and since I've been here, that wasn't always the case. But now it is there and now it's genuine for these players to believe that they can be a professional footballer. "The USL team in it's own right is a professional team, that plays in a very good, competitive league and that's a good standard. Now, of course, the objective is MLS, but I think it's just opened a lot more doors for many players and they can now see that pathway a lot clearer than they did maybe two or three years ago." And with the talent in the current U16 set-up only likely to get stronger with a further two or three years development in the Residency program, you have to think that there's certainly a few of the current crop who will follow that pathway under Day and Fagan in the coming seasons.

Miedema is delighted to be here and blazing the trail for young Dutch players to follow and the pressure that comes with that. "I felt a lot of pressure the first games from my home country," she told reporters at training on Friday. "Not that much from FIFA or whatever. It's exciting for us to play. We know that we can play way more tournaments after this, so we're just here to learn and get the experience but also to get the good result." As to how well Miedema has coped with the pressure so far, well the nerves got the better of her before the Netherland's first game against New Zealand, but they've been improving. "Well, I was sick before the first game, so I think not all that well!" she joked. "Now it's fine. Now we know what we have to do. We know that we can play our own way of soccer. We're getting better in the tournament so we have a good hope for the next game." That next game now comes tonight against Japan. Expectations of the side from within the country are certainly higher than from the outside looking in. A good high-scoring qualification campaign and some exciting talent will do that in a football mad nation. How many outside of the Netherlands expected them to qualify from the group? Hard to say, but finishing third, which they did, would likely have been the first goal to achieve from the tournament. Anything better and expectations exceeded. "It's great," Miedema says of qualifying to the knockout stages. "We had to wait till all the other games were done and then we realised that we were one of the best 16 teams." Miedema's enjoyed her first World Cup, as have her teammates. They looked good in a strong 1-0 win over New Zealand, really should have taken something from the 1-0 loss to China, and had there been a few more minutes left in their final match, I wouldn't have been surprised to see them grab a second, and a win, against Canada. The games, and now tonight's Round of 16 match, have seen the Dutch go from coast to coast, which is tiring for those used to it, never mind anyone else. But like so many of the young players in this tournament seem to do with a multitude of things, Miedema just takes it in her stride. "Yeah, that's a lot of travel," Miedema admitted to AFTN. "We played first in Edmonton then back to Montreal, then we came here. You get tired from a lot of travelling, of course, and the time difference the whole time. But you know that you'd have to do that before you came here, so it's fine for me." Travel aside, finishing third in Group A could yet prove beneficial for the Dutch. They're in the easier half of the draw, avoiding a number of the big hitters and four of the top five ranked teams in world. Miedema isn't looking too far ahead just yet but she knows the Dutch dodged a few bullets. "Yeah I think so, but first we have to beat Japan!," Miedema told us about the half of the draw the Netherlands find themselves in. "That's a really hard game. We have a lot of respect for the whole team. We know they were the World Champions the last edition of this, so we just have to have a good day and we maybe have a little chance then." The Netherlands now face a Japan side who have looked solid and composed, if not startlingly impressive. They're well organised at the back and only let in one goal in their three Group C matches, but they only scored four in the process. Not exactly something to strike the fear into other teams and it's something the Dutch feel can be exploited and pave their route to a shock result through the attacking firepower they possess. "Yeah of course," Miedema told us. "If we keep them to nil for a long time and they don't score, we really have a chance. We have really good attackers, like Manon Melis and Lieke Martens on the outside and then [Danielle] van de Donk at 10, so we know that we can score every game. So then we have a chance to get a win and we're hoping for that scenario." The chemistry within the Netherlands side has slowly been building as the tournament has gone on. Miedema has noticed it on the pitch and she's hoping it just continues to improve to keep the Dutch around the tournament that little bit longer. "We didn't play together for a long time before we came here, so you always needs some matches to get into your best field play," Miedema told reporters. "Now you know that it's getting better. When you're on the field, you can feel that. I hope we can do the same against Japan and a little bit better than against Canada." Miedema herself cuts an impressive figure. She's confident, refreshingly honest in interviews, yet still has the teenage side to her, giggling during answers. She's a very endearing player. She may not have bagged her first World Cup goal yet, but Miedema is a world star in the making and has been since bursting onto the national team scene in 2013. Miedema made her club debut for Dutch side SC Heerenveen aged just 15 and her goalscoring prowess (she scored a staggering 78 goals in 69 appearances) soon earned her a move to Bayern Munich who went unbeaten to win the Bundesliga title. Wearing the number 10 shirt with Bayern has seen her compared to Dutch compatriot Arjen Robben, only much more likeable. Others compare her to Robin van Persie, who she had previously said she models her game. It's the usual lazy journalistic tendency to tag any up and coming player with that of a player of old. It's bad enough in the men's game, never mind when they start crossing genders. Miedema laughs it all off, but has the perfect retort for it. "I don't [refer to myself like that], but all the media's doing that," Miedema smiled. "It's a great honour to get that name, but I just hope that parent later say that their daughter play like Miedema or Martens or Melis. I think that's way cooler." The Netherlands are making their first World Cup appearance, much to my annoyance after they eliminated Scotland in the European playoffs! But they are most certainly a team on the rise. Their U19 side won the 2014 European Championships and many of those players are expected to break in and bolster the senior side in the next couple of years. The Dutch will also be hosting the next senior Euros in 2017. Having seen the buzz around hosts Canada, Miedema can't wait to be a part of that in her own home country. For now though, she realises the importance that the current squad and their performance at this World Cup will mean to the women's program in Holland. And also the opportunity for herself and the other players to influence and be role models to all the young girls back in the Netherlands, where the women's side of the game is not always taken all that seriously. "I think it's important," Miedema said. "We play the European Championships in about two years in the Netherlands, so this is the chance to get it bigger in our country. That I'm one of the role models, is cool. "It's getting better now but you still have a lot of people who think that women's soccer is stupid. We just have to change that and I think we'll have a great tournament in two years. "But if you compare it with men's soccer, you cannot do that. We're not that fast but I think our way to play is pure. We don't care about money and stuff. We just play because we have fun and I think you see that on the pitch." And expect to see it on the BC Place pitch tonight.

It's been a relatively good season for both the Whitecaps U16s and U18s. Strange to say just relatively when both teams have qualified for the playoffs? Well after the way it started, especially for the U18s, it looked like it was going to be a romp! Instead a lot of squad upheaval and some key departures from the program hit the 'Caps hard and it took them a few games to recover, regroup and find out where the goals were to come from once again. The Under 18s started the season in amazing form. They were unbeaten with 11 straight wins to kick off the 2014/15 campaign, banging in 43 goals in the process, including an 8-0 victory over Nomads SC. Hat-tricks were the order of the day with Marco Bustos bagging a few and Dario Zanatta joining in the fun. Bustos, who was captain of the squad, scored 16 goals in his 12 appearances for the U18s before the Caps management decided that his time and development would be served better training full-time with the MLS squad that he would be joining in January. The 'Caps considered allowing Bustos to fly down to join the guys for the playoffs to aid his recovery from injury and boost the team but some last minute niggles look to have prevented that. Losing Bustos was a big loss to the team but it provided the chance for others to step up and Zanatta took on that role before he decided to leave the 'Caps and the Residency program to explore opportunities overseas in February. Losing those two key players left a void, along with losing Kianz Froese, who was now with the MLS squad too, and some others who departed for non-footballing reasons. The 'Caps struggled at first. There were a lot of draws and the goals dried up a little, before the team started to hit their stride again and finished the season with three wins out of their last four games. The U18s dip in form saw them go from the number one ranked team in all of the USSDA to finishing 4th in a very strong Northwest Division of the Western Conference, ending the season with a record of 19 wins, 8 draws and 5 defeats, for a Point Per Game record of 2.03. To give you an idea of how tight the Division was, the second and third placed teams have a PPG of 2.06 and the 'Caps record gave them the 13th best record throughout the USSDA. But a wildcard place it was and that obviously meant the possibility of being drawn in alongside some of the top Academy teams. As it ended up, the 'Caps were drawn into Group A and kick off their playoff bid on Tuesday morning. They've been draw into a tough group alongside fellow MLS academy DC United, Shattuck-Saint Mary's and Oakwood Soccer Club. The good news for the 'Caps though is that none of their opponents won their Division. First up is Minnesota side Shattuck-Saint Mary's at 7am PT on Tuesday. The Faribault based side just missed out on top spot in the Mid-America Division of the Central Conference by 0.04 in the PPG stakes to Chicago Fire U18s. Draws were their downfall, with 11 on the season compared to just the three losses, but that was good enough to see them ranked 16th in the playoffs. With 59 goals scored and 33 conceded, the 'Caps will fancy their chances of getting off to a good start, but U18 coach Rich Fagan knows the excellent reputation of Shattuck-Saint Mary's in years gone by. "Shattucks have a really good pedigree and a really good history of always being kind of around that top 16 of the USSDA," Fagan told AFTN. "We play them first and I imagine that will be a really difficult game for us." A tough start and there's no rest for the U18s either, who are back in action at 7am PT the next day when they take on Oakwood Soccer Club. Oakwood play out of Portland, Connecticut (who knew?!) and finished 3rd in the Northeast Division of the East Conference behind winners Montreal Impact. Their 10-8-8 record saw them finish with a 1.46 PPG and despite their ranking of 21 in the playoff pool, look to be the easiest opposition for the 'Caps this week. "Oakwood, who we'll play in our second game, I really don't know too much about," Fagan admitted. "We've never faced them before. On paper it maybe looks like an easier division, but again, don't really know too much at this point about them." Hopefully the 'Caps will have six points in the bag by the end of that one, with fellow MLS academy DC United the opponents in their final group game at 6am PT on Friday. DC finished runners-up to the talented New York Red Bulls U18s in the Atlantic Division of the East Conference. They're ranked 8th in the Playoff Pool and finished the season with a 18-6-2 record and 2.15 PPG. With 82 goals scored and 38 conceded from their 26 matches, 22 goal Eryk Williamson looks to be their big attacking danger. "DC United play in probably one of the toughest divisions in the entire USSDA," Fagan told us. "They finished in second place behind the Red Bulls, who we've played three times in the last four years. It's always our toughest match. They're always our toughest opponents and it's always been close games between those two. "I don't want to say that that'll be the toughest game, but I imagine it will be one of the hardest of the three." It'll certainly be a challenge for the U18s. There's no doubting their defensive strength but can they do enough in attack to break down these teams? We'll soon find out but there is definitely a confident air amongst the group. The same can be said for the U16s, who made it back to back Northwest Division championships after a dominant season that sees them seeded 7th in the playoffs. The upheaval in the U18s meant a lot of players had to make the step up early this season to play at the higher level, but it just shows the depth of talent coming through the Whitecaps Residency system right now that despite missing those players, those remaining and those who were brought in stepped up and continued to strong play of the U16s all season long. The team finished the season with 20 wins, 7 draws and just 5 losses from their 32 matches, with a PPG record of 2.09. With 79 goals scored and only 34 against, the 'Caps were a scoring powerhouse, with Daniel Sagno (16 goals), Amanda Glorie (13) and Terran Campbell (11), leading the way. They recorded two 7-0 victories, one against Colorado Rush at home in November and away to Santa Cruz Breakers in May. The 'Caps U16s ended the season with four clean sheets in their final five matches and are heading into the playoffs looking to follow up on their group win at this stage last year. The U16s also kick off their playoff campaign on Tuesday, this time at the rather more toasty 1.30pm PT (which is 4.30pm local time). That in itself will be tough, but a number of the 'Caps players on both squads have played down there before and they were all training in Burnaby playing with jackets on in the hot temperatures we've had here the past few weeks, followed by saunas! First up for the U16's is Atlanta side Concorde Fire. The Fire didn't initially qualify for the playoffs after finishing 7th in the Southeast Division of the East Conference and one place outside the wildcard pool. But they're in now! How? No idea. Can't find it anywhere! Concorde finished the season 16-12-8, scoring 66 goals and conceding 64. They shouldn't pose too much of a problem for the freescoring 'Caps. Once the Fire have been extinguished, the 'Caps are out for some revenge on Wednesday when they face Chicago Magic PSG, again at 1.30pm PT. The Magic beat the 'Caps U16s 2-1 at the quarter-final stage last season, in a controversial home match for Vancouver that had to be played south of the border in Bellingham due to passport issues for the Chicago side and featured some dodgy refereeing calls. Chicago Magic finished 4th in the Mid-America Division of the Central Conference this season with a 12-6-9 record and 42 goals for and 32 against. That sees them as the 5th wildcard team, so the 'Caps are favourites to get that revenge. The final group game is on Friday at 8.15am, so at least they'll have it a bit cooler when they take on Arsenal. The Californian Gunners finished runners up to the LA Galaxy in the Southwest Division of the West Conference with a 21-12-6 record. The Norco based side banged in 57 goals and conceded 34, ending up with 15th placed ranking in the playoff mix. The 'Caps already know the danger that Arsenal can be, with the Californians serving up the 'Caps first defeat of the season in October and that 1-0 away loss was to be the only match the U16's lost in their first 14 games. On paper, the U16's look to have a fairly easy group. But as we've said numerous times before, football's played on grass (or turf!) and not paper. You don't want to take anything for granted but at the same time, this group of players should have the self-confidence and belief that they have what it takes to advance to the quarter-finals for the second year running. "I think we have to stress that to the players," U16 head coach Adam Day told AFTN. "There's always anxiety and nerves and excitement going in to it, but we have to try and eliminate that and really look at the black and white facts. "We are the best team in the group and we're the best team for a reason. We have to believe in all the hard work we've done on and off the field and really go there and make a statement and send a message to everybody else." But Day stressed that there's a difference between going into the playoffs in confident mood and take any team for granted. "We're under no illusions," he continued. "We're not going to take anybody lightly because anything can happen over the course of 90 minutes, but we should feel confident in what we do because we feel we're one of the best, if not THE best, in North America and it's down to us to prove it. That's not a pressure to the guys, it's a reality of what we expect from them." And those expectations of just how well the Whitecaps teams will do in this year's Academy playoffs runs high throughout the club. Watching the week play out with much interest from afar, with be the Whitecaps' MLS coach Carl Robinson. Robinson has always shown a lot of interest in the 'Caps Residency program since coming to Vancouver as assistant coach in 2012. You'd expect nothing less, of course, from a coach who loves to play and develop young players. So how does he view the chances of both sides this time around, and just what would it mean to the club for one or both of them to come home with the Championship trophy in July? "It's very important," Robinson told AFTN. "I sat down with the parents of the 14s, 16s and 18s on Tuesday night to discuss the progress of the club moving forward. We talk about young players being given opportunities and I said to them I can stand here and say we will give your son a chance and if I never played young players in my first team then they'd probably look straight through me. "I said the proof is in the pudding and the pudding is right there in front of us in that we've got homegrown Residency players in our first team MLS squad. We don't need to say it, we're showing it and we're doing it and we want your son, providing he's ready, to be the next one to come through." "The Academy finals are huge. It sets a marker for us. I firmly believe that we can go and do very well there. I believe we can go and win it. Why not? Because in any tournament you enter you want to go on and win. But it will show the strength of the program because if we want to attract the best young players, we've got to show we're playing young players but we've got to show we're successful as well. It's a great stepping stone for us if we can go on and win it."

"It's been probably exactly what I expected," Robinson told AFTN this week. "Everyone compares us to Portland and Seattle because they're USL teams as well. If you look at the average age of Seattle's USL team, correct me if I'm wrong, but it's older than my first team squad. "So every team and every club has their own identity of what they want to do with their club moving forward. Ours was, well we've got a young first team squad so unfortunately Alan's going to have a young USL squad. We've got 18, 19, 20 year olds playing against 23, 24, 25 year olds. They'll learn but they'll learn for the good of it as well." Robinson is still trying to find the right balance between how many of his MLS guys to send down to keep sharp and the use of them in his regularly rotating gameday squads. To date, 13 of the Whitecaps 30-man MLS roster has turned out in USL action, with the recovering Diego Rodriguez and Marco Bustos perhaps being the best beneficiaries so far. That's obviously meant a lot of chopping and changing in the WFC2 starting line-up, as has the rotation of the remaining USL squad members in order to get as many minutes for all the young players as possible. "Obviously you want to go and get results but it's about development," Robinson added. "It really is about development at that level for me. If Alan can push players into my team in the next couple of years or I can get players games, which I have from the first team, it's a vital tool." After a mixed start, the Caps are starting to see the best of both worlds - player developmental time and wins in the process. At the halfway stage of the season, WFC2 sits with a 3-7-4 record and 13 points. Not fantastic, but not the worst in the league either. They currently sit second bottom of a tight Western Conference, but at the time of writing this, that sees them only four points off the sixth and final playoff place in the West. Still a lot to play for down the stretch and like MLS, a run of wins or a run of losses can see a team rise or fall down that table pretty quickly. With a young squad that was put together pretty close to when the season got underway, it's been an overall pleasing start to their inaugural campaign in the eyes of WFC2 head coach Alan Koch. "We're halfway through the season and we're only four points out of a playoff spot," Koch said after last Sunday's loss to LA. "That's a huge positive for the group that we have. It's a young group. I think we still have the youngest group in the league. "To be at the halfway mark and be only four points out, that's a huge positive. As much as we're going to address things that weren't good today [in the loss to LA II], we are in a good place and hopefully we can continue the good work that the guys have been putting in during the second half of the season." Koch echoed Robinson's comments as to the exact purpose of the team, telling us that "as much as this group is about development, that's the primary mandate, we want to get results". And they have been coming. The team was unbeaten at home before LA came to town and had a four game unbeaten streak before hitting their current three match losing one. Fine lines, as Robinson would say. But all things considered, is the team where Koch was hoping they would be at this stage of the season or is he a little bit disappointed that they're not a bit further along in terms of development and results? "Tough question after we've just lost 2-0 and we didn't play very well," Koch told us. "We are in a good place. The team has got better, I'd say, every single week, other than this week, so we've come on a long, long way. A lot of the young players have really improved and the experience that they're getting is invaluable. "They're much, much better players now than they were when we started the season. I think we've come together as a group. We're creating a team identity. So after 14 games, we're in a much better place now than we were at the start of the season and I hope after the next 14 games we can say the exact same thing." It will certainly be interesting to see who the standout players have been come the end of the season. So far, a few have impressed, some unexpectedly, others have been slow to find their feet but are starting to come on to their game, and some have struggled and you have to give the honest assessment that they aren't likely to be with the club next year if they don't show rapid improvement. We won't name names at this stage, that's not fair considering the whole set-up of the team. It should also be remembered that for the vast majority, this is their first experience of the pro game and they're coming up against some much older players. Players will also learn and find their feet and comfort zone at different paces. And while it may sound harsh, part of the remit of the team is to see which players the Whitecaps should continue investing in and which players aren't ready or likely to make the grade and should be cut free. Expect a big turnaround in this team over the years. Football's a tough business. You need to perform to survive. Have WFC2's games shown that any of the MLS players stepping down could make an impact in the first team squad? Yes. And is there talent on the USL roster that could develop into a MLS player one day? Again, yes. So a win-win situation there. Moving in to the second half of the season now, there are some clear areas that Koch and his coaching team will need to focus on at both ends of the pitch. Defensively, WFC2 have a tendency to ship goals. The goals against total of 24 is the highest in all of USL and can't continue if they have the playoffs in mind. That's two dozen goals conceded in 14 matches and two of those saw clean sheets. Considering a lot of the Caps defence has consisted of MLS guys this season, that's a bit of a worry. "Obviously conceding those goals is disappointing, so we do have to tidy it up at the back," Koch told us. "The positives are we're creating a lot of chances but didn't score. So we've got to address both sides of the ball. "We've got make sure we defend better. The big part of that for the young players is learning to communicate a lot more on the field. Sometimes they're timid and sometimes they show that they actually can grab the bull by the horns and sometimes they don't." While the aim of WFC2 is to mirror the playing style of the MLS team in terms of formation and tactics, they also seem to have inherited their missedchanceitis. The team are looking good going forward every game until it gets to the final third and chances are regularly squandered. Caleb Clarke leads the scoring charts with five goals, but the Whitecaps overall total of 14 goals is second worst in the Conference and sixth worst in the 24 team league. Those 14 goals have come from 151 attempted shots, 72 of which have been on target. It's been tough going but a few more chances going in here or there would have made one hell of a difference to the teams standing. 'Every game that we've played, we've created chances," Koch continued. "We've just got to have the confidence and composure to go and take them. So we'll address both sides. Aim for a clean sheet and aim to score goals and hopefully that'll lead to good performances and positive results too." WFC2 get the second half of their debut season underway this afternoon with a home Cascadian clash with Timbers 2. Portland are currently sitting in that sixth and final playoff spot in the west, so it's a game which could give us all an indication as to whether the remainder of the season will be an exciting playoff battle or a tough slog with development and improvement very much in focus with an eye to next year already. For everyone involved, let's hope it's the former!