KISS THE DREAM ADIOS
The Whitecaps called it Mission Impossible and Tigres of Mexico proved that was so
The master plan went something like this.
Outmanned against a superior opponent in their CONCACAF Champions League semifinal, the Vancouver Whitecaps would enlist the aid of a number of home-field advantages to defeat the powerhouse Tigres and record the greatest victory in franchise history.
These advantages included a bone-chilling night that the Caps imagined would freeze-dry the Mexican side’s marvellous skill; the strange and unnatural playing surface that would further befuddle the visitors; and Vancouver’s own supporters, who couldn’t quite match the atmosphere created at the Tigres’ home park, but would still inspire the underdogs to great things.
Yes, it was a fine plan and even if those advantages were more real than imagined, it still gave the Caps a reason to believe and some hope they could realize the impossible dream and overcome their 2-0 deficit in the CONCACAF tournament.
An early goal? That might have been too much to ask, but when you’re looking for a miracle, why not go all in?
And for 62 exhilarating minutes, damned if it didn’t look like the whole audacious scheme was coming together, even if it did stop raining just before kickoff. Sigh.
In the end, there would be no miracle on Beatty. In the end, Tigres’ quality and pedigree was enough to withstand the Whitecaps’ hope and heart. Andre-Pierre Gignac — the French international who earns a reported US$4.5 million, well over half the Whitecaps’ payroll — struck the killing blow with a brilliant strike from just outside the box midway through the second half.
But you also sensed that, with the exception of a disappointing crowd of 16,258, the Whitecaps got as much out of this encounter as they could have hoped; that by standing toe to toe with the Mexican giant, they brought out something in their team that will carry them through this Major League Soccer season.
That, at least, was the preferred narrative of head coach Carl Robinson. And given everything his team invested in this match, he’s entitled to that belief.
“We have to accept it,” Robinson said after the Caps’ 2-1 loss Wednesday night. “It’s a great experience against a great team. And we’ll bottle it and go again. We’ve got nothing to be ashamed of in that locker-room.
“It was a two-year journey and we’ve never been in this territory before. We just came up a little bit short. Now we’ll move on.”
But they should take something from this night with them.
In a stunning moment, the Caps’ Brek Shea slotted home a loose ball off a set piece just three minutes in and, suddenly, the mission didn’t seem as impossible. For the next 60 minutes, the Caps scratched and clawed for every inch of artificial turf and if they didn’t have the class of their Latin visitors, they made up for it with sheer ambition.
Midfielder Christian Bolanos would play his best game in the Caps’ kit, the one player who seemed to feed off the moment and the size of the stage. Jordan Harvey put in a stellar performance on left flank. Sixteen-year-old Alphonso Davies faced a level of competition he’s never confronted and still had some moments.
Bolanos, in fact, forced Tigres’ keeper Nahuel Guzman to make the one save he had to make in the early going of the second half and 18 minutes later Gignac struck, curling the clinching marker inside the far post on Caps goalie David Ousted, a world-class goal from a world-class player.
Tigres would inflate the bottom line with a goal by Damian Alvarez in the late going. Maybe the 4-1 aggregate was an accurate reflection of the disparity between the two teams.
“Brilliant wasn’t it?” Robinson said of Gignac’s work. “It was a great goal. Sometimes you just have to hold your hands up and say, ‘What a fantastic goal.’ And I will today.
“If you’re beaten by a mistake, it does wind me up, but when you’re beaten by a moment of brilliance from a top player, I enjoyed watching that. Unfortunately I was on the wrong end of it today.”
Robinson was asked about that glorious start to the night. Turns out he didn’t have any illusions about what he was up against.
“I wanted to get the first goal and make it a little bit nervous for them,” Robinson said. “We did that. It would have been interesting to see if we could have got the second goal, but I still had the feeling when they wanted to step into a fifth gear, they could.”
Even if it’s a small victory, at least his team made them find that fifth gear.