WHITECAPS: FRESH LEGS READY FOR EDDIES
Starting 11 against Eddies will include some fresh faces, and legs
Paolo Tornaghi has been a Vancouver Whitecap for 14-plus months, but his stat line on the Vancouver Whitecaps’ web page makes you think that any training field sightings are simply an apparition.
Is the 26-year-old Italian a ghost? Does he really exist?
For 2014 and 2015, there are nothing but a string of zeros under the headings GP, GS, MIN, SHT, PKG, PKA, SV, W, L T. That’s games played, games, started, minutes, shutouts, etc.
Click on his game log and you see 58 consecutive notations as an unused sub, including 14 from his 2013 campaign with the Chicago Fire. The guy just doesn’t play, although, to be fair, he has appeared in a couple of USL games with WFC2 this season.
But Tornaghi will make his inaugural first team start Wednesday in Edmonton, where the Caps will play the first leg of their Amway Canadian championship semifinal against the North American Soccer League’s Eddies. Last season, he had to sit and watch as Canadian teenager Marco Carducci was the ’keeper during the Amway games against Toronto.
“Paolo is a great teammate, he’s great guy in the lockerroom,” said Caps head coach Carl Robinson. “The boys love him. I love him to bits. He’ll get his chance on Wednesday.”
He said the six-foot-four, 185pound Tornaghi, who is stuck behind iron man David Ousted, has spent some quality time in the gym and is physically stronger than when he first arrived in Vancouver.
Tornaghi isn’t the only guy who will be released from endof-the-bench purgatory against the Eddies. Centre back Christian Dean, the Caps’ 2014 firstround draft pick, will get his first first-team minutes of 2015 and forgotten striker/winger Erik Hurtado will also play.
Hurtado, the five-goal scorer and 19-game starter in 2014, has played just 23 minutes over the last six MLS games and didn’t even make the 18-man game-day roster the last couple of matches.
The arrival of striker Octavio Rivero, the signing of veteran Robert Earnshaw and now the acquisition of winger Cristian Techera has pushed Hurtado, 24, down the depth chart. He has started just once in the Caps’ first 10 games, but says he’s trying not to let frustration creep into his thinking.
“All I want to do as a young player is learn and add it to my game,” he said after a spirited training session Monday. “Whether it’s on the field, or off the field, I’m watching and I’m learning.
“Whenever I get a chance to play I want to take advantage of it. I want to be able to use what I’ve learned.”
Despite his limited minutes this season, Hurtado insists he’s sharp and is ready to make an impact against an Edmonton squad hungry to pull off an upset.
“I feel sharp in training every single day. I’m getting my touches, doing finishing after practice, possession. I feel very sharp right now.”
Robinson says he’s had several conversations with Hurtado, the fifth overall SuperDraft pick in 2013, trying to keep his spirits up.
“It is tough for Erik at the moment because he’s been on the fringe of the team and the squad. He (started) against Portland (in a 2-1 Caps win on March 28) and he’s come on a few times.
“Obviously, in the last two games he was left out of the 18, but I’ve got a strong squad now. His time will come. I’ve got no worries about Erik. He’s got great character.”
Given the club’s increased depth, Robinson has more options than he did during last year’s Canadian championship series against Toronto when he threw more than half-a-dozen young Canadians, including midfielders Kianz Froese, Marco Bustos and the now departed Bryce Alderson, into the fray.
This time, there might only be a couple who start — the 19-year-old Froese and left fullback Sam Adekugbe, 20. Earnshaw, Techera and Nicolas Mezquida will get good runs, while experienced midfielder Gershon Koffie is also expected to start.
“When we played Toronto in the Amway, I sort of pieced together a team really. I didn’t really give (Froese) that much of a chance,” said Robinson. “Throwing him in without some experienced guys was difficult. This year will be different. There will be first-teamers involved.”
The Caps have never won the Canadian championship and Robinson admits it’s a title the club is keen to claim.
“We’ve never won it and that hurts,” said Robinson. “Everyone else seems to win it, but we don’t. We want to try and have a go at it this year.”