Short-handed Whitecaps getting comfy in Orlando’s ‘B.C. bubble’
After a stop-and-start week, the Vancouver Whitecaps finally made it to the Swan and Dolphin Hotel in Orlando on Monday. Most of them, anyway.
The Caps travelled to the MLS Is Back tournament in Florida minus five players — Lucas Cavallini, Tosaint Ricketts, Andy Rose, Georges Mukumbilwa and Fredy Montero — who remained at home for various reasons.
Rose and Montero cited family reasons, while Mukumbilwa, a permanent Canadian resident, isn’t cleared yet to travel in the United States. Cavallini, the most expensive designated player in team history and a key figure in the Caps’ offence, chose to stay home due to worries about the COVID -19 crisis in Orlando.
He had more cause than most to be worried, having lost his grandmother and great uncle to the novel coronavirus in a Toronto-area care home. FC Dallas, which was supposed to be the Whitecaps’ first opponent in Orlando, had to withdraw from the tournament after 10 players and a coach tested positive for COVID-19.
It was reported on Wednesday that Nashville had nine players test positive, and the team’s status wasn’t immediately clear.
Cavallini was on TSN 1040 with Matt Sekeres and Blake Price Wednesday afternoon, and expressed serious concerns.
“I felt the team was, honestly, scared to go,” he told the radio hosts. “It’s normal to feel like that, to be afraid of going down there. We’re in Vancouver, everything is going well here. Everyone’s safe and healthy. You hear the news that players are getting positive, and nothing ’s changing toward the tournament.
“I don’t know what (players in Orlando) are feeling now, but it’s hard for professional athletes to be in a situation like this. It’s hard to focus on the main thing, which is just to play soccer. With everything that’s going on, I don’t know what’s going through their heads.
“I guess the players were scared about the consequences,” he added, when asked if there had been any thought of the team refusing to play. “If we pulled out, how is that going to affect us? The league controls everything; they have control about what the situation is going to be. I guess the players did not have any choices. It was hard. We just have to suck it up and head down there.”
Whitecaps CEO Axel Schuster was surprised to hear Cavallini’s comments, saying the team had daily morning meetings to keep the players apprised of the Florida situation and to provide a forum for discussion or worries.
“We were very open with Cava. We supported his decision. He was always with the whole group and in these meetings,” Schuster said Tuesday from Florida.
“There was a moment where the team was not convinced of going, but that was last week. We made the final decision on the weekend. … I spoke with most of the guys, there were not any questions left. Concern was there at one point, but after we got a lot of good answers … (the players) were good to go.”
The Whitecaps have made themselves at home on the 10th floor of the hotel, which is festooned with B.C. and Canadian flags, along with signs displaying the heath guidelines set out by Dr. Bonnie Henry and the provincial Ministry of Health. No players or staff from other teams are allowed on their floor.
“We created a bubble — a British Columbia bubble on the 10th floor of the Dolphin,” Schuster said. “We are still following the protocols and recommendations of Dr. Bonnie Henry here. You really have to misbehave to get into the danger, to get infected right now. Those teams came in with guys who obviously got infected outside the bubble.
“If everyone behaves in the right way, there’s no reason why we can’t get this tournament done.”
It is likely that most of the positive tests found in the MLS delegations in Florida have come from infections from the teams’ home markets, not while in the bubble. Texas and Tennessee, the home states of Dallas and Nashville, have both seen dramatic spikes in the number of cases during the past three weeks.
While the COVID-19 pandemic has produced the majority of headlines, it’s also provided an opportunity for many of the younger Whitecaps to shine. With two starting strikers out in Ricketts and Cavallini, Theo Bair and Ryan Raposo will see more playing time — especially with the climate of attrition and five substitutes available to coach Marc Dos Santos.
“There’s no doubt the players who aren’t present are key players. But that being said, that opens the door to other young players. They will have the opportunity to showcase themselves. But we still need to be a hard team to play against and beat,” said Dos Santos, whose squad is slated to open play against the San Jose Earthquakes on July 15 (7:30 p.m., TSN). “I have a belief in these guys. I believe somebody is going to show up. We’ll get goals in other ways. I don’t want (us) to back off and be afraid. If we lose, we’re going to lose with our head up. Right now, we have nothing to lose. Pressure can’t be on us.”