Dynamo to face well- rested Vancouver squad Sunday
During 14- day break, Hassli wed in Las Vegas and defender Rochat was fitted with face mask to protect broken nose
Another day, another fracture of the nose for Alain Rochat.
The Vancouver Whitecaps FC took to the pitch at Swangard Stadium for training Tuesday with Rochat sporting a face guard to protect another broken nose, suffered late last month in a 1- 1 draw against the Portland Timbers.
This isn’t the first time Rochat has had to use the face guard — he experienced a similar injury last season, and had to wear one for a span of a few weeks playing previously with FC Zurich in Switzerland, before coming to Vancouver in 2011.
It may have looked uncomfortable from the sideline, but Rochat has acclimatized himself to the feeling.
“It’s just protection for the unlucky bounce that comes right on your nose, you know?” said Rochat. “It just protects it a little bit but not 100 per cent. I never worry without it, so I won’t worry with it. It’s not an issue.”
Head coach Martin Rennie said after training that the nose injury won’t affect Rochat’s playing ability or time.
“He seems to be fine, he’s played with that before and he seems to handle it fine.”
So, apparently all is well in the world of broken noses. Helping matters, not only for Rochat’s busted beak, but for the entire soccer club were three muchneeded days off after a hectic playing and training schedule to close out the month of May.
The Whitecaps played eight times last month, and may have looked a little broken at times, too.
Disappointing losses to the New England Revolution and Toronto FC, the latter coming in the deciding contest of the Amway Canadian Championship, turned what could have been a not- so- bad May somewhat crooked. But then there was that thrilling 2- 1 win over the San Jose Earthquakes, now a calendar month in the past, and draws with Cascadia Cup rivals Portland and the Seattle Sounders that have left Whitecaps fans optimistic heading into the near future.
The Whitecaps are now in the midst of a 14- day break between games, including no training from Saturday to Monday. They will return to the pitch at BC Place Sunday ( 4 p. m.) against the Houston Dynamo.
The break allowed Eric Hassli time to go down to Las Vegas over the weekend and get married. Some of his teammates made the trip to Nevada for the wedding, while others decided to stay home in Vancouver.
Either way, refreshed was the word Tuesday, as it was back to work.
“It helps a lot in this sense because we just played so many games and we were tired physically, probably tired a little bit emotionally from all the games we played, a lot of big games,” said Rennie.
“I think in this sense we needed a rest and I could just sense it [ Tuesday] everybody’s invigorated, everybody’s excited to get back out there. I think when you’re tired, it does affect you. It affects your quality of play, it affects the way you’re thinking, but we’ve got past that now and look forward to the next phase of the season.”
The Whitecaps are a third of the way through the MLS season, and are on pace to vastly improve on their inaugural campaign that produced six wins and a last- place finish in the MLS Western Conference.
The Whitecaps sport a 5- 3- 4 record heading into Sunday’s match — tied for fifth in the conference with the Colorado Rapids with 19 points.
“I think that we’re a good bit forward,” said Rennie. “But I don’t think we want to set our standards based on last season. I think we want to base our standards on what this team’s capable of this season and what the teams are that we’re competing against.”