INJECTING VIVACITY
NICOLAS MEZQUIDA: With plenty at stake Sunday, the Whitecaps throw Nico in mix.
After a quick look at the scoring stats, it would seem to defy the evidentiary record to suggest that the return of a player with just one goal and one assist in 18 games this season can be the answer to the Vancouver Whitecaps’ offensive woes.
But when the Caps were on that early-season roll and then clicking offensively during a midsummer surge — 14 goals in a 3-1-1 run — young Uruguayan midfielder Nicolas Mezquida was in the starting lineup.
The Caps, winless in five and having slipped to 15-13-5 ahead of Sunday’s critically important Major League Soccer regularseason finale at BC Place Stadium against Houston, are 8-2-2 when the spirited Mezquida starts the game.
Sure, there’s some luck involved in that. But the attacking midfielder’s disruptive pressure against opposing back lines and his chemistry with Uruguayan forwards Octavio Rivero and Cristian Techera — Vancouver is 3-1-0 when all three start — definitely has an impact.
Unfortunately, the 23-yearold, second-year player has seen just 24 minutes in two stints off the bench in the last eight league games and didn’t dress in any of the last four because of a nagging hamstring injury. His was one of a run of injuries to key players.
But after going full out in a short, intense five-a-side scrimmage at training on Friday, Mezquida looks set to play Sunday with the Caps almost certainly needing a victory to secure a home playoff date, possibly even a first-round playoff bye. They might even get it with a draw, but they’d also need a lot of help from other teams.
“I don’t think the team depends on me for score,” said a modest Mezquida, well aware the Caps have been blanked in four of their last seven MLS matches, plus in a pair of CONCACAF Champions League games during that stretch.
“But with Cristian, Octavio and Mauro, we know each other a lot. So, maybe that help a lot for the team. I know how (they) move. I feel more confident when I play with them and Pedro (Morales), too. I help them and they help me, so it’s good.”
The captain Morales remained a forlorn figure at training Friday, jogging through some light drills on his own. A troublesome hamstring injury has limited him to just two starts and six appearances off the bench since early June. And it’s iffy for him to be ready for the playoffs.
But both Rosales (groin) and Techera ( hamstring) trained hard after having to miss the Oct. 14 loss in Dallas.
In fact, perhaps the most positive sign Friday was that Rosales and Mezquida ran some fullspeed, length-of-the-field sprints to finish up the training session, with the 34-year-old Rosales actually pulling away from his decade-younger teammate.
“The more guys the better,” veteran fullback Jordan Harvey said of the return to health of key players. “Down the stretch, I wouldn’t say we’re falling apart, but we’ve got nicks here and there and guys are recovering.
“Mauro was flying today. He takes back the clock, man. He looks like he’s in his 20s. We just need to bring this energy into this last game.”
Mezquida says that after sitting out for a month, he may only have 45 minutes in him Sunday, but “I feel in a good way in the recovery.
“The medical team help me a lot. I am almost 100 per cent. I am ready to play.”
That’s music to the ears of Rivero, who has scored just once in seven games, and speedy winger Kekuta Manneh, who is scoreless in eight, and has just six goals on the season despite starting a career-high 27 games.
“The energy he brings, the attitude … the tone he sets, you see your No. 10 chasing defenders and midfielders, it affects everyone,” said Manneh. “Having Nico back will be great. We really do miss him.
“Nico plays to our strengths, me, Octavio and Cristian, we like to run. The energy Nico brings in helping us go forward, his movements and his quality on the ball is great.”
The Caps will, of course, take a 1-0 win on Sunday. And the defensive record has been critical to the club’s success this season, but with the post-season approaching the Caps desperately need to reassert themselves offensively.
“It’s always great to win by three goals, four goals ... but the confidence would be high if more than one or two people can score goals,” said Manneh. “It would be great for individual confidence and would help the team for sure.”