White drives the Caps as team bids to erase the pain of the past
Poster boy striker quietly ascends to top of franchise goal-scoring list
At one point last year, Vancouver Whitecaps sporting director Axel Schuster picked up the phone to talk with a South American soccer agent. On the other end of the line, Lucas Teixeira was ready to talk about a player Schuster had inquired about. When it became clear the fit wouldn't work, Teixeira offered up another of his clients, a name Caps fans know well: Camilo.
“He brought it up, `It would be a great story and everyone in Vancouver would love it,'” Schuster said. “Long story short, I don't even know if it was really serious. (Camilo) still wanted to make good dollars and I said, `Look, if he wants to come here and play for $89,000, retire here and have another good year, I can think about that.'
“He obviously loves the city. A lot of guys who have been here love the city and a lot of them would love to come back. Unfortunately, I don't have enough spots in the office and everywhere else to bring them all back.”
Schuster joked that Camilo, who burned bridges with the Caps and the city by forcing a move to Querétaro FC in Liga MX in 2014, wanted to come back for ulterior motives: to prevent his all-time team record for goals scored being broken.
Today, when the Whitecaps travel to New Jersey to take on the New York Red Bulls, that record could potentially fall. Striker Brian White and Camilo are tied at 43, and it's only a matter of time before the record is broken.
Camilo retired in January, having returned to Querétaro after touring around three other teams in Liga MX, and finished his career with Los Gallos Blancos with a team-record 67 goals.
Camilo didn't respond to a request to speak about his career, including his time in Vancouver.
But while his legacy in Vancouver will forever be tainted, the man who will supplant him atop the goal-scoring pile is on track to be mentioned in the same reverent breath as the Dominic Mobilios and Carl Valentines. He has talent and skill, with grace and humility to match. The New Jersey native's success has come from hard work, patience and results, not a passport.
“I've been in a lot of different locker-rooms, a lot of different teams ... and he's one of my favourite teammates of all time. I don't think that will ever change,” added Nashville SC midfielder Sean Davis, a 10-year MLS veteran who played with White both in New York and at Duke University.
“The reason is because he just has one of the best and most professional attitudes that I've seen. And that goes all the way back to Duke. He is extremely humble, extremely hard working, regardless of any decisions that a coach makes or a GM makes. He handles it in stride.
“When we were in New York, his answer was always to just train harder, do extra work, and just find a way. When I see him play now, it's not surprising because he has this mentality where he just can't be stopped. He's always going to give his best . ... You still got the same version of Brian White, that best version of Brian White, regardless of if he was being selected or not.”
White was born in Pittsburgh, but grew up in Flemington, N.J. It's technically Jersey, but it's a sleepy, rural area where it's not out of place for a kid to show up to his high school classes riding a tractor.
“There's not much going on over there,” he said. “My first year at the Red Bulls, I lived at home and then after that, I moved to Jersey City and I never went back. It's not for me. Cows mooing? I was like, `Naw, get me out of here.'”
The dream of being a pro soccer player, while rare in a country where basketball, football and baseball attract most of the athletes, wasn't uncommon in White's hometown. The soccer culture was strong in Flemington, and the area's Players Development Academy produces high-level talent, including White's youth teammate, DC United's Jared Stroud.
Duke was a common destination for a lot of elite players in the east. Davis, of Holmdel, N.J., went there, as did San Jose Earthquakes forward Jeremy Ebobisse (Bethesda, Md.) and Stroud's brother Peter.
“For me, Duke was the best combination of soccer and academics,” said White. “Me, my family, we knew that soccer wasn't always going to last. It's not that we're making NBA money. So I needed something to fall back on.”
In his four years there, he made the ACC honour roll four times, and twice made the ALL-ACC Academic team majoring in political science with a minor in philosophy. He began playing with the Red Bulls' Premier Development League (now USL 2) team during the summer while at Duke, before they took him 16th in the Superdraft.
In 2018, he made his MLS debut — against Vancouver, no less — but spent most of his time with the USL side. The next year, he broke through, making 17 starts and scoring 10 goals. He had five goals in 10 starts in 2020 before tearing the ligaments in his ankle and ending his campaign, but his effectiveness to that point wasn't enough to impress incoming coach Gerhard Struber. White made a couple of starts in 2021, but found himself stapled to the bench.
In Vancouver, then-assistant coach Phil Dos Santos pushed Schuster to take a closer look at White, having known his abilities well from his days coaching in the USL. The closer look revealed a player with proven metrics, and an attitude that fit into the culture they were trying to build.
“I wasn't surprised that I got traded because I wasn't doing anything. I felt like I was just a mannequin in training,” said White. “But I was surprised because I hadn't heard anything until it was done.”
Vancouver sent US$400,000 in allocation money to New York. He was supposed to be Lucas Cavallini's backup, to slot into the lineup when the designated player was away on national team duty. But White found immediate chemistry with Ryan Gauld, finishing the season as the leading scorer with 12 goals and providing the propellant that pushed the Caps to their first playoff appearance in four seasons.
Back in Hoboken, Davis lamented losing his friend, and missing their bonding “bro dates” over Jersey sandwiches (bacon, egg and cheese) at Cangiano's. But he saw the success White was having, and knew he had made the right move.
“At the end of the day, it was a personnel decision by either the coach or GM, and obviously, I don't know ... but I do know that it turned out to be one of the best trades that I've seen in MLS since I joined the league,” he said.
(White) just has one of the best and most professional attitudes that I've seen . ... He is extremely humble, extremely hard working.