With just hours remaining till kick off, we weren't going to do a preview of tonight's Voyageurs Cup clash between the Caps and TFC, but with the excitement building here at AFTN Towers, we thought we'd share some quotes with you ahead of the game that we haven't put out there yet and a couple that are already on the interweb, but worth reading again anyway!
Tonight's clash should be close. Both teams have made a (bloody) big deal about the need for an early goal. Vancouver want one to get right back into the tie and Toronto need one to what may kill things off.
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From talk at TFC training yesterday, you get the impression that Toronto want to really try and dominate possession for long periods and throw Vancouver off their gameplan of a wave of early attacks.
Easier said than done when you have attacking players yourself.
<i>"It's very difficult to sit back in any game and hope to defend like that for a long period,"</i> TFC captain Steven Caldwell noted. <i>"We have to be confident getting the ball and we're not going to go kamikaze but try to take the game to Vancouver and try to get a goal or two to make the night a little bit easier for us."</i>
Trying to stop that happening of course will be the Whitecaps' 17-year-old keeper Marco Carducci. He's ready for the challenge and playing for Canada on the national stage at last year's U17 World Cup has been good preparation for playing in front of a near sold out BC Place.
<i>"Those games I played in with the national team were obviously massive games,"</i> Carducci told us yesterday. <i>"There were times where we were playing in front of almost 20,000 people, so it definitely did help. I'll try to use those experiences just as much as every other game I've played in going into this game."</i>
Marco's preparation for this second leg came down in Seattle on Saturday, where he was back in goal for the Residency U18 side. A big difference from playing in two MLS stadiums and against world class opposition. Was it a hard adjustment to make getting back into the swing of things at youth level?
<i>"It had to be a really quick adjustment. It doesn't matter. Of course, it's a different level and it's under 18's compared to Jermain Defoe and Michael Bradley, but for me, no matter what game I go in to, I try and treat it the same way."</i>
It's been a whirlwind eight days for the young keeper. Did he get much time for the whole first leg experience to fully sink in?
<i>"Maybe at the end of the game. Even afterwards you don't really realise it until the day after. During the game, you just try to remain focussed and try to stay in the moment, but definitely afterwards it sunk in a bit more."</i>
Carducci may be starting off his professional career, but at the other end of the spectrum 'Caps captain Jay DeMerit, who is said to be retiring after this season, feels that although last week's performance from the young guns in Toronto deserved merit, there's still a lot of work to be done.
<i>"I think there was a lot of good performances out there, from a group of talented young guys, but only half the job is done because we didn't get the win there,"</i> DeMerit noted on Monday.
<i>"I think we also need to keep things into perspective because we need to win this game on Wednesday. They know that and the guys that are going to play and contribute, if they can play the same way, hopefully we can just tighten the screw a little bit defensively, then we have a good chance."</i>
DeMerit will sit the game out again, as likely will TFC captain Steven Caldwell.
With the weakened line-ups at times, it would be easy for fans, especially the more casual ones, to get the impression that the Canadian Championship doesn't mean much.
For me, nothing could be further from the truth. It still remains one of my favourites times of the football calendar over here and if you speak to the Canadian players on each team, they want that pride of lifting the Voyageurs Cup.
But it's not just the Canadian players, even the incomers want a piece of the action, and being Scottish like myself, Steven Caldwell loves a good Cup tie!
<i>"The Cup always means something important,"</i> Caldwell said. <i>"There's a trophy at the end of it and there's obviously a place in the Champions League, also very important to this club, so it's a big game for us. We're really focussed on finishing the game off.
"We were in a good position in Toronto and we let a late goal slip in, which we were disappointed about, but it's gone now. We have the lead. We're going to try and take the game to Vancouver and obviously look to score goals, not just protect our lead, so it's going to be an exciting game."</i>
Let's hope so.
'Mon the Caps.
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