Vancouver Whitecaps held a well attended Media Day on Thursday at BC Place.
Whilst members of the media took in informative sessions with FIFA certified referee Bob Sawtell, and a "Xs & Os" tactics/strategy session with Martin Rennie and Jake DeClute, for the new players on the team, this was their first chance to train inside BC Place and experience the pitch.
We caught up with Matt Watson and Brad Knighton after training, to see what they thought of their new home:
<i>"It's amazing. Amazing."</i> was Watson's initial thoughts on BC Place.
[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
<i>"Obviously, I'm coming from NASL and he's [Knighton] played in MLS before, but I've never played in stadiums like this.
When we walked in this morning, I was taking photos on my iPhone and stuff like that. It's just amazing."</i>
Was today's training the first time both players had even been inside the stadium?
<i>"It's the first time I've walked inside, yeah"</i> added Watson, but Knighton has experienced BC Place already:
<i>"I was in for the women's games, a month or two back, but it's nothing like stepping foot on it.</i>
<i>"When you walk out, like Matt said, bringing your iPhone. I tweeted a picture saying 'stepping into my office', so it's pretty incredible.
Being around MLS, this is definitely the top facility in North America that I've seen, so I'm looking forward to getting here on Saturday and ready for a big crowd. I'm definitely looking forward to it."</i>
<i>"The turf's really nice as well."</i> interjected Watson.
<i>"Yeah, it's actually not bad at all."</i>, Knighton continued. <i>"I'm really pleased with the way that it is and I don't have a problem playing on this day in and day out, I really don't."</i>
Another experienced player who liked what he saw of BC Place was Sebastien Le Toux, who told the assembled media:
<i>"It's very big. It's a big field, so I'm pretty happy about it because I like to run! There's lots of space.
I can't wait for Saturday, to be full. I'm looking forward to Saturday. It's a great stadium."</i>
With the Caps hoping to have a capacity 21,000 crowd there for 'First Kick' against Montreal, BC Place is certainly going to be rocking.
Let's hope that the new players adjust to their new home quickly, rise to the occasion and get the 2012 campaign off to an impressive start. We're pretty confident they will.
<p>