Marco Carducci's 90 minutes in yesterday's win over Portmore United weren't his first in Vancouver Whitecaps' preseason, but they were certainly his highest profile ones.
The Whitecaps Residency goalkeeper, and two time Canadian U17 Player of the Year, got the start in the Caps' first game in the Rose City Invitational and although he may not have had too much to do in a comfortable 5-1 victory, it was certainly a sign of things to come for the talented young stopper.
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David Ousted was due to be the starting keeper for the game and although he went through practice with the starters on Saturday afternoon, a quad injury ruled him out.
Head coach Carl Robinson had no doubts about throwing Carducci in for the start, further showing his faith in the player. So when did Marco find out that he would be playing and making his first start for the MLS team?
<i>"I was told last night (Saturday). So we knew at training maybe, maybe not but then when I was told I was starting it was obviously exciting for me and was able to get myself mentally prepared for it."</i>
Of the three games that the Caps have down in Portland, the Portmore game was perhaps the best of them to throw in Carducci, with Paolo Tornaghi already down to get the start against San Jose on Wednesday.
Playing in front of the experienced first choice back four and against lower quality opposition, it was a little less pressure. Carducci looked calm and collected throughout the warm ups, with goalkeeping coach Marius Røvde having a chat with him just before the game kicked off.
What words of wisdom did the Norwegian share with him?
<i>"Just treat the game like any other game. My first time playing in preseason was nerve wracking I guess to say the least but I've kind of gotten over that a little bit.
"He just told me play your game, do your thing, you're here for a reason and just keep the game as simple as you can, you know what to do. He just settled me down a little bit. It definitely helps."</i>
The official announcement that Carducci has been given a homegrown MLS contract is still to come, but that is now a formality and Robinson is fully expecting to have the young keeper challenging Tornaghi for that number two role as the season progresses.
Carducci didn't have a whole host of things to do during the game, and may have done better with Portmore's poorly marked goal, but Robinson was pleased by what he saw of him out there.
<i>"Marco's great. Marco's got a huge future ahead of him and I said from the start of preseason that he'd be involved. Obviously David picked up a slight injury and I had no hesitation of throwing Marco in.
"I thought he was confident. I thought his kicking wasn't as good as it should have been, but he's still learning and he'll make wrong decisions at times but he had a very good performance today."</i>
Carducci played the second half at the Timbers' Army end, which filled up as the game played out ahead of Portland's game against San Jose. It may not have been a full house, but it certainly gave Marco a little taste of the Cascadian atmosphere and banter, and they gave it out a bit to the new guy.
<i>"I expected it of course. They've got a great atmosphere here, even in a game like this where there weren't too many fans there. I definitely heard a few things but it is interesting. I've played in a few games where I've seen that kind of stuff. It's just part of the environment. It's good to get used to it I guess!"</i>
Whilst we try not to put too much pressure on the young Residency talent coming through (and probably fail at that!), it is hard not to think that this may have been the first but won't be the last time that we see Carducci starting down in Portland in the next few years.
Ousted is slated to recover from his injury and start in Vancouver's final match of the tournament against Portland on Saturday. Any setbacks or further rest needed and who knows, we may see Marco start against the Timbers on their home turf or at least get some minutes.
That really would be a baptism of fire for the young keeper, but a great learning experience at the same time. You can't help but think that like everything else this preseason, he'd simply take it in his stride.
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