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  • What winning the Voyageurs Cup means to Vancouver Whitecaps


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    ccs-123494-140264013312_thumb.jpgThe 2012 Voyageurs Cup final will be played out over the next two Wednesdays, hopefully with some good football on display and new Champions being crowned by the end of it all.

    It will be a battle between a Vancouver Whitecaps side looking for their first ever Canadian Championship, and a bit of revenge after last year's thunderstorm debacle, and a struggling Toronto side who have shown a fine Cup pedigree this season and are looking to lift the trophy for the fourth consecutive year.

    Disappointingly, some of the Whitecaps fanbase are seemingly not that bothered about the Caps winning the Voyageurs Cup and would prefer them to concentrate on making the playoffs. The two aren't mutually exclusive, but sadly some fans aren't particularly emotionally connected to the national championship just yet.

    Thankfully many are and so are the Whitecaps management and players and the Club have made it a priority to win this year's championship and qualify for the CONCACAF Champions League.

    The "Road to Morocco" and the 2013 Fifa Club World Cup is underway.

    In the build up to the first leg, we thought we'd ask some of the Whitecaps management and players, along with a long time fan, just what the Caps lifting their first ever Voyageurs Cup would mean to them personally.

    This is what they said....

    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]

    <b>Martin Rennie (Whitecaps Head Coach):</b>

    "Winning it would mean a lot.

    I think as a young coach you want to be winning tournaments and you want to be having success, but more so for the Club it's a chance to win it for the first time.

    I would love to be a part of it and so would all the guys here love to be a part of the first time that the Vancouver Whitecaps win this tournament.

    It's not so much about what I want personally, it's about being a good leader for all these people so they can all experience that success, and so the fans can experience that success and so the town and the province can.

    That's a great privilege for me to be a part of and I'm taking it very seriously.

    I really look forward to the games. I'm excited about it and I think that we've got a great chance."

    <b>Paul Ritchie (Whitecaps Assistant Manager):</b>

    "It would mean everything.

    As a coaching staff, when Martin and I arrived here we set ourselves short, medium and long term goals, for us as individuals, as coaches and for this organisation.

    To win the Voyageurs Cup within the first season was something we definitely thought achievable, and there's no getting away from that at the moment.

    It's something we thoroughy believe that we are capable of doing."

    <b>Carl Valentine (Whitecaps legend):</b>

    "It would end many, many years of heartache.

    It's not just not winning a Canadian Championship but how we've lost them.

    We had the debacle when Montreal couldn't hold on, and they only had to get beat by two or three goals and they lost 6-1 and we lost on goal difference. There was the year where we tied every game, we didn't even lose a game, and lost the Championship.

    Then last year, we were 1-0 ahead, dominating the game, looked no way that Toronto was getting back into the game, then the heavens opened and we had to replay the game and lost.

    It would mean a lot because we've lost them in very difficult circumstances."

    <b>Jay DeMerit (Whitecaps defender and Club captain):</b>

    "(It would mean) A lot.

    As a Captain, as a leader of a team, you always want to have success. This is something we all strive for.

    As a personal goal, you want to be able to lift that Cup because it's a great feeling when you get to do that.

    I think ultimately, those things are great, but it's always a team effort and it always takes a team performance to win those types of things, so I'm looking forward to the next couple of week."

    <b>Eric Hassli (Whitecaps striker):</b>

    "It's a title. I was Champion when I played in Zurich and it was a great feeling.

    I want to win this Canadian Cup cos it's going to be written in my career.

    It's really, really important for me."

    <b>Bryce Alderson (Whitecaps Canadian midfielder):</b>

    "I think it's a big competition for the Club as a whole, but I think individually, especially being Canadian, it means more.

    It sounds special being the best team in Canada but it's about the chance to compete in the CONCACAF Champions League and then possibly in the FIFA World Club Cup.

    So I think that's the biggest part of it, but I think being a Canadian player at a Canadian club, it has a larger meaning for us."

    <b>Callum Irving (Whitecaps Residency, PDL and Reserves Canadian goalkeeper):</b>

    "It would mean a lot.

    For me, growing up watching the Whitecaps and seeing them play against Toronto FC, even five years ago when watching the tournament, it seems like a big thing to have national pride, especially with the Vancouver team and for the fans to have that.

    I think it would be a huge deal for the Club to be able to say that they're the best in Canada."

    <b>John Knox (long time Caps fan and one of original founders of the Southsiders):</b>

    "I've watched in horror, year in and year out, as Montreal practically ran away with each and every Voyageurs Cup through the division two era.

    The frustration has only gotten worse with the inclusion of TFC.

    It’s such a small competition, but never has it felt more out of reach than recently. Until now, that is. This just might be our time to finally raise the silver.

    I haven’t felt this good about our chances in quite some time. I think that this squad, and these coaches, are the men who will finally deliver what Whitecaps fans have hungered for all these years."

    <center>**********</center>

    If all that doesn't get you excited for the Voyageurs Cup then you don't have any footballing blood running through your veins!

    For me personally, I moved here at the end of 2007 and have seen all of the Whitecaps Voyageurs Cup games in the revamped format. I love the new knockout element, and like some others, would love to see more teams involved.

    I've experienced the joys and the heartaches of the previous Cups.

    As I've said countless times before, to me, it doesn't get much better than a midweek Cup tie under the lights.

    Winning our first ever Voyageurs Cup would mean a lot. As would our first Champions League campaign.

    It would also be a great affirmation of Martin Rennie and his coaching abilities and style.

    Toronto and Montreal fans will no doubt yawn and say been there, done that, you're a few years later than us in achieving it. And good for you. We hope you enjoyed your moments in the sun. Now it's our turn.

    Have I even slightly considered that Vancouver will not win it this year? Honestly, no. I could be setting myself up for a huge emotional fall, I know. As well as a major slagging! But I just simply haven't even considered the possibility of the Whitecaps not lifting the Voyageurs Cup this year.

    We ARE currently the best overall team in Canada.

    As a football fan, most of us don't see a lot of success in our lifetimes of supporting our Clubs. Those that support the big teams in Europe, the ones that win trophies all the time, have a different appreciation of the game to the majority of us. But I wouldn't have it any other way.

    And whether Vancouver or Toronto go on and lift this year's trophy, some of us are going to have some moments to remember.

    Whether you're a supporter, a player, part of the management team or front office, this is what football should be about.

    Moments like this and games like these.

    The "Road to Morocco 2013" continues at BC Place.

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