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    <i>[There was a Cascadia party at the start of November and Vancouver wasn't invited. With Portland and Seattle battling it out for a place in the MLS Western Conference final, Whitecaps fans could only look on in envy at what we were missing out on.
    So what was it like to be a part of the first ever MLS playoffs Cascadia derby? We sent Zachary Meisenheimer, from Whitecaps' supporters' movement Curva Collective and AFTN podcast roundtable regular, down to Portland to get a view of the key derby game as an outsider looking in. This is his story....]</i>
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    <center>**********</center><i>by Zachary Meisenheimer</i>
    During the second half of this year’s Voyageurs’ Cup first leg at Stade Saputo in Montreal, a small group of Impact supporters brought a banner over to the other side of the ground and placed it on the empty seats behind the dozen or so people there supporting Vancouver Whitecaps. On the white fabric was a stickman-esque painted tricycle with the phrase "Forever The Third Wheel".
    It is the plight of all those that give their all in support of football in VanCity. The Whitecaps are both blessed and cursed to be a part of two of the continent’s most meaningful triumvirates…the Canadian and Cascadian derbies.
    The blessing comes from being a part of deeply passionate rivalries on the pitch and on the terraces. The curse is that in both cases the two other clubs involved have stronger bonds that have nurtured a greater hatred for one another, resulting in even more intense matches.
    Results also play a major factor in things as the ‘Caps have never been able to hoist that Voyageurs’ Cup...even after a dozen tries. On the Cascadia front, the Club was able to claim to be the first to four titles in the decade old supporter created competition that is the Cascadia Cup.
    However, the points claimed in their local matches were not enough to propel the ‘Caps into an MLS Cup qualification position in the League table. To make things worse, both Portland and Seattle did qualify for the playoffs and were immediately on course for a first ever MLS era Cascadia postseason clash.
    As we all know, the inevitable happened.
    Seattle defeated Colorado Rapids in the single elimination "play in" round, setting up the Middle vs. Lower Cascadia home and away quarter final that the media and League longed to see.
    The first leg was on Saturday, November 2nd at Century Link field and it could probably be best described in one word: Nightmare.
    The nightmare began long before the day of the match, but rather on the day that it became clear that this fixture at the Clink would be played on a pitch also marked with pigskin lines. This was the case because of the ground share with the Seattle Seahawks, who had a game the following day. Seattle would not be the only MLS side to suffer from this abomination, as both New England and Houston had similar visual impairments impacting viewers of their home quarter final matches.
    Seattle’s Emerald City Supporters decided to run with the Nightmare theme in the planning and execution of their tifo for the first leg. They choose the phrase "Welcome To Your Nightmare" to attempt to intimidate Portland and their supporters. You can see the display below.
    <center>

    </center>There are a lot of shiny placards, the word banner, and the ECS skull with a "timber" hanging out of the side of it’s mouth, presumably having just been bitten off of a larger piece of wood.
    The problem with using a phrase like this one in tifo is…it can comeback to bite you.
    Kind of like the proverbial pre-match comments that get posted in the opposition locker room as a rallying cry, this became a point that united Portland supporters…and they are not a bunch that needs any help in being unified in the efforts against Seattle.
    After Ryan Johnson gave Portland the lead 15 minutes into the match, the Timbers Army begun to sarcastically hurl this phrase back at Seattle supporters. The chant gained momentum when Darlington Nagbe doubled the Timbers advantage three quarters of the way through the match (how the TA don’t have a chant for Darlo to the tune of The Beatles "Eleanor Rigby"…I’ll never know!).
    Portland coach Caleb Porter, the man credited with turning around the Timbers’ MLS fortunes in one season by having a clearly defined system and getting the most out of the players at his disposal, probably thought that he was having a bit of a nightmare when his defense allowed a 90th minute Osvaldo Alonso strike off of a long throw-in, that made the match seem closer a contest than it probably was. The late goal meant that the second leg five days later in PDX would be another massive match.
    Whenever one has the privilege to attend a non-Vancouver, Cascadia derby in either Seattle or Portland, there is this real sense of not belonging (even if you have formed meaningful friendships with your fellow Cascadians). Entering the ground on match day, especially using the same entrance as the away supporters, is like that moment in Indiana Jones & The Last Crusade, when Indiana and his dad go to Berlin to reclaim the Holy Grail diary despite the obvious potential perils. At one point, Dr. Jones Sr. turns to his son and says, "My boy, we are pilgrims in an unholy land."
    The adventure that was my trip down to PDX for this match started off with a roughly 6 hour drive being transformed by traffic into a 7 and a half hour marathon. The lack of sufficient parking meant I had to park on the other side of the 405 and sprint…yes I said sprint…like haven’t sprinted in a long time. I really didn’t want to miss out on the anthem…truthfully, I didn’t want to miss out on the TA’s tifo. I barely made it into ground just as the sides were about to make their way out of the tunnel.
    I entered through the away supporters entrance and got to briefly connect with some new and old friends in the ECS. Their spirits weren’t as high as usual, but you got the sense that they believed that the Timbers could choke on the night and chop themselves down to size like the two-stick depicting Timber Joey cutting off his own two legs. With capos down front on the walkway, a drum and quality drummer a row or two back, flags waving; the Seattle supporters were giving their all before the match even started. The atmosphere in Jeld-Wen was electric and that was even before it was time for tifo.
    I was able to get to a decent spot in time for the anthem to end and the Timbers Army tifo. Here is a video of how things looked:
    <center>

    </center>Filming this meant I missed out on the ECS tifo, which was a colourful overhead that was based on The Rolling Stones "Lips" image and "Sympathy For The Devil" lyrics. It read: "Allow us to introduce ourselves…we are a club of wealth and taste". This display was in response to the TA’s tifo from their match on Sunday, October 13th. That day, one which all ‘Caps supporters will remember as the day we became the first club to win the Cascadia Cup four times, the TA’s display was based on the Beatles’ "A Hard Day’s Night" lyrics. The Army was expressing their concerns over the Clint Dempsey situation. It will be interesting one day when all of these tifo efforts are chronicled on A&E’s new series "Tifo Wars: MLS Edition".
    Abram Goldman-Armstrong (known as Abe), is a board member of the 107st Independent Supporters Trust, which is basically the leadership branch of the Timbers Army. With so much time and effort provided from supporters on both sides, what did he make of the tifo displays for both playoff matches?
    <i>"The 'welcome to your nightmare' message totally backfired on Seattle, and gave us a theme song as they continued to fall apart at the hands of the Timbers. Seattle makes a name for itself with negative tifo targeted against their opponents. While the Timbers Army believes there is a place for that, we tend to focus on displays celebrating our club and city.
    "The 'this magic is real' meme is one we have maintained in our displays since before promotion from USL into MLS, so with this as the first time in the playoffs in the higher league we thought it was fitting to revisit that meme.
    "Orko the wizard was a fun way of expressing that magic. We wanted to show our faith in the lads on the pitch. Choreos can convey many different emotions, we hoped to inspire our lads to greatness. I think they certainly embraced and embodied the message on the pitch."</i>
    When things got underway, it became painfully clear, even from pitchside, that Seattle coach Sigi Schmid’s calculated gamble to play Shalrie Joseph in midfield, alongside Adam Moffat and Ossie Alonso, was not paying off. This was accentuated as Caleb Porter had instructed his players to really go for it. Portland’s combination play wide seemed to be keying a little more on Seattle’s left side that was occupied by Marc Burch.
    The opening goal in the match came from this area as Djimi Traore decided to gift Portland a penalty by handling the ball as, former club captain, Jack Jewsbury chipped it ahead of himself and past Traore just inside the area. Current Portland skipper Will Johnson stepped up to the spot and the Canadian sent Sounders’ Keeper Michael Gspurning the wrong way to extend the aggregate lead to two.
    Just before the half, it was time for DV8 (Diego Valeri) to take advantage of the left side Seattle’s defence. He slipped in and slid to finish off a nice set up from Rodney Wallace. Just the other side of half time, The Gambia’s Futty Danso was reliving USL memories and ghosting in to head home a Rodney Wallace cross from a quickly taken free kick by Will Johnson.
    At this point the 5-1 aggregate score line seemed not to be in doubt. However, Seattle, like their supporters, didn’t give up.
    DeAndre Yedlin scored and created (for Eddie Johnson) a goal on the 74 and 76 minute marks respectively that made the night and the tie closer than it probably was.
    The Sounders could not muster an historic sized come from behind result that could have pushed things into extra time. I spent most of the final 15 minutes of the match on the catwalk above the ECS and Gorilla FC. It was impressive how much they kept giving in the face of elimination…at the hands of their archrivals.
    It was also nice to see no incidents of supporters, security, or mascots being foolish and potentially creating the types of problems all supporters in the region long to avoid.
    In the post match press conference it was interesting to hear Caleb Porter stick to his quotes from when he first arrived in PDX. When asked about the importance of beating Seattle, he said, <i>"Probably means more to the supporters, but beating Seattle three games in a row (once in the League, and twice in the playoffs) is a difficult thing to do."</i> He went on to clarify by saying, <i>"I don’t hate Sigi Schmidt or their players, but I think when we can bring some extra joy by beating a team our supporters hate, then I think it is extra special."</i>
    The response from the supporters was to be expected. The initial response from a highly involved member of the ECS was: <i>"F!@#$%^&*&^%$k."</i>
    I didn’t follow up too much because I didn’t want to rub salt in wounds. Abe’s perspective on this was similarly predictable:
    <i>"Defeating Seattle is always a great experience, be it in Cascadia Cup play or post season. I feel that the wheels really fell off the train for Seattle late in the season, so it was a good feeling to push past them in the first round of the playoffs. Winning in Seattle is a rarity, so it was a great home and away series for us."</i>
    On the five hour drive home after the match, all I could think about was all the what ifs from the ‘Caps’ campaign…like what if we actually had won the Voyageurs’ Cup…and qualified for the MLS Cup.
    It made me think to 2014, where we don’t have to care about being the third wheel…as long as we are leading the way.
    <p>
    Guest
    Bright Dike was reported to be on trial with Celtic today. Or something. It's hard to know for sure, but a photograph surfaced that said he was at the Celtic practice facility.
    Here, see for yourself.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]

    The original poster later said that Dike was there for week.
    TFC told Sportsnet that they had no knowledge of Dike being on trial.
    <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Was there an actual photo of Dike training with Celtic? Trying 2 piece together how this rumour got started. TFC told me nothing agreed upon</p>— John Molinaro (@JohnMolinaro) <a href="
    ">November 25, 2013</a></blockquote><script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
    Also, Scottish journalist Grant Russell told CSN that Dike was not involved in training today with Celtic.
    So, it seems like it's a premature report, or a misrepresentation from the original Tweet.
    Then again, TFC denied that DeRo was training with Celtic in 2011 as well. So, we'll monitor this closely.
    Notes: TFC passed in the waiver draft today.
    While CSN upgrades is comments section you can comment on 24th Minute articles at this temporary site.
    Guest
    This final is set.
    Two matches were played over the weekend to determine which two of the four clubs remaining would take part in the 2013 MLS Cup Final in two weeks time.
    Both matches went counter to their first legs with Kansas City and Houston morphing their defensive stalemate into a fast-tempo clash and Portland and Salt Lake’s high-scoring display turning into a offensively limited one-goal affair.
    In the first, the home team won, while the away side took victory in the second. Four goals were scored and six yellow cards shown, leaving both finalist with their full complement of healthy players for the impending final.
    Before the results, the goal of the round:[PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    Just one really worthy of recognition this round – Dom Dywer’s eventual game-winner for Kansas City.
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    Silky passing on a quick break and Benny Feilhaber providing that oft-absent little bit of class that had regularly blunted the otherwise rampant Sporting attack.
    And a tidy finish from the sophomore forward who lit up USL Pro in his extended stint with Orlando City – who were named as the 21st MLS franchise in last week’s expansion announcement.
    Results
    Kansas City 2 – Houston 1 (Kansas City advance 2-1 on aggregate)
    The first leg may have been a dire exercise that ended scoreless, no doubt impacted by the previous frantic two weeks of playoffs, but the second leg on Saturday more than made up for that disappointment.
    It was cold – the coldest match in MLS history at 22° Fahrenheit, though those who attended the 2010 MLS Cup Final in Toronto would beg to differ – but that did not stop both teams from flying out of the gates with the opening whistle.
    The big news prior to kickoff was as much about those absent from the starting lineups as those who would take the field. Houston, already shorn of centre-back Jermaine Taylor, would be without the services of both Ricardo Clark and Will Bruin, who combined had accounted for three of their seven goals through the first two rounds of the post-season.
    Kansas City were healthy, more-or-less, though Peter Vermes opted, somewhat controversially, to keep their designated player, Claudio Bieler on the bench, fielding Dom Dwyer and CJ Sapong alongside Graham Zusi in attack – he would not be proved wrong.
    Not until after a little scare, however.
    Houston would take the lead in the third minute, putting a little fear and trepidation into the Kansas City faithful who packed out the ground and rocked the stands from whistle to whistle.
    It began with a quick outlet pass that isolated Andrew Driver on Chance Myers. Houston’s left-sided attacker abused the KC right-back, drawing him in before pushing past him mercilessly to send in a cross. Aurelien Collin would cut out the service poorly, popping the ball straight up, to fall near the penalty spot, where Cam Weaver won it back towards Brad Davis over Seth Sinovic, who was drawn inside.
    Davis spotted that space vacated by Sinovic and the drifting of Oscar Boniek Garica into it, nodding out to the right. Garcia shaped to one-time his shot, faking out Sinovic before walking around his desperate challenge and hammering a right-footer towards goal that kicked up off the last-ditch block attempt from Matt Besler to loop over Jimmy Nielsen into the left-side of the goal.
    Handing Houston a one-goal advantage inside the opening five minutes was never part of the plan - would Kansas City be knocked out for a third-straight season by the Dynamo?
    Vermes decision to leave Bieler on the bench looked a mistake in the eighth minute, when Dwyer missed a sitter from a Myers squared pass – credit to Eric Brunner who did enough to hurry the attempt.
    Could Houston hold on for eighty-plus minutes?
    Uncharacteristically, they would gift the hosts the equalizer in the fourteenth minute, on sloppy plays from two of their more impressive performers this season.
    First it was Giles Barnes whose lackadaisical clearance was deflected by Zusi, straight to Uri Rosell on the right. He moved the ball quickly up and in-field to Benny Feilhaber, who turned and drove towards goal. Garcia and Warren Creavalle did well to collapse on the ball, squeezing out Feilhaber, leaving a harmless, loose ball bouncing towards stalwart centre-back, Bobby Boswell, who made the second, more critical mistake.
    Boswell misread the movement of defensive partner Brunner, poking a back pass to where he was, not where he was going, that inadvertently played Sapong in clear down the right-side of the box. Sapong would one-time a right-footer past Tally Hall into the left-side of the goal to equalize on a gift.
    Next it was Houston’s turn to be stung by wastefulness, when Weaver could not keep a glorious chance on target from a cutback on the half-hour mark. His blushes were somewhat spared when Sapong wasted a good look in the final minute of the first half.
    Having played the first half at breakneck speed, both sides emerged from half-time with a little less energy, readjusting to the climate for the next quarter of an hour – the best chance came from Houston’s Garcia, who could only find the side-netting from a half-chance at a tight angle.
    Kansas City would capitalize on the lull with a silky attack in the 63rd minute.
    Collin chested a bouncing ball to Paulo Nagamura in the defensive third, who moved up-field before threading a ball to Zusi cutting from right to left. He crisscrossed with Feilhaber, before stopping dead and poking a pass to Feilhaber.
    With a large Rico Clark-shaped pocket of space in front of him to attack, Feilhaber strode towards goal before lifting a brilliant chipped ball through the narrowest of gaps for Dwyer, who took it down neatly, hesitated to let Kofi Sarkodie commit past him, before taking a slight touch to the outside and slotting a left-footer to the open left-side of goal.
    Houston would ring in the changes as they went in search of an equalizer with Omar Cummings and Servando Carrasco replacing Driver and Creavalle before mounting a more concerted response.
    Of some interest, the first recorded save of the match from a keeper did not come until the 79th minute when Dwyer’s header was easily caught and held by Hall.
    Desperation began to set in as the Dynamo continued to pump hopeful balls forward that were easily dealt with by Collin and Besler.
    Sporting would see out the result with a pair of defensive subs – Ike Opara and Jacob Peterson - before Bieler finally came on in the 94th minute – the final minute of stoppage-time – for Dwyer.
    At the third time of asking, Kansas City finally get past the Dynamo in the MLS Playoffs, clinch the Eastern Conference Championship and now have two weeks to prepare for their third-ever MLS Cup Final, their first since 2004.
    Afterwards, Vermes reflected on the achievement, “It seems like it always come down to not a battle but a war. I think as far as this series, we deserved it. We played smart and I think we showed real maturity. Three years ago, I think we were very new to this when we played them in the same situation. We were very new, in everything. I even think our fans were new to it. There was a lot of apprehension that year, but I think this year was very different. I think the players understood the task at hand. Even though they scored early, we never panicked” continuing, “Everybody has talked about how Houston has been that thorn in our side, and I didn't necessarily buy into that. You could say the same thing for L.A. if you wanted. Everybody has that hurdle that they have to get over and we're a very young team. And to accomplish this with such a young maturity level on our team is fantastic.”
    With the loss, Houston will miss out on their first final in three seasons.
    Dominic Kinnear was magnanimous in defeat, “It was a tough game. We knew it was going to be close. It was a tough one, but congratulations to Kansas City. They'll host the final which I think is a good thing for the MLS,” adding, “It's hard. A lot of things kind of went against us this last month or so I think… from a coaching staff point of view, I'm very proud of the team and what we've done this year. Walking of the field the last time as a competitive group is awfully hard, but I don't think they can second guess their effort or determination.”
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    Portland 0 – Salt Lake 1 (Salt Lake advance 5-3 on aggregate)
    Sunday’s offering was an entirely different proposition.
    Goals aplenty in the first leg allowed the visitors to enter the match with a two-goal cushion; it would have been a near-insurmountable three if not for Frederic Piquionne’s last-minute header – still it was a big ask for Portland to overturn the series.
    Despite the absence of their preferred starting centre-forwards – Portland’s Ryan Johnson made way for Piquionne in the starting eleven and Salt Lake’s Alvaro Saborio missed out through injury – the two traded early chances with RSL rookie Devon Sandoval sending a header from a Javier Morales free-kick, down into the turf, bouncing over the bar and Piquionne strafing a cross inches beyond the reach of Diego Valeri at the other end.
    In the fifteenth minute Portland had the ball in the back of the net, with Futty Danso nodding in after Rodney Wallace had headed a ball back into the centre, but it was ruled out for a shove in the back of Lovel Palmer by Wallace, controversy.
    Undaunted, the Timbers continued to look for the much-needed opener and Valeri has two good cracks at goal in the same series after a Piquionne lay off, but both were blocked by the stingy Salt Lake defense.
    Every team needs a bit of luck to fall their way, especially when faced with the task of making up a two-goal deficit, but Portland would find the soccer gods aligned against them further when the impressive Piquionne was forced off with injury in the 28th minute, replaced by Maxi Urruti.
    And a minute later Robbie Findley sunk a dagger into the comeback, extending Salt Lake’s advantage to three goals.
    It began with a long Nick Rimando kick that sailed over Sandoval, bounding to Pa Modou Kah, who inexplicably headed a poor clearance into the middle of the pitch. Morales would gladly collect the loose ball, deftly touching to Luis Gil who glided past Diego Chara, moving towards goal down the left-channel to have a right-footed lash from some 25 yards, attempting to finish across the keeper.
    Donovan Ricketts got down to parry the drive, but could not control the rebound, leaving it kindly on a platter for Findley, who reacted quickest, beating both Kah and Michael Harrington to the loose ball to tuck in a left-footer at the right-post.
    With their task made all the more difficult, tensions started to mount, flaring up on a Portland free-kick, with Nat Borchers and Kah, amongst others, shoving in the defensive wall, requiring the intervention of the referee to iron out the differences.
    Shortly thereafter, in the 33rd minute to be more precise, the Timbers had another potential goal ruled out, this time clearly offside, from Danso after Valeri’s shot was denied and the centre-back tucked in the rebound.
    Portland’s hope were struck a further blow when Wallace too was forced off injured, replaced at the start of the second half by Kalif Alhassan.
    Tempers flared once more when Chris Schuler flung himself recklessly into Portland keeper, Ricketts, on a deep free-kick, for which the Salt Lake defender was booked after some light shoving and verbal sparring.
    With the clock now clearly running against them, Portland’s otherwise reliable sources of inspiration faltered. Valeri missed a further pair of good chance – sending a dropped touch from Darlington Nagbe over from the top of the box and pulling another sizzler well wide – and Will Johnson found space for a shot, but he too whistled his look wide.
    Throwing caution to the wind with twenty minutes remaining, Portland replaced their right-back, Jack Jewsbury, with another forward, Ryan Johnson, and were nearly made to pay immediately when a long pass into the space vacated by the departing Jewsbury played Findley in alone down the left, forcing Ricketts quickly off his line to clear the danger.
    The emotions of a long season nearing its end started to trickle in as in became clear that there was no way back, with the cameras isolating on one fan in particular who appeared to be choking back tears while continuing to sing on the home side vociferously.
    The Timbers would see a few more desperate chances wasted – Urruti shooting straight at Rimando and Danso sending a final header from a Valeri cross harmlessly over the bar.
    In the end the deficit from the first leg, against a solid Salt Lake outfit, proved too much for the home side, and they bowed out after an impressive season.
    Credit must be given to the Timbers Army who sang their hearts out to the end, fired up their smoke devices in the waning minutes and then gave their side a raucous reception post-match, even in defeat.
    Caleb Porter was equally classy, “First of all, I’d like to congratulate Real Salt Lake for moving on to MLS Cup. They’re a great team, great coaching staff, and they deserve everything they get. They were great in the series and as much as we fought them tooth-and-nail, they deserved to move on. So, we wish them all the best.”
    Before reflecting on his side’s performance – in his usual wordy way, “My team, I thought they deserved more, in all honesty. Obviously, this is the first time we’ve been in this position, and there’s a reason a team like Salt Lake moved on to win the series. You see teams like Salt Lake. You see teams like Kansas City. You see teams like Houston and the LA Galaxys of the world, and there’s a reason they continue to be in this position year after year. It’s because they’re experienced collectively and they have players that have been in that situation. What I would say about our group is that we didn’t look out of place. I think that’s remarkable for our team, really 10 months into this, to be in the position we’re in. In saying that, there are some things we’ll learn from the series and when we’re back – and we will be back – we’ll do better. You look at Salt Lake and you look at the last time they won it, and you look at how long it took them to get back…it takes time. There’s definitely a progression when you’re knocking on the door. This was our first time knocking on the door and unfortunately we didn’t open the door. I can’t fault my guys’ effort. I’m proud of every last one of them. You could see how much it meant to them today. They fought every single second for 94 minutes. They gave everything they had and left it all on the field. I thought we played well enough to win the game today. If that first goal stands, I think the game is different, but it didn’t play out that way. I would say, we probably didn’t finish well enough to move on in the series. We had a lot of chances. I thought we dominated the game in terms of performance – that was clear. Again, Salt Lake knew what they needed to do, and they did it. I thought their center backs were exceptional in the box tonight. We threw everything at them, and I thought they managed the box brilliantly. You have to take your hats off to their team. You could see their maturity, you could see their experience. They did what they needed to. It wasn’t any fault to our guys. I thought we came out and played, in terms of energy, some of the best stuff of the year and, in terms of control, some of the best stuff of the year. We didn’t finish well enough to move on in the series, but I thought we certainly performed well enough to win tonight, and for whatever reason it didn’t fall that way.”
    In many ways – including his lengthy dissertations, Porter has been a breath of fresh air this season.
    Too many coaches give meaningless rote answers to post-match questions, everyone should appreciate Porter’s willingness to talk after the match.
    Jason Kreis, whose contract incidentally is up at the end of the season, steers his Salt Lake into their second-ever MLS Cup Final – and first since winning in 2009 (shocking given how dominant their style has been over these past four seasons) - picking up just their second trophy with the Western Conference silverware en route.
    A fact not lost on Kreis, “I think for me, the most rewarding thing is not about getting back to the MLS Cup. The most rewarding thing is that finally this group has won a trophy. Another trophy. Frankly, in my honest opinion, and I’m sure it’s not everybody’s – this team deserves more trophies than they have. They’ve put themselves in a position to win so many times, and it’s just been unfortunate not to. So I think that this is a very deserved trophy. Both, for what we have done over the regular season and certainly in the playoffs, but more so for what we’ve done now for five years in a row.”
    All thanks to getting that first goal to seal the tie, “You know, they say in soccer, and I believe it’s true, especially in our league, that the first goal matters so much in games. I think the percentage for the team that wins games that scores the first goal is off the charts, really, in our league. And then you enter a match like this where you’re already up two, and I think that first goal becomes ten times as important. If Portland scores the first goal, they’ve got all the momentum, they’re on their home field, they’ve got their fans behind them. I think that we would’ve been in a really, really tough place. If we score the first goal, now it’s 3-0, and now they get a little desperate, some heads are hanging, and there’s some frustration involved. Great that we got the goal, probably wasn’t the prettiest one we’ve ever scored, but we’ll take it, and I thought we handled the match pretty well from there.”
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    CanCon
    Will Johnson bows out of the 2013 MLS Playoffs with Portland’s elimination at the hands of Salt Lake. Johnson had a strong outing, deployed in a much more advanced position with the Timbers in need of goals – especially as the match wore on.
    He had a couple good looks and delivered some decent set-pieces, but could not lead his side over this one final hurdle.
    But rest assured they will be back next season, as Johnson himself pointed out:
    “It’s a winning culture, no doubt about it. That’s one of the things we talked about afterwards, is what we’re proud of. We’re no longer the Portland Timbers that everybody beats up on. We’re starting to become an elite team in this league. We have to do it consistently. We’ll find ourselves in championship games year after year if we continue to have that hunger and desire. For me, this just makes us hungrier, if that’s possible. It’s a good group of guys. We’re competitive. This fan base deserves a competitive team, a team that fights and gives everything. Our effort was fantastic tonight, we just needed better quality.”
    Overheard
    More what went unheard – NBC’s Kyle Martino trying to interview Jimmy Nielsen as the Eastern Conference trophy was presented to Sporting only for his microphone to convey none of the conversation to the audience, rather just a barrage of celebratory music pumping as the two tried desperately to interact.
    The Portland fans who, though no doubt disappointed in the result, cheered their players to the end, earned the praise of both Will Johnson - “It’s amazing. You certainly expect it from them. They’re with us through thick and thin. They’ve been with us now for, a lot of the guys, for three years. It’s been pretty awesome. It just gives you chills. It’s why we try so hard. We try too hard at times to the point where we get in our own way, but they’re amazing, that’s it.”
    And Michael Harrington - “That was amazing. It just makes you proud to be part of something like that. Not everybody gets to be part of something like that in their life. It makes me proud. It’s just fantastic to be supported in that way, because that’s rare. Even all over the world, I think that’s rare, so it was a lift to us. We’re disappointed, but that’s a light in the darkness there.”
    MLS Commissioner Don “The Don” Garber talked expansion at half-time of the Eastern Conference Championship – it’s worth a watch.
    See It Live
    A few minor highlights (or lowlights):
    That dreadfully terrible free-kick routine mix up between Graham Zusi and Benny Feilhaber, getting their signals cross as both went for it getting in each other’s way and turning over possession wastefully.
    Oscar Boniek Garcia’s rattling hit on Seth Sinovic.
    Somebody – possibly Seth Sinovic – pantsing CJ Sapong as he celebrated in front of the Cauldron.
    And one final glimpse at a sombre Brian Ching leaving the field for the last time in his storied career as the result became official and the two sides shook hands.
    Pa Modou Kah giving Kyle Beckerman an earful of Gambian opinion after a flare up in the defensive wall on a Portland free-kick was something fierce.
    The two week break did give both home supports time to put together some pretty nifty tifos.
    In Kansas City:
    <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Only photo I could find (so far) of South Stand's tifo. <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23mls&src=hash">#mls</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23MLSPlayoffs&src=hash">#MLSPlayoffs</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23skc&src=hash">#skc</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23SKCvHOU&src=hash">#SKCvHOU</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23football&src=hash">#football</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23supporters&src=hash">#supporters</a> <a href="http://t.co/hrjNt9s6D7">pic.twitter.com/hrjNt9s6D7</a></p>— Casual Life (@AmericanCasual1) <a href="
    ">November 24, 2013</a></blockquote><script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
    And in Portland:
    <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Well, yeah <a href="http://t.co/pEFhD0tYck">pic.twitter.com/pEFhD0tYck</a></p>— Michael Orr (@MichaelOrrFtbl) <a href="
    ">November 25, 2013</a></blockquote><script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
    Controversy
    Portland’s hopes of a comeback were stymied by two goals that were ruled out in the first half.
    The second, from Futty Danso was quite clearly offside, but the first was debatably chalked off by an early foul call – for an apparent shove in the back of Lovel Palmer from Rodney Wallace.
    There is often a lot of jostling in the box on set-pieces, did that really warrant a shrill blast from the referee? Caleb Porter certainly did not think so.
    Opinion Poll
    MLS Cup Final is set, who you got winning it all?
    Upcoming Fixtures
    One match remains in the 2013 MLS season; what a ride it has been.
    Saturday, December 7 at 4 pm (EST): Sporting Kansas City will host Real Salt Lake at Sporting Park in the 2013 MLS Cup – should be a cracker.
    All quotes courtesy of MLSsoccer.com
    Each week James takes a look at the league as a whole.
    You can follow James on twitter @grawsee or read more of his writing at Partially Obstructed View
    Michael Mccoll
    It's Episode 29 of "There's Still Time", the AFTN podcast and it's our first Canadian national team post game show.
    The Canadian women visited Vancouver to play out a pretty boring goalless draw with Mexico. We chat with Equalizer Soccer writer Harjeet Johal about the game and the future of the women's program.
    We also hear the post game reaction from head coach John Herdman, captain Christine Sinclair and goalkeeper Erin McLeod.
    CEO of the FIFA 2015 Women's World Cup National Organising Committee, Peter Montopoli, was in town and we speak with him about the upcoming World Cup, the turf controversy and the lack of professional women's teams in Canada and none existing in the NWSL.
    And there's still time for a little Whitecaps chat as we look at Bobby Lenarduzzi's latest comments about the search for the Caps' new manager.
    Have a listen!
    For now, you can listen to this week's podcast on iTunes HERE.
    Or download it for your later listening delight HERE
    We also have an iPhone app, so you can now add our podcast to your phone as an app. Visit the podcast's mobile site HERE and then at the bottom of the screen just click the "Quick Launch" icon and the podcast will be added to your home screen and appear as an app.
    And if that's not enough, we've joined Stitcher Radio Network. Download the app and listen to the AFTN podcast on your device, along with over 15,000 shows HERE.
    Or after all that, you could just listen on the player below!
    Guest

    Onward in Ottawa

    By Guest, in 24th Minute,

    Ottawa gets forgotten. Unless you're complaining about your taxes, or are actually from the city, few people in Canada think about the capital.
    And, that goes in soccer as well. Even FC Edmonton gets more thought than the Ottawa Fury. It's a shame, because the Fury have developed a highly professional program on the women's side of the game and are now taking their first steps into the pro men's game.
    The NASL Ottawa Fury are set to become the fifth Voyageurs Cup eligible team in Canada when they launch this Spring.
    Unlike other Canadian pro teams, the Fury are being conservative. There are no proclamations of big name signings nor championships out of the gate. Instead, they are talking about things like creating a core of players that are invested in the community, upgrading an existing academy to fully professional status and giving Ottawa fans a competitive side that will represent them well.
    Not that manager Marc Dos Santos doesn't want to win. He just realizes it's a process and Ottawa isn't going to enter the league like the New York Cosmos did with a bankroll nearly triple what the rest of the league has.
    “That New York won is a different story. Their budget way higher,” Dos Santos said, adding that the iconic brand of the Cosmos also helped attract better players than other NASL clubs could. Ottawa will have more modest goals in 2014. “Establishing a base in first year is the key and then grow it every year,” he said.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    When Dos Santos talks about his plans that word – base – comes up over and over. What he doesn't want is a revolving door of players. He wants guys that will come to Ottawa and establish roots.
    His first three signings reflect that. All three – Oliver Minatel, Nicki Paterson and young domestic player Carl Haworth – were brought in with a long-term view. Dos Santos said that in addition to playing ability that language factors were also considered with the signings, especially the two foreign players.
    Dos Santos wants players out in the community, interacting with the fans. To that end there are a couple “interesting” options among Francophone players that the Fury are looking at. However, Dos Santos insists that no player will be signed unless they've earned it on the pitch.
    To that end, the Fury will not be playing Canadians for the sake of their passport. Dos Santos says that too often Canadians think that they are entitled to play for Canadian clubs simply because they are Canadian
    “It's a problem,” he said. “You see it a lot – this entitlement.
    “Canadians will not be treated any differently. They will need to earn their spot.”
    That isn't to say that Dos Santos doesn't appreciate the need for the Fury to be developing Canadian talent. Improving the Fury academy is a major priority of his.
    “As soon as we came in we were concerned about getting best Technical Director in,” Dos Santos said, adding that the TD's main focus will be upgrading the academy, which in his mind is “more like a youth club” today.
    “It will take time, but it's definitely something that we take very seriously. In future we want to give local players a chance to break in.”
    This year, Dos Santos anticipates that 2-3 u17 players will train with the first team.
    In terms of bottom line results, his goal is that the Fury be “competitive” and qualify for the Canadian Championships semi-finals by beating Edmonton.
    His goals grow in 2015.
    “(Next year will be a success) if most of the players are back in 2015,” he said. “But, we want to win things for Ottawa.”
    Michael Mccoll
    Episode 28 of "There's Still Time", the AFTN podcast and it's been pretty quiet in Whitecapsland the last week or so.
    With no real front runners having emerged in the managerial hunt, we pick over what we know, what we think of those in the frame so far and reveal a new high profile name in the mix that the Whitecaps are said to be talking to this coming weekend.
    Whilst taking their time to get the right man for the job is a good thing, with decisions on players needing to be made, and the players themselves keen to find out what's happening, how will the continued delay affect the upcoming trade window opening and plans for next month's re-entry draft?
    In the more busy world of MLS, we look ahead to this weekend's Conference Finals second legs. Remember them? With the help of our new special guest, Predictapooch, we tell you who will be contesting the 2013 MLS Cup.
    We chat about the new 21st MLS club, Orlando City, and look over the MLS awards shortlists for this year and the brief Whitecaps involvement.
    And there's still time for a brief chat about the Canadian senior national teams, following the men's latest loss and the women's game in Vancouver on Sunday.
    So have a listen!
    For now, you can listen to this week's podcast on iTunes HERE.
    Or download it for your later listening delight HERE
    We also have an iPhone app, so you can now add our podcast to your phone as an app. Visit the podcast's mobile site HERE and then at the bottom of the screen just click the "Quick Launch" icon and the podcast will be added to your home screen and appear as an app.
    And if that's not enough, we've joined Stitcher Radio Network. Download the app and listen to the AFTN podcast on your device, along with over 15,000 shows HERE.
    Or after all that, you could just listen on the player below!
    Guest
    Tim Leiweke's week of silence has been broken. Just when TFC fans thought that the MLSE president was going to let his actions speak rather than his words he made another proclamation tonight.
    According to people in attendance, Leiweke told an audience at the Ontario Chamber of Commerce that TFC would make the biggest signing in MLS history within the next 30 days.
    It wasn't clear whether he was talking value or media impact, although it's hard to imagine a name bigger than David Beckham so it was likely the former.
    Or, it might be more empty talk. History suggests that to be the most likely.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    Guest

    RIP Moncton grass

    By Guest, in 24th Minute,

    Moncton no longer has a grass pitch. This is a terrible day for the sport.
    The shortsighted and shameful move will cost about $1-million.
    The stadium, which was built as a world class track and field facility, can no longer host international track and field meets either because of the insistence of going against world standards by playing on plastic.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    When he spoke to CBC, Soccer New Brunswick director Marc Leger had a different take on the impact of local soccer.
    “I would say in the past, the soccer community has not had access to the stadium,” he said. “With ongoing communications with the city and Soccer Canada there's high hopes for the soccer community locally and provincially that we can have access to this for special events."
    Guest

    Haworth, Jonke to compete in NASL in 2014

    By Guest, in 24th Minute,

    It was a busy day of player signings on Wednesday for Canada's two NASL teams.
    Ottawa Fury FC, who will begin play in the league next season, announced former Montreal Impact draft pick Carl Haworth as their first-ever Canadian signing. The 24-year-old striker was picked up in the MLS Supplemental Draft in 2012 and played for Canada's Olympic qualifying squad that same year. He moved on to FC London in the PDL, then eventually Ottawa's PDL club.
    Meanwhile, FC Edmonton announced that 28-year-old striker Frank Jonke will be returning to Canadian soil after four years playing in Finland. Jonke, who earned his first men's national team cap this January, played last season for FF Jaro, and has scored 33 goals in 110 appearances during his time in Finland. [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    The Eddies also announced that American goalkeeper Lance Parker will be back in 2014 -- potential good news for the club, but not so much for the playing time of 25-year-old Canadian goalkeeper John Smits.
    Guest
    So, where to begin?
    If you'd have bet me, a year ago, that in November 2013 we'd be looking at a women's national team roster that included Kara Lang, Josée Bélanger and a 16-year-old that could very well start at fullback... well, you'd be a few cans of soda richer (I only wager in soda, all other gambling is immoral).
    Of course, if you'd bet me a year and a half ago that Canada would win a medal in women's soccer at the 2012 Olympic Games... well, to be honest, you'd be several cases of soda richer.
    Now, here we sit, on the verge of Canada playing a game at Vancouver's B.C. Place (against Mexico on Sunday) and John Herdman, the architect of the aforementioned improbable occurrences, is talking (albeit subtly) about the prospect of his team playing in that same stadium on July 5, 2015 -- in the final of the next Women's World Cup.
    Anybody like soda?
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    The eternal pessimist that lives deep within the heart of any long-time Canadian soccer fan would immediately dismiss such dreams. After all, this team finished dead-last at the 2011 Women's World Cup! They only won bronze in London because Melissa Tancredi played out of her mind in the group stage and France got terribly unlucky in the third-place game! They're only ranked top-10 in the world because of a shallow pool of competitive nations!
    Et cetera, et cetera.
    Of course, Herdman having his contract extended through to 2020 earlier this year has given him the liberty -- some would say the mandate -- to look at the big picture.
    So, sure, playing games at home (the CSA has pledged that the women's national team will play at least once in every host city prior to the Women's World Cup) is nice for the fans -- but the real aim is to get the players accustomed to those facilities, to give them that little edge should they need it in 2015.
    And sure, neither Lang nor Bélanger will be fit to play Sunday (Bélanger injured herself in training, while Herdman pegged Lang's ideal return date as the first quarter of 2014), but integrating them into the team can give them -- and their teammates -- a profound psychological boost.
    (Plus, as Herdman said, Lang and Bélanger are precisely the types of players Canada needs in the short term to diversify their Sinclair-reliant attack. Herdman was the one who brought both back in the fold, saying he's been "constantly bugging" Bélanger for two years -- including flying to Sherbrooke just to meet with her.)
    And sure, players such as Kylla Sjoman and Selenia Iacchelli may not fit into the long-term plans... but the only way to know for sure is to provide them with an opportunity to prove themselves. Herdman had good (Sjoman has "some of the characteristics we're looking for [left-footed, willing to get into attack] in a fullback"; Iacchelli is "having a bit of a [career] renaissance") but not-overly-committal things to say about the pair during a media conference call on Wednesday.
    And sure, the teenagers of today won't necessarily be integral parts of the senior women's national team in time for the next Women's World Cup or Olympics (with the possible exception of Kadeisha Buchanan), but that doesn't mean Herdman's not constantly concerned with their progress.
    Sura Yekka, 16, is back with the squad after earning her first senior national-team cap against South Korea last month. Herdman -- who's spoken over and over about wanting "modern fullbacks" -- spoke glowingly about the youngster: She's "calm" on the ball, she's got "that urge to go forward" and, like Buchanan, she's got "no fear, no mental scars of past failure".
    Herdman also oversaw the Under-17 women's squad successfully qualify for next year's U-17 Women's World Cup earlier this month, and praised the work of the provincial associations in providing head coach Bev Priestman with plenty of "technical" players. He singled out captain Jessie Fleming as a player who could soon make the jump to the U-20 program, and lauded the team's ability to stick to its control-based game plan in situations where Canadian teams, in the past, may have resorted to a more rudimentary hoofball approach.
    That U-17 camp and tournament -- like all elements of the youth program -- are now following the national curriculum, the foremost goal of which is "to produce players for the women's national team that can compete in the international women's game in five years' time."
    Five years' time? But what does that have to do with the 2015 Women's World Cup? Or, more pointedly, this Sunday's friendly against Mexico?
    Directly, not much. But we do know that barring something unexpected, Herdman will actually be able to see those plans come to fruition. He'll be able to take the experiences of getting to the Olympic podium with one highly-talented generation of Canadian players and -- hopefully -- be the one to pass the metaphorical torch to the next generation.
    Will the likes of Sinclair, Lang and Bélanger be a part of that "next" generation? They won't.
    But they're all a part of the holistic ecosystem that Herdman has created within the women's national team program. Whether it's Sunday's friendly, the World Cup in two years' time or the Olympics seven years from now, it's all under Herdman's jurisdiction. The micro and the macro aren't always intertwined -- but being in control of both can allow one to identify the ways in which they might be.
    The retirement of long-time national-teamer Melanie Booth earlier this week is perhaps the first indication that the transitional period is fully coming into effect. One well-placed source has told me that Herdman will go into full-on talent search mode in the new year, suggesting that Booth's retirement may be the first of several we'll see in the coming months.
    Then again, Kara Lang was retired from the national team as of a year ago. So was Josee Bélanger.
    Everything is in flux for the women's national team program, in the most exciting and terrifying of ways. But one thing has become crystal clear -- there's very little that's falling outside of John Herdman's big picture.
    And if reaching the final of the 2015 Women's World Cup is in Herdman's sights... well, are you going to bet against him?
    Guest
    Kara Lang's comeback is almost complete. But she will wait until the New Year before seeing the pitch again.
    The midfielder was recalled to the Canadian camp today for the first time since she retired due to chronic knee injuries. Lang announced she was attempting a come-back earlier this year.
    At one time Lang had a higher profile than even Christine Sinclair and remains one of the youngest players of either gender to score an international goal.
    Lang's inclusion wasn't the only surprise in the roster that was announced today for Sunday's game against Mexico. Josée Bélanger is also making a return to the fold after a long exclusion, as Herdman looks under every rock for secondary scoring options.
    At just 16, Sura Yekka gets her second straight call-up and, perhaps most surprising, 27-year-old Selenia Iacchelli gets a look. She's never been capped at the senior level.
    The full roster is below the jump.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    GK- Stephanie Labbé | SWE / KIF Örebro DFF
    GK- Karina LeBlanc | USA / Portland Thorns FC
    GK- Erin McLeod | USA / Chicago Red Stars
    D- Robyn Gayle | USA / Washington Spirit
    D- Rachel Melhado | USA / University of Louisville
    D- Carmelina Moscato | USA / Seattle Reign FC
    D- Marie-Eve Nault | SWE / KIF Örebro DFF
    D- Lauren Sesselmann | USA / FC Kansas City
    D- Kylla Sjoman | SCO / Glasgow Celtic FC
    D- Rhian Wilkinson | USA / Boston Breakers
    D- Sura Yekka | CAN / Brams United
    D- Emily Zurrer | USA / Seattle Reign FC
    M- Selenia Iacchelli | CAN / Edmonton Victoria SC
    M- Kaylyn Kyle | USA / Boston Breakers
    M- Diana Matheson | USA / Washington Spirit
    M- Sophie Schmidt | USA / Sky Blue FC
    M- Desiree Scott | USA / FC Kansas City
    M- Brittany Baxter (née Timko) | Unattached/sans club
    M/F- Kara Lang | Unattached/sans club
    F- Josée Bélanger | CAN / Amiral de Québec
    F- Mélissa Busque | USA / Seattle University
    F- Adriana Leon | USA / Chicago Red Stars
    F- Christine Sinclair | USA / Portland Thorns FC
    Tickets are still available through Ticketmaster for as low as $15.
    Guest
    It's finally official. <strike>Austin Aztex</strike> Orlando City are the 21st MLS club and will enter Major League Soccer in 2015.
    The announcement means that 2015 will now be a tale of two City's - New York and Orlando - but what the dickens will that mean to the make up of the Conferences?
    The addition of two new clubs will mean a continuation of an odd number of teams at 21. As much as we'd always love to see a single table, the growing number of teams, and with those scheduled to come, means this is sadly never going to be a realistic proposition any more.
    So what will be?
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    Do MLS just go for a temporary and easy quick fix till they decide on their other expansion sides or do they lay the foundations for the future now?
    The official word from MLS right now is <i>"Details regarding conference alignment and schedule format for future MLS seasons will be unveiled at a later date."</i>
    Understandable, no need to rush into any rash decisions, and you don't want to read too much into the phrase "schedule format" but it makes me wary of what might be to come.
    When it comes to Conference alignment, one obvious solution is to place both Orlando and New York in the East and move Houston back over to the West.
    That would keep the status quo of the East having the extra team but from a Whitecaps point of view, it just makes the West all that harder.
    Such a move would ramp up the Texan derby and set the groundwork for possibly adding San Antonio down the road, maybe even under the tutelage of Martin Rennie, who could land the vacant head coaching job down there.
    With the plan to take MLS to 24 teams by 2020, we'd like to see a more radical Conference alignment take place from 2015.
    Our suggestion would be to split the League into three, seven team Conferences: Western, North and South/Central.
    The West would consist of Chivas, Los Angeles, Portland, Real Salt Lake, San Jose, Seattle and Vancouver.
    The rest is a little more difficult and wouldn't give an immediate satisfaction to all.
    In an attempt to keep some of the best rivalries going, the North could be DC, Montreal, New England, NYRB, NYC, Philadelphia and Toronto.
    This would allow for the new New York derby, the Canadian derby, and the Philly-DC-New York hate fests.
    <i>[NB: We originally had Chicago and Columbus in the North, with the suggestion that they could be switched, but after some Twitter discussions, it was pointed out by our friends in the east that Philly and DC have a much stronger rivalry with New York than what Columbus have with Toronto, so we've gone and made that actual switch now]</i>
    This would leave the South/Central as Chicago, Colorado, Columbus, Dallas, Houston, Kansas City and Orlando.
    This would help grow the Texan derby as we said and allow for moves to allow in say San Antonio, Miami and Carolina down the line and three conferences of eight teams. It would break up the Rocky Mountain rivalry if the teams only met once in the season.
    Which then of course brings us to the schedule format.
    A balanced schedule of 40 games seems like a non starter unless in the unlikely event that MLS puts less emphasis on the playoffs.
    If you stick with the East-West split then the current three games against Conference rivals and the alternating seasonal one-off cross conference games just can't work. That would mean 40 games in the East and 38 in the West. So there has to be some change.
    Even reducing the Intra Conference games to two would mean 30 in the East and 29 in the West, so it messes up Supporters Shield standings.
    Having some teams not playing others would also not be acceptable.
    Moving to our suggested three Conference plan, you could play each side in your Conference three times and keep playing the other teams in a once a season alternating home and away basis to make a 32 game season.
    Playoffs would feature the top four teams in each Conference, with some byes and my preference of just a general 1 to 12 seeding.
    Certainly would work for me and also make it easier to allow for international dates.
    Of course another way around this is to actually add a 22nd team for 2015 and have two 11 team Conferences.
    It may seem unlikely, but don't discount it just yet.
    Major League Soccer is a lot like Disneyworld after all - anything is possible and some decisions and rules seem to have been drawn up in a fantasy land.
    <p>
    Guest

    Wait, we play today?

    By Guest, in 24th Minute,

    Canada plays today.
    I expect most of you knew that, but it's at the point now where maybe you've shut it out. It's been a difficult year to say the least.
    It's tempting to throw your hands up and just focus on your heritage team (if you have one), but international sport isn't like that. It grinds on, never ending.
    So, we watch. And we fret and we try and understand where it all went wrong. Actually, most of us know where it went wrong. We just remain frozen in the same place year after year as smaller and smaller countries zip past us.
    Sadly, too many of us remain focused on the here and now stuff. We want to Sack the CSA, without understanding what that means. We look to fire the coach without understanding how replacing him would fix anything and we demand more from players that might be giving us everything they already have.
    The truth is the struggles today reflect just how bad things were in the years between the fall of the Canadian Soccer League (the real one, not the abomination in Ontario) and the start-up of the MLS teams. That gap produced next to no players and is why the team is so bad. We have players produced after 2007, players produced in the 80s, and a guy from Chicago. It's not enough and it won't be fixed before the start of 2018 qualifying.
    It really won't. We are not going to Russia. The only way that could possibly change is the CSA fast tracked some citizenships, or finds a few hidden Canadians playing professionally. It's not the worst idea to look for a couple guys like that -- we need to be competitive in '18 qualifying -- but it's not the long-term fix.
    What is the long-term fix then?
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    It's simple, really. We need to find a way to extend the playing career of guys into their early 20s in environments that can continue their development and provide an opportunity to move up the playing pyramid.
    We need to get over the bickering at the grassroots level and split players on elite development pathways from kids that want to play the sport for fun and fitness. They have different needs and we need to run the sport in a way that reflects that.
    We need at least two more (preferably more) D2 pro teams to emerge, all with professional academies.
    We need our three MLS teams to do a better job at working with all parts of the system and we need the MLS team in our biggest city to get its head out of it's ass and at least not be an embarrassment (partisanship in Vancouver and Montreal may prevent you from seeing how TFC's stupidity drags the whole system down, but it does).
    We need the CSA to continue making the changes it has started, advocate for MLS to make Canadians domestic players league-wide (their labour law excuse is just that--an excuse) and continue to support the program by having camps at every international break.
    And we need to start to plan for the transition between Floro and his replacement. He was always going to be a short-term Manager. His focus should be as much on Olympic qualifying (we have a chance there) and setting up things for John Herdman to lead Canada to Qatar.
    Wait, did I say that last line out loud?
    Anyway, in the meantime we as fans just have to be patient but firm in our resolve to ensure that the powers are held accountable. Canada is too rich, too big, too athletic (we're likely going to actually Own the Podium in Sochi) and have too many kids playing the game to be this bad.
    Guest

    Catching up with... Ben Fisk and Bryce Alderson

    By Guest, in AFTN,

    The Whitecaps season was over and it was the final day of training with the players going through some fitness testing. Well after the final players had left the pitch a couple of them returned with a bag of balls to continue their work.
    The beginning of the season showed promise for both Bryce Alderson and Ben Fisk as the club looked for both Residency grads to get some playing time in a loan arrangement at the USL-Pro level. Unfortunately injuries played a huge part and both players had a difficult time establishing themselves as regulars for Charleston Battery.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
    Alderson, who was entering his second season as a MLS pro, started the year with a nagging knee injury and was unable to establish himself with the Battery, also missing out on international duty with Canada.
    <i>"It was a really frustrating season for me"</i> Alderson admitted. <i>"I started off the season with an injury and that caused me to miss all of preseason and Under 20 qualifying, so it was a really frustrating start to the year and to be honest, it didn't get a lot better and it was definitely a year I was looking to forget."</i>
    It was a little different for Fisk, who went on loan from the PDL team. He started strong, earning a couple of starts and scoring his first pro goal but eventually the injury bug would bite him too.
    <i>"For me it was a pretty frustrating season"</i> echoed Fisk. <i>"The injuries and also not being able to play too many games down there, but we're at the end of it now, so looking forward to next season."</i>
    The local product feels that in his limited duty he has shown enough to the Caps to earn another look next season.
    <i>"Before my injuries I was on the starting squad and scored a few goals and stuff. I was really happy with how it was going but obviously, the rest kind of happened but as I said, I'm on the other side of that now so I'm happy about that."</i>
    Signed as a Generation Adidas homegrown player, Alderson felt he could learn something from his time with Charleston, although disappointed by other aspects of it.
    <i>"There's things to take from it and things to learn from it. Not the kind of things that I would like to take from a loan experience. Not what I would have expected.
    "Definitely you learn some things I think anywhere you go, regardless of where you end up and the situation, I think there's things you can take from it, so that's what I'll try and do."</i>
    He is hopeful that the club's offseason talk of developing more young talent will give him a chance to show what he can do in MLS.
    <i>"Absolutely. I think that's something this club's been talking about for a few years now. With a continued push on that and a continued push to develop young players and get them into the first team, that's obviously exciting for any young player, but especially someone like me who's come through the academy and looking to play matches."</i>
    Still not signed to a MLS contract Fisk was hopeful with the direction of the club.
    <i>"Hopefully, yeah. We obviously don't know who the new coach is going to be. I think the Club want to bring someone in who wants to play youth players and the young players, so that's obviously exciting for players like myself and Bryce."</i>
    It was clear that Fisk was going to stay local and train with the <a href="http://www.whitecapsfc.com/news/2013/01/hpp" target="_blank"><u>High Potential Player (HPP) program</u></a> till preseason training gets underway again in January. Alderson was also focussed on the HPP program but told us that he was hopeful that <i>"there might be an opportunity to go train abroad"</i>.
    The Whitecaps confirmed Thursday that the central midfielder will now head to England to train with Championship side Queens Park Rangers' U21 team and he will be eligible to play two games with them during his two week stint.
    While the overseas adventure should be beneficial for Alderson, the offseason will be critical for Fisk who has yet to be signed to a deal with the first team having graduated from the Residency in 2012.
    However the fact that he is still in the picture says the Whitecaps are still interested in Fisk and it is clear that he is more of a complete player than certain draftees that the team has brought in.
    While many in the media continue to talk about young players like Teibert, Koffie and Manneh, players like Fisk and Alderson are key players who need to be developed to become the longterm players that Vancouver needs to succeed in MLS.
    Let's hope the new coach sees that himself. He'll just need to watch their self driven extra training sessions to see their commitment.

    <p>
    Guest

    OSA will sanction semi-pro League One

    By Guest, in 24th Minute,

    The Ontario Soccer Association announced last night that they were moving ahead with sanctioning the new division three league, League1 Ontario.
    League1 has been designed as a next step high performance outlet in the LTPD pathway. Players in the U-23 age group will make up the core the league's players, although the OSA notes that this will not be an exclusively U-23 league.
    “By piloting League1, we are able to address the needs of even more athletes in our Talented Pathway,” OSA President Ron Smale said. “With the launch of the OPDL in 2014 for the younger age groups, League1 Ontario provides a great complement for athletes graduating from the youth soccer ranks and whose developmental and competitive needs are not currently met. League1 Ontario will also serve as an excellent competitive platform for University and College athletes in CIS, CCAA and NCAA.”
    The OSA has repeatedly said that they would only be sanctioning one division three league. Which, with yesterday's announcement, closes another door for Canadian Soccer League and their hope for sanctioning in 2014.
    In March, the CSL won a ruling from the SDRCC to uphold sanctioning by the CSA in 2013. The SDRCC ruled, at that time, the CSA sanctioning of the CSL would run out on Feb. 13, 2014, rather than Feb. 13, 2013.
    Clubs interested in more information on League1 can attend an information meeting on Saturday, November 30, 2013, at 2:00 p.m. in the Canada Room at the Ontario Soccer Centre.
    [PRBREAK][/PRBREAK]
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