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Posted by
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March 31, 2016 |
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VANCOUVER, B.C. - As the Vancouver Whitecaps prepare to take on the LA Galaxy on Saturday night at BC Place, they are dealing with the news of thievery. On Monday night, 32 pairs of football boots were stolen from the Vancouver Whitecaps training facility at the University of British Columbia. The missing boots are sizes nine and ten. Some the players hit by the boot bandit include Pedro Morales, Jordan Harvey, Octavio Rivero, Erik Hurtado, and Sam Adekugbe. Many of these stolen boots have custom designs, and personalized engravings that hold sentimental value for the players.
Whitecaps Coach Carl Robinson sent out a plea to the person or persons who have committed the heist, to do the right thing.
"Just an example of what I have to deal with. Overnight we had 32 pairs of boots stolen from our facility. Someone's managed to break in and steal my players boots, which is not acceptable, not good enough. I've got players without boots that've got their children's names on them, that means a lot to them. If anyone knows please give me a call. If you want boots, I'll buy you boots, but please bring these special boots that these players wear back to me. Please."
The Whitecaps will need to sort out footwear before Saturday as they will want to be on the right foot vs Los Angeles. The Galaxy always have a new exciting players additions that stir the interest of MLS fans far and abroad. Nigel de Jong, Jelle Van Damme, and Ashley Cole are just some of the new fresh faces around the StubHub Centre and sunny beaches of LA.
"Yeah they've got some big names," said Carl Robinson. "Good team, obviously. Bruce (Arena) has done a great job of assembling a star-studded lineup. There a top team in MLS, we know that. It's going to be a very tough game for us, but it's a game we've got to look forward to especially at home. We know that we'll have thousands of fans out there supporting us. We're ready to give them a game, but we know it's not going to be easy. There a good team, they've got good players in key areas that we'll have to be careful of and so have we."
Vancouver won both matches with Los Angeles last season. 2-0 on April 4 in Vancouver and 1-0 in Carson, California on June 6. Centre-back Pa-Modou Kah made his season debut in a 1-0 win vs Houston on Saturday and he's looking forward to playing LA.
"For me I respect all opponents, but when we are on the pitch it's 11 v 11. It's what we do. Last year we had a good record back to back against them with wins. We just have to go out there and play our game. I always believe that we're going to win."
The well-travelled veteran footballer has seen his fair share of talented clubs loaded with superstars, but some of his teammates have not. Vancouver has a young roster and it's important that players don't get stuck ball watching. It's an honour to be on the same pitch as players like Robbie Keane, Steven Gerrard, Giovani dos Santos, Ashley Cole, Jelle Van Damme, and Nigel de Jong. You don't want to give those type of elite players time and space or they will show you just why they are top players.
"Everybody knows that (Nigel) de Jong is a world-class midfielder and it's the same for (Steven) Gerrard," explained Pa-Modou Kah. "Jelle (Van Damme) is a good defender, but me, I don't worry much about the opponent. I'm worried about what we can do, because the most important thing is we can take advantage of our qualities. Upfront we have great players who can create. We have Pedro Morales, Kekuta Manneh, we have Kudo, Blas Perez, so for me, those are the things that matter."
Vancouver has a 2-0-2 record this season and has found the back of the next six times. Pedro Morales leads MLS with 4 goals and all of those have come via the penalty. Jordan Harvey and Kendall Waston scored in Vancouver's opening match of the season from set pieces. At this point, no goals have come from open play, but the panic button has not been hit and alarms are quiet.
The Whitecaps former Allsvenskan defender has heard it all before throughout his career. If you're scoring, how are you scoring, when are you scoring in matches... How many shots on target, where are the set pieces goals coming from. The amount of tactics and information available for supporters, media, and club is endless. Never is there something that can't be improved.
"Well last year people were saying that we didn't score enough at open play or set pieces," revealed Kah. "Now it's from penalties. A win, is a win. By the end of the day, what counts is three points. How you get it doesn't matter, because football is like a circle. We didn't get any penalty calls last year, not much. For the first four games we've been getting them so we're taking advantage of it and the rest will take care of itself. I'm not worried."
Whether it's stolen football boots, set piece goals, or facing an opposition that has a surplus of money to purchase top players, the Vancouver Whitecaps will be ready on Saturday. 27,000 fans are expected to fill BC Place as the entire lower bowl has been opened up for the match. The Whitecaps and Galaxy are sure to put on a fantastic match no matter any off the pitch noise.
Pa-Modou Kah won't be bothered by any distractions this week. If Carl Robinson calls his number to play it won't take him time to acclimate himself to the LA Galaxy. Kah is a player his teammates love to bits. Kah eats, breathes, and sleeps football.
"I love playing games, so for me it doesn't matter if it's LA or Colorado or who else. Even if it's simply training, it doesn't matter if it's zero spectators. I love doing what I'm doing, and I'm happy to do it, so playing against these guys is nothing new."
Notes: Whitecaps striker Masato Kudo will miss the match vs LA due to a suspensions.
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