Canada beats Honduras 1-0 in World Cup Qualifier

Canada 1 (Johnson) – Honduras 0

Canada used a first half goal that was officially credited to Will Johnson but seemed to come off the back of Cyle Larin last to get past Honduras in an entertaining 1-0 win in FIFA World Cup Qualifying for Russia 2018. Johnson had directed a Junior Hoilett header towards goal when the ball would bounce off Larin and a Honduran defender before going into the net late in the first half. Johnson would almost double the lead in the 2^nd half when his free kick effort was tipped onto the bar by Honduran keeper Noel Valladares, that would be the closest anyone would come to scoring in the 2^nd half. 

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BC Place played host to the Canadian Men's National Team World Cup Qualifier against Honduras as they continued their road to Russia 2018. Head Coach Benito Floro went with Milan Borjan in goal, with Marcel De Jong, Dejan Jakovic, Adam Straith and Karl Ouimette in the back. The midfield trio consisted of Captain Julian de Guzman, Will Johnson and Atiba Hutchinson. Longtime national team holdout Junior Hoilett officially was cap tied to Canada with this start, and along with Tosaint Ricketts on the other wing looked to feed MLS Rookie of the Year Cyle Larin up front.

Junior Hoilett got his official welcome to Concacaf in the 18^th minute, as he was booked for a foul near the Canadian bench. The referee would even up the cards a couple minutes later as Will Johnson was taken down in the centre circle, with the card going to Bryan Acosta.

Honduras would ge a chance on goal off a Canadian turnover in the 27^th minute as Carlos Discua tried to curl a shot towards the far post but his effort would go wide of goal. Discua would then get a yellow a couple minutes later as he interfered with an Atiba Hutchinson free kick in midfield.

A minute later Hutchinson played provider for Julian de Guzman, who's rising shot was parried by Honduran keeper Noel Valladares over the bar.

In the 38^th minute Canada would get on the board. Junior Hoilett would intercept a pass in midfield, and would sprint to the right of the Honduran goal before corssing for Will Johnson, who's header went off a body and into the net for the 1-0 lead. Replays would show that Larin would get the final touch but Johnson got credit for the goal to put Canada ahead.

Canada would head into the half up 1-0, but needed to tighten up at the back as Honduras started to push the Canadian back line.

Both teams would trade chances early in the first half before Honduras would make its first substitution. Romell Quioto, who was injured in this very stadium playing for CD Olympia against the Vancouver Whitecaps, came in for Erick Andino on 55 minutes.

In the 62^nd minute Luis Garrido earned a yellow card for a foul on Hoilett in a dangerousspot. The resulting free kick would be taken by Will Johnson, who struck a shot that nearly beat Valladares, but the Honduran keeper managed to get his fingertips on it to push it onto the post and out to keep the match at 1-0.

Honduras would make their 2^nd substitution in the 65^th minute as Mario Martinez would come on for Bryan Acosta. Soon after that Honduras would get their own free kick chance as Atiba Hutchinson was called for a foul, with the free kick eventually going out for a corner.

Honduras would make their final substitution moments later with Angel Tejada coming on for Carlos Discua in the 69^th minute.

In the 73^rd minute Marcus Haber would come on for Cyle Larin as Canada made its first substitution.

In the 76^th minute Milan Borjan had to be sharp as Mario Martinez's long range shot almost handcuffed the Canadian keeper but he managed to push the shot over the bar. A minute later Julian de Guzman would come off for Samuel Piette, getting a standing ovation as he left the pitch.

In the 80^th minute Tesho Akindele would come on for Junior Hoilett, which meant that no Canadian Whitecaps player would enter the match tonight.

In the 82^nd minute Borjan had to be sharp as he spilled a shot from distance before recollecting it, but not before taking a knock from a Honduran player. After a minute of treatment Borjan would be alright and play resumed.

Borjan would be called on late to punch out a chance from a free kick, and Canada would effectively kill of the match as they beat Honduras by a 1-0 score, and excise some of the ghosts of the 8-1 defeat from 2012. An estimated 20,108 people were in attendance to watch the victory, which surprisingly is a record for the Canadian Men's National Team, which now prepares to get ready to face El Salvador on the road on Tuesday.

Post Match Quotes:

Will Johnson – On the Goal:

"It's just a great play, you know with Junior he's such a special player, there's a good chances that he's gonna get that ball in the box, so when you play with one striker you need another guy, the opposite side winger or a midfielder to make the run also and Cyle went to the middle of the goal so I went far post, it went a bit over Cyle's head and I was able to get it on target and then it just kinda rolled into the goal."

Adam Straith – Playing at Home:

"It's the most fun I've ever had in a football match, playing in front of friends and family and also the way that the game went added to it, and it was a lot of fun."

Julian de Guzman – Important Victory:

"I've been waiting years for this, I remember 2008, at home against Jamaica, we were in the lead, that was an important match for us and we didn't win that and the rest is history, then in 2012 we ended up tying against Honduras, but we dominated that game and didn't get the win that we needed and that affected the end result for us at the end of everything so, this win at home, its very special, I think a lot of the guys, something I was talking to Atiba about just before the game, its a different feeling that we had going into this game, a lot more confident, the right players involved, and everyone finally believed in us, we had a great turnout, a record and I think its something we're hoping to look forward to in the future with this success behind us."

Atiba Hutchinson – Overall Team Performance:

"It was a good start for us, we controlled the game, started off with a lot of confidence, played the way we wanted to, didn't give up many chances and we put them under a lot of pressure and we deserved the three points."

Junior Hoilett – On his first home match for Canada:

"It was great, it was a great result, the fans, they helped us as the 12^th man, I'm pleased to get that result and I know they are as well."

Whitecaps bow out of MLS Playoffs with 2-0 loss to Portland

Vancouver 0 – Portland 2 (Adi, Chara)

The Vancouver Whitecaps fell to the Portland Timbers 2-0 in front of 27,837 at BC Place, with Portland scoring a goal in each half to seal the deal. The Whitecaps started out strongly with Kekuta Manneh testing the Timbers early in the first half before succumbing to an ankle injury. After Manneh's removal the Whitecaps looked lifeless and the Timbers would take the advantage. Fanendo Adi struck on 30 minutes as the Whitecaps defense fell asleep on a throw in, while Diego Chara would seal the deal in 2^nd half stoppage time as the Timbers move on to face FC Dallas in the MLS Western Conference Semi-Final.

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The Vancouver Whitecaps opened up the entire lower bowl at BC Place, allowing 27,000 plus fans to take in the 2^nd leg of the MLS Western Conference Semi-Final between the Whitecaps and Portland Timbers Sunday evening. The match was pushed back to a 7:30pm start time as the other MLS Western Conference Semi-Final match between Seattle Sounders and FC Dallas went into extra time.

Vancouver Whitecaps Head Coach Carl Robinson started David Ousted in goal, with Steven Beitashour, Tim Parker, Kendall Waston and Jordan Harvey in defense. Gershon Koffie moved back into his traditional defensive midfield role alongside Matias Laba, while Whitecaps captain Pedro Morales drew back into the starting lineup for the first time since early October. Cristian Techera and Kekuta Manneh were out on the wings and Octavio Rivero was the lone striker up front.

Just before the match started FC Dallas beat Seattle on penalties, meaning that the winner of this match would host Dallas in two weeks' time.

Kekuta Manneh had the first good chance of the match five minutes in as his low shot fizzed past the post and out. A few minute later Manneh has a dazzling run down the middle of the pitch before hitting the post from distance, with the ball bouncing off the post, off the back of Timbers keeper Adam Kwarasey and out for a corner kick.

In the 16^th minute Kendall Waston just missed a header on a ball played toward him by Cristian Techera off a scramble in the Portland box, the ball just going over the head of the unmarked Waston at the far post.

Kekuta Manneh had to be subbed off after 25 minutes after taking a knock, he tried to continue but barely made it back to the center circle before having to be subbed off for Mauro Rosales. Manneh's ankle would be shown to have an ice bag on it later in the match.

Vancouver was caught napping in the 30^th minute as Diego Valeri passed to Fanendo Adi in the box, who roofed it past David Ousted to give Portland a 1-0 lead. Portland would take that 1-0 lead into the first half, as the Whitecaps looked to extend their season past the next 45 minutes.

Portland started strong in the 2^nd half, with Valeri testing Ousted with a shot from just outside the box just after the restart, with Ousted making the save.

In the 55^th minute Octavio Rivero earned a yellow card for a shove on Jorge Villafana by the Portland bench as he let his emotions get the better of him.

Rodney Wallace would then go into the book, earning a yellow for persistant infringement, with a foul on Gershon Koffie finally getting him the card. Valeri would also get a yellow card for fouling Techera a moment later, while Darren Mattocks would come on for Gershon Koffie as the Whitecaps 2^nd substitution.

In the 67^th minute Jorge Villafana would come off for Norberto Paparatto, after looking to have sustained an injury from earlier in the match, possibly from the Rivero foul from the first half.

In the 72^nd minute Steven Beitashour would get a yellow card for a foul on Diego Valeri in the Portland end.

In the 80^th minute Portland would take out Rodney Wallace for Lucas Melano, before Ousted had to make another save on Diego Valeri on a swerving free kick.

The Whitecaps would bring on Robert Earnshaw for Steven Beitashour on 82 minutes, and Earnshaw's first touch would be a bicycle kick that just went over the bar. Portland would bring on Jack Jewsbury for Diego Valeri in response as they tried to see out the match.

Robert Earshaw would score a goal but would get it called back as he interfered with the Timbers' keeper Adam Kwarasey's kick on restarting play. Earnshaw would get a yellow card for his efforts.

The Whitecaps would get five minutes of stoppage time, but Portland would seal the deal in stoppage time, with Diego Chara getting the last kick on a counter attack to make it 2-0 Portland. The Timbers would go on to win the match and will now face FC Dallas in the MLS Western Conference Finals.

Head Coach Carl Robinson - On Kekuta coming off and the game changing after that:

"First off I want to congratulate Portland, credit to them for winning the game today, winning the two leg series so congratulations to them. It changed, it changed dramatically, the kid started out like a house on fire and put us in the acendency with playing front foot football and hit the post and had one or two half chances, but when its not your day its not your day so it wasn't our day, we didn't score a goal after two legs; when you don't score a goal after two legs, unless you're lucky and go onto penalties and win you're not going to win a game of football, that's what happened."

Mauro Rosales – Taking a playoff loss at home:

"Tough, tough, disappointed for everybody, obviously we didn't expect this result, but also I think we didn't perform as well as we played the last couple games. It was a crucial game for us, this kind of game you have to step up with a different mentality, a different approach to the game and just do your 110% every time, there's a few opportunities that we're going to have just being in this situation, semi-finals, good run during the season, and when we should perform at higher levels we didn't so, disappointed, but obviously proud of the team, how hard they worked through the year, how hard its been this season, a lot of positive things, a lot of positive players coming up doing a very good job, high level this season from many of our players and just wait for next year now."

Tim Parker – On the team's game plan:

"I think our game plan was solid, I think we knew what we had to do I think, maybe just executing a little better obviously, would have been a better result."

*Note: Canada takes on Honduras in a World Cup Qualifier Friday, November 13th at 7pm at BC Place.

Whitecaps, Timbers battle to 0-0 draw in MLS Playoffs

Portland 0 – Vancouver 0

The Vancouver Whitecaps battled to a 0-0 draw in Portland Sunday afternoon in the first leg of their MLS Western Conference semi-final. Portland had the better chances, especially in the 2^nd half as David Ousted was forced to stop a goal bound free kick from Diego Valeri in the 71^st minute, while Portland substitute Maximilliano Urruti hit the post two minutes from time keeping the game scoreless. The 2^nd leg will take place next Sunday at BC Place.

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The Vancouver Whitecaps travelled down the I-5 to Portland to take on the Timbers in the first leg of their MLS Western Conference semi-final matchup. Whitecaps Head Coach Carl Robinson went with the same lineup that started the 3-0 victory against Houston last week. David Ousted started in goal, with Steven Beitashour, Kendall Waston, Tim Parker and Jordan Harvey in defence. Matias Laba and Russell Teibert held defensive midfield duties, while Gershon Koffie was pushed up into attacking midfield alongside Cristian Techera and Kekuta Manneh supporting Octavio Rivero up front.

Both teams traded half chances through the first half, and at the end of the half Timbers forward Lucas Melano and Whitecaps midfielder Gershon Koffie traded yellow cards on two separate fouls, with both free kicks going nowhere and both teams going into the half 0-0.

It was Portland who started to push in the 2^nd half as they controlled possesion of the ball while generating more half chances. Vancouver looked to generate more offense of its own as Mauro Rosales came on for Gershon Koffie in the 64^th minute. A few minutes later Portland would bring on Maximilliano Urruti for Fenando Adi.

In the 71^st minute David Ousted was forced to make a great save off a free kick from Diego Valeri, Ousted diving to his left to push the goal bound effort out for a corner.

On 77 minutes it was #77 for the Whitecaps Pedro Morales getting his first minutes since early october, replacing the ineffective Kekuta Manneh for the Whitecaps' 2^nd substitution.

Darren Mattocks would come on for Octavio Rivero late, but Portland would have the best chance of the match as Urruti would hit the far post from a shot from Ousted's right, the score remaining 0-0. Portland looked to get a corner kick in stoppage time but the referee blew the whistle to end the first leg scoreless. The two teams will head to Vancouver as the Whitecaps will host the 2^nd leg of the semi-final tie next Sunday, needing to win to advance to the next round of the playoffs.