VALE OF GLAMORGAN, WALES – A “mix and match” Vancouver Whitecaps FC side fell 1-0 to Cardiff City FC's U-23s on Friday morning in their first preseason match of 2017.
Cardiff trialist Sobwale scored the game’s only goal in the 48th minute, capitalizing on a Whitecaps FC turnover before lobbing one in from 20 yards. The closed-door friendly was played over three 30-minute periods, with most Whitecaps FC players getting about 45 minutes under their belt.
“It was 45 minutes of fitness within a game scenario,” Robinson told reporters after the match. “That was the positive. And there was lots of good little linkup plays, which we’ve worked in in the first few days of training. We’re three days of training in, we’ve already played 45 minutes, we looked to a decent level, but it’s still building stage.”
Whitecaps FC head coach Carl Robinson fielded a starting lineup composed of 10 returning players on Friday, with goalkeeper David Ousted getting the nod between the sticks.
In front of him, right back Jakob Nerwinski, centre backs Tim Parker and Christian Dean, and left back Jordan Harvey formed an all-American back line. Andrew Jacobson and Matias Laba partnered in midfield, Alphonso Davies and Marcel de Jong occupied the wings, and Kekuta Manneh played centrally underneath striker Erik Hurtado.
Notably, it was the first Whitecaps FC match experience for Nerwinski, one of five MLS SuperDraft selections in Robinson’s starting XI, and a return to action for Dean and Manneh, who both missed significant time due to injury in 2016. Nerwinski, in fact, was the only Whitecaps FC player to go 90 minutes, with Robinson making a number of subs throughout the match.
More to come.
See our Twitter stream below for a play-by-play of the match and stay tuned for complete post-match coverage.
