Venue: Tropical Park Stadium
Match Type: 
Match Number: 4
Kickoff (PDT): 2:30 PM
Video: USL Live
Tickets: Buy

Match Preview:

By Simon Fudge/whitecapsfc.com

Vancouver Whitecaps men (2-1-0) play their first away game of the 2008 USL First Division season when they visit Miami FC Blues (1-4-1) at Tropical Park Stadium on Friday afternoon.

Teitur Thordarson's side head to south Florida in buoyant mood after a pair of morale-boosting results. Last Saturday, the Whitecaps returned to winning ways in USL-1, as Eduardo Sebrango struck a late winner to claim a 1-0 victory over Rochester Rhinos at Swangard Stadium. That was followed by a well-publicized and well-deserved 2-1 win over Major League Soccer side Los Angeles Galaxy in an international friendly at Edmonton's Commonwealth Stadium, with Nicholas Addlery claiming his first-ever Whitecaps goal since joining Vancouver in the off-season.

Thordarson's squad now embark on a challenging long weekend of leagues games, with the Whitecaps to follow their trip to Miami with a second league meeting against Montreal Impact in Quebec. The Victoria Day Monday clash will be the very first game to be played at Montreal's brand-new Saputo Stadium.

The Whitecaps head into Friday's contest with a favourable all-time record against the Blues, having recorded four wins, one defeat, and one draw in the past two seasons of Miami's existence as a USL-1 club. The most notable part of that record is Vancouver's success at Tropical Park, as the club have won all three meetings in Miami, but only have a record of one win, one defeat, and one loss at Swangard. Vancouver's most memorable set of games against Miami came back in the Whitecaps playoff run to the 2006 USL-1 championship title. Despite having Brazilian World Cup winner Romario in their side, Vancouver thrashed the Blues 4-1 in the first leg at Swangard before securing their passage to the semifinals with a 2-0 second-leg win in Miami.

Last season, the Whitecaps split their two league meetings with the Blues, with Sebrango scoring a late winner in a 1-0 away win on June 22. The return match on July 14 saw Jason Jordan score his first goal of the season early on, but an exquisite Zinho free kick and a winning strike by Sean Fraser in the second half gave Miami their first-ever win over the Whitecaps in club history.

HOME TEAM

Though the Whitecaps two wins in USL-1 this season were slim one-goal affairs, the promise of a goal-fest may not be long in coming. Numerous chances were created against Rochester, but fine goalkeeping by Scott Vallow likely avoided the Rhinos from being humiliated last weekend. The same could be said of Tuesday's big friendly win over the Galaxy. Even with global soccer star David Beckham on the pitch in Edmonton, the Whitecaps were far more dangerous and should have again claimed a more comfortable result than the actual final scoreline in the Alberta provincial capital.

The last two performances are sure to breath plenty of confidence through Thordarson's side for the coming weekend, with the Icelandic tactician more concerned about his side's performances than taking many notes about Friday's hosts. "We will try to do things our way in Miami," he told whitecapsfc.com. "We are developing our game and you could see that on Tuesday in Edmonton. It doesn't matter who the opponent is, we just want to concentrate on the way we play, so I've not been looking too much at our opponents."

The former Estonia manager believes the pieces are beginning to fall into place for his squad. "The guys are still learning the way that Todd and I want them to play, but it is improving all the time," he said. "To play the way we did against the Galaxy and create many goalscoring chances, it gives us a lot of self-confidence, so we're pleased with that."

MIAMI BLUES

While Whitecaps fans can be encouraged by their team's recent displays, Miami FC supporters have endured a frustrating and disappointing start to the new campaign. The Blues have yet to win at home this season after recording a draw and two defeats in three games at Tropical Park. Their lone victory so far came in the club's two-game league trip to Puerto Rico Islanders on April 25.

It has been a turbulent beginning to the coaching career of Brazilian World Cup winner Zinho after the 40-year-old hung up his boots at the end of last season. Zinho - full name Crizam Cezar de Oliveira Filho – has built a side that has potency in attack, but has so far struggled to keep the ball out of their own net. Miami currently leads USL-1 in the goals-against department with 11 goals, though they are second in the league behind Charleston Battery with seven goals scored this term. To date, Miami's attacking threat has come in the form of Brazilian striker Alex Afonso, who currently shares the league lead for goals with four.

While the south Florida club possess the ability to test the Whitecaps back-line, Vancouver's willingness to attack could mean another busy day of action for Blues goalkeeper Josh Saunders, as Miami's defence has been less than stellar in recent games.

Friday's game is also the first of two games in three days for the Blues this weekend, as Portland Timbers visit Tropical Park on Sunday.

EARLY KICK-OFF

With the Victoria Day weekend about to begin, Whitecaps fans are sure to get the festivities started early by taking in Friday's game on USLlive.com in the afternoon. Kicking off at 5:30pm Miami time (2:30pm PT), the game could see a youthful crowd at Tropical Park, as the Blues are promoting the Whitecaps visit as 'Miami-Dade County Public Schools Day'. Thordarson's side should also expect the game to be played in typically warm weather conditions, with the forecast expecting temperatures to hit the low thirties on Friday.

Both clubs will meet two more times this regular season, with the Blues set to visit Swangard on Sunday, June 22, before the Whitecaps make a return trip to Miami on Tuesday, July 29.

Friday's game between the Whitecaps men and Miami FC from Tropical Park Stadium kicks off at 2:30pm PT, and is available live on USLlive.com.