Plenty of media and supporters were out for the first Vancouver Whitecaps FC intrasquad matches of the 2012 preseason. Head coach Martin Rennie had his team play in three 20-minute games, changing the line-ups with a mixture of returning players, new players, Residency youngsters, and trialists.
Match #1 - Team Blue 1-1 Team Orange
Team Orange
Joe Cannon; Young-Pyo Lee, Martin Bonjour, Jay DeMerit, Alain Rochat; Long Tan, Jun Marques Davidson, John Thorrington, Ben Fisk; Lee Nguyen, Omar Salgado
Team Blue
Brad Knighton; Carlyle Mitchell, Bilal Duckett, Jordan Harvey, Chris Estridge; Gershon Koffie, Matt Watson, Davide Chiumiento, Michael Nanchoff; Eric Hassli, Darren Mattocks
Though Team Orange applied early pressure, it was Team Blue that broke the deadlock on six minutes from a Davide Chiumiento free kick played into the Team Orange box. MLS SuperDraft pick Darren Mattocks rushed in unmarked to convert the chance and put Team Blue in front. They almost doubled their lead, but Jordan Harvey hammered a shot off the crossbar.
Team Orange equalized on 16 minutes when Long Tan’s run allowed the Chinese striker to set up Lee Nguyen, who placed his shot into the top right-hand corner of the goal for 1-1.
Match #2 - Team Blue 0-1 Team Yellow
Team Blue
Joe Cannon; Young-Pyo Lee, Martin Bonjour, Jay DeMerit, Alain Rochat; Ben Fisk, John Thorrington, Lee Nguyen, Jun Marques Davidson; Long Tan, Omar Salgado
Team Yellow
Andrew Fontein; Bilal Duckett, Mark Fetrow, Michael Boxall, Russell Teibert; Gershon Koffie, Michael Nanchoff, Matt Watson, Greg Klazura; Camilo Sanvezzo, Caleb Clarke
Team Yellow dominated in possession and attacking chances in the second match, while Team Blue midfielder Jun Marques Davidson looked comfortable in midfield, forcing turnovers and slowing down the pace of the game.
After creating several chances, Camilo gave Team Yellow the lead on 15 minutes following a Russell Teibert short corner. Michael Nanchoff played a precision cross to the far post that found the head of the Brazilian. Team Blue goalkeeper Joe Cannon was not able to stop a determined Camilo, as he headed home for the match winner.
Match #3 - Team Blue 0-0 Team Yellow
Team Blue
Brad Knighton; Jordan Harvey, Carlyle Mitchell, Martin Bonjour, Chris Estridge; Ben Fisk, Jun Marques Davidson, John Thorrington, Davide Chiumiento; Darren Mattocks, Omar Salgado
Team Yellow
Andrew Fontein; Mark Fetrow, Bilal Duckett, Michael Boxall, Russell Teibert; Gershon Koffie, Michael Nanchoff, Matt Watson, Greg Klazura; Caleb Clarke, Camilo Sanvezzo
The final match-up of the day played out to a goalless draw and featured squads of mostly new faces. It was largely a midfield battle between the two sides, with only a few shots on goal.
Team Blue’s biggest chance came in the fifth minute when John Thorrington showed vision, feeding a ball straight up the middle of the pitch to Mattocks. The Jamaican forward was fouled in the box, but play had been blown down for offside. As for Team Yellow, Camilo and Nanchoff had chances before MLS Supplemental Draft pick Greg Klazura struck the post with a close-range shot after playing a quick give-and-go with Teibert.
