Tom Soehn: Vancouver Whitecaps played a good possession game against Manchester City – MLS News
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Vancouver-Whitecaps-FC-c40870 put a great effort in the international friendly against Manchester City staged at Empire Field on Monday, July 18, but the Barclays Premier League outfit took all to their credit with a close 2-1 score line at the final whistle.
The Caps interim manager, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Eric-Hassli-c12705 leading the charge, but new faces were given the nod off the bench in the second period. The likes of Michael Boxall and Bilal Duckett
were given a run-in against some of the best players in the world and they did not disappoint.
“You see it as a challenge,” Boxall told the media post match. “You see how you rack up against the best players in the world. I think for the most part, all the guys put out efforts we can be proud of, and hopefully that carries over to the rest of our
season.”
However, Duckett was the man in focus that night not for his rookie appearance but for losing http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Shaun-Wright-Phillips-c33277 for the decisive goal in the 84th minute.
“It’s something I’ll remember for the rest of my life,” Duckett smiled. “I gave Wright-Phillips too much space and he put it in the top shelf, nothing Nolly could do about it. It was just a great strike and you have to give credit where credit is due.”
Although the team lost against one of the toughest contenders in the world, the Canadians put a good shift in front of the head coach. The final touch was hard to come by, especially in the second half, but the team notched an amazing 55 percent of possession
that is an accomplishment in itself for a team playing their first ever Major League Soccer season.
“The first half we did a good http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Job-c18684 in possession and caused them to have to work, and we found a lot of good channels,” Soehn said to the media.
The team created some good play from the middle of the park and Camilo’s goal in the first half bore testimony to it. Hassli was good with the ball as well. In addition to frequently troubling the opposition backline, the player proved a good distributor
of the ball in a pressure match. The whole team worked as a unit in the game, though, creativity in the final third was lacking.
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