VANCOUVER WHITECAPS FC v. SEATTLE SOUNDERS FC - CONCACAF CHAMPIONS CUP - ROUND OF 16 1ST LEG - BC PLACE, VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA

“Playing football is very simple, but playing simple football is the hardest thing there is.”

– Johan Cruijff

Greetings to my brothers and sisters in Green. Here we are again, in the CONCACAF Champions Cup, although this time, the road to the CCC Quarter-Final goes through Vancouver and…(sigh) for some inexplicable reason, Spokane. No offence intended, Spokane, it’s just that the 2nd leg is just not going to be a true home match for our Boys in Green.

What: CONCACAF Champions Cup, Round of 16, 1st leg, Vancouver Whitecaps FC v. Seattle Sounders FC.

Where: BC Place, Vancouver, British Columbia.

When: 7:00 p.m. Pacific Daylight Time, Thursday 12 March 2026 CE.

At Stake: The format is quite clear. If we want to advance to the Quarter-Final stage, we must win this cup tie.

Where to Watch: Fox Sports 2 and TUDN.

Where to Listen: Although I have no confirmation of this, you would imagine the usual suspects for radio coverage. KJR on either 93.3 FM or their AM frequency of 950 and the El Rey 1360 AM.

It seems not that long ago, just last season that we were on the bad end of a 4:1 hosing at the hands of Cruz Azul in Mexico City. Paul Arriola clutching his damaged knee as he was stretchered off, knowing his debut season for Sounders had suddenly come to an end.

Although Arriola has made a complete recovery, we currently have six players out with injuries, and another two who may or may not play this match. We have only one healthy centre-half that primarily plays that position. So it would appear that injuries are once again playing a role in our Cup campaign.

All that aside, despite the attrition, we currently have a 2-0-1 in MLS. Those are very good results, considering that we are currently a bit shorthanded, especially at the back. Whitecaps have their share of injuries also, but have run out to a 3-0-0 record in the league, second only to San Diego on goal difference, and did a pretty tidy job (2:0 on aggregate) of dispatching Cartagines in the opening round of the CCC.

All we can do is speculate. The cliche is well-taken though. There’s a reason they play the matches, and we are in for a cracker on Thursday night.

If you’re going up to Canada, mind yourselves and look after one another. Tie your scarves proper. Be as loud as humanly possible at the ground, and if fate is kind, Sounders come back hame level on goals or better yet at least one goal ahead in the tie. For those of us here, in The Evergreen, it’s pubs and dwellings for stories and tellings, houses and flats for pints and cats, and boats and ships for pie and chips.

It’s CONCACAF Champions Cup football, under the Thursday night lights at BC Place. GO ON YOU SOUNDERS!!! GET IN!!!

Before kick-off, please join me in the auld toast: “TO THE SEATTLE SOUNDERS FOOTBALL CLUB…AND VICTORY!!!”

The injuries just keep stacking on. Maybe it’s time to sign Antino Lopez to a senior team contract. Just sayin’.

The Good News

From the midfield forward, Sounders are in pretty good shape. We’ve got four goals in the league, hit in by Rusnak, Rothrock, Cristian, and Kossa-Rienzi. Therefore, as far as the attack is concerned, we’re doing reasonably well. The Sounders attack is averaging 2.00 goals/match including pre-season, and 1.33 goals/match in MLS.

Despite injuries at the back, Sounders have only conceded two goals in their three league matches thus far for an average rate of 1.00 goal conceded/match. So the defence is holding…for now.

Overall, Sounders have a 17-11-11 record against Vancouver in the league, although that reduces to an away mark of 8-6-6 when playing at BC Place. Another caveat is that these records are league football, which is very, very different from cup football.

Generally speaking, Sounders tend to play up in big matches. This is a big match, for certain.

The Bad News

In three MLS matches and two in the CCC, Vancouver have only conceded one goal. That’s a defence that’s standing pretty tall at the moment, and they’ll be at their football ground, with their fans.

Sounders will be missing 80% of their centre-halves, as Gomez Andrade, Sailor, Kim, and Hawkins are all out due to injury. In addition, de la Vega is still out with his knee issue, and Morris has yet to recover from his quadriceps injury suffered in the season opener. Minoungou was on the bench for the St. Louis match, so he will likely be available. Rothrock’s injury status is unknown, and he was not on the substitutes bench at Citypark last Sat. That’s a lot of attrition at key positions with four first-choice players out.

Vancouver have yet to lose at home with a record of 3-0-0 in all competitions, they are 5-0-0 overall. They have yet to concede a goal at BC Place this season. They are conceding an average of 0.11 goals/match. We can expect very few quality chances at goal, so we’d better make the most of them.

On Thursday night we’ll be facing Tristan Blackmon, the 2025 MLS Defender of the Year, Brian White who hit 25 goals in all competitions last season, Sebastian Berhalter who was recently selected to play for the Yanks, and Thomas Muller who, in addition to the nine goals he hit for the ‘Caps last season, won 13 Bundesliga championships, six German Cups with Bayern Munich, and won a World Cup with Germany. Sooooo, that’s a bit of a tall order for us just now with four of our five centre-halves injured.

The Side I Would Select

Big match against a Cascadia rival in the CONCACAF Champions Cup means we go hard. At least as hard as our injuries will permit us. Anyone who plays more than 60 minutes in this match should not be selected for the San Jose league fixture on Sunday. We canna risk any more injuries.

Rationale:

With Sailor, Kim, Gomez Andrade, and Hawkins out, Cody Baker is the likely replacement at right-centre-half. Nouhou can also play either centre-half position, but he is more valuable to us as a left-back, aiding in both attack and defence. Arriola for Rothrock makes all the sense, as it gives Paul a chance to fully mend his foot injury which, hopefully, sees him fully recovered and back in the team Sunday next at Coleman Avenue.

GK     Thomas

LB     Nouhou

LCH    Ragen

RCH    Baker

RB     Alex

LDM   Dotson

RDM   Cristian

LF     Arriola

CAM   Rusnak

RF     Ferreira

CF     De Rosario

The Side I Think The Gaffer Will Select

This lot seem a safe bet, based on the changes made after Gomez Andrade had to leave the match in St. Louis.

GK     Thomas

LB     Nouhou

LCH    Ragen

RCH    Baker

RB     Alex

LDM    Dotson

RDM    Cristian

LF     Rothrock

CAM   Rusnak

RF     Ferreira

CF     De Rosario

Intangibles

No idea who the Referee is gonna be. Supposedly, CONCACAF announces them just before a round starts, but it’s literally 25 hours before kick-off and no word. So much gatekeeping. So little info.

2026 season transfer fees paid for Vancouver: €4.25M

2026 season transfer fees paid for Sounders FC: €0

General notes on personnel

Vancouver transfers IN:

Djordjevic - reserves

Gherasimencov - reserves

Larraz (Colorado Rapids) free

Caicedo (Barcelona SC) €1.1M

Jackson (Jagiellonia Bialystok) loan

Sabaly (Metz) €1M

Vancouver transfers OUT:

Anchor (Seattle Sounders FC) free

Chateau (Galway United) free

O’Neill - released

Rios (Guadalajara) end of loan

Nelson (Austin FC) €1M

Ahmed (Norwich City) €2M

Pupe (Sint-Truidense) loan

Bovalina (Orebro) loan

Pierre (FC Tulsa) loan

Comparison against common opponents

Brommapojkarna 2:1 Vancouver pre-season

Brommapojkarna 0:3 Sounders FC         pre-season

VAN 1:0 RSL

RSL 2:1 SEA

Know Thine Enemy

The ‘Caps as they lined up in their 1:4 victory over Portland at Morrison Street on 7 March.

GOALKEEPER

Yohei Takaoka, 29

Japan

Notable Clubs: Yokohama FC (41/0), Sagan Tosu (40/0), Yokohama F. Marinos (71/0), Vancouver Whitecaps FC (103/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €3.5M

Notes: Developed by Yokohama FC. Won a J-League title with Yokohama F. Marinos. Named to J-League Best XI 2022. Won 3x Canadian Championships with Vancouver.

DEFENCE

Tate Johnson, 20

United States

Notable Clubs: Tampa Bay Rowdies (7/0), Vancouver Whitecaps FC (32/1)

Estimated Transfer Value: €1.5M

Notes: Developed by Indiana Fire Academy and Tampa Bay United. Played his university football for North Carolina (17/1). Won a Canadian Championship with Vancouver Whitecaps FC.

Tristan Blackmon, 29

United States

Notable Clubs: Los Angeles FC (64/2), Vancouver Whitecaps FC (111/6)

Estimated Transfer Value: €3.5M

Notes: Played his university football for Pacific (70/16). Won a league championship with LAFC. Won 4x Canadian Championships with Vancouver Whitecaps FC. Named to MLS Best XI 2025. Named MLS Defender of the Year 2025.

Edier Ocampo, 22

Colombia

Notable Clubs: Atletico Nacional (44/3), Fortaleza CEIF (17/0), Vancouver Whitecaps FC (39/2)

Estimated Transfer Value: €3M

Notes: Full name: Edier Ocampo Vidal. Developed by Sur Oriente and Atletico Nacional. Won a Colombian Cup and Colombian Super Cup with Atletico Nacional. Has played for Colombia at youth levels (25/0).

Ralph Priso-Mbongue, 23

Canada

Notable Clubs: Toronto FC (25/2), Colorado Rapids (32/0), Vancouver Whitecaps FC (45/0)

Estimated Transfer Value: €800,000

Notes: Developed by Clairlea-Westview SC, North Toronto Nitros, and Toronto FC. Won a Canadian Championship with Toronto FC. Won 2x Canadian Championship with Vancouver Whitecaps FC. Played for Canada (10/0) at youth levels.

MIDFIELD

Andres Cubas, 29

Paraguay (32/0)

Notable Clubs: Boca Juniors (28/0), Defensa y Justicia (21/0), Tallares (38/1), Nimes (48/2), Vancouver Whitecaps FC (99/1)

Estimated Transfer Value: €4M

Notes: Full name: Adrian Andres Cubas. Developed by Boca Juniors. Won a league title and a Copa Argentina with Boca Juniors. Won 4x Canadian Championships with Vancouver Whitecaps FC.

Sebastian Berhalter, 24

United States (9/1)

Notable Clubs: Columbus Crew SC (9/0), Austin FC (18/0), Vancouver Whitecaps FC (109/9)

Estimated Transfer Value: €5M

Notes: Developed by Hammarby IF and Columbus Crew SC. Played his university football for North Carolina (16/0). Won an MLS Cup with Columbus Crew SC. Won 4x Canadian championships with Vancouver Whitecaps FC. Named to MLS Best XI 2025.

Thomas Muller, 36

Germany (131/45)

Notable Clubs: Bayern Munich (503/150), Vancouver Whitecaps FC (10/9)

Estimated Transfer Value: €5M

Notes: Developed by TSV Pahl and Bayern Munich. 13x Bundesliga champion with Bayern Munich. 6x German Cup champion. 8x German Supercup champion. 2x UEFA Champions League. 2x UEFA Super Cup. 2x FIFA Club World Cup. Won a Canadian championship with Vancouver Whitecaps FC. Won a FIFA World Cup with Germany. The rather extensive list of Muller’s individual honours can be viewed here.

FORWARD

Aziel Jackson, 24

United States (1/0)

Notable Clubs: North Carolina FC (12/1), St. Louis City SC (41/1), Columbus Crew (27/4), Jagiellonia Bialystok (6/0), Vancouver Whitecaps FC (3/1)

Estimated Transfer Value: €1.5M

Notes: Developed by New York RB, Toulouse, and Crossfire FC. Named to MLS Next Pro Best XI 2022. Won a Leagues Cup with Columbus Crew SC.

Brian White, 30

United States (8/1)

Notable Clubs: New York RB (47/15), Vancouver Whitecaps FC (139/65)

Estimated Transfer Value: €5M

Notes: Developed by PDA. Played his university football for Duke (73/23). Won MLS League Championship in 2018 with New York RB. Won 4x Canadian Championships with Vancouver Whitecaps FC.

Jeevan Badwal, 20

Canada

Notable Clubs: Vancouver Whitecaps FC (28/1)

Estimated Transfer Value: €600,000

Notes: Developed by Surrey FC, Pacific United FC, Coastal FC, Supra Academy, B.E.S.T. Academy, and Vancouver Whitecaps FC. Has played for Canada (16/0) at youth levels.

Familiar Faces

Vancouver midfielder Aziel Jackson played for Crossfire FC. He also trained with the Sounders in 2020.

Squads

Vancouver from:

Takaoka, Boehmer, Zendejas, Laborda, Blackmon, Johnson, Gherasimencov, Djordjevic, Priso, Ngando, Berhalter, Larraz, Badwal, Jackson, MacKenzie, Sabaly, Cabrera, Caicedo, Sabbi, Muller, White, Elloumi.

Notes: Although Caicedo and Sabaly missed the Portland match but were not injured, I have included them in the squad, as it’s possible they have returned to the club within the last four days.

Sounders FC from:

Frei, Thomas, Anchor, Baker, Kossa-Rienzi, Nouhou, Ragen, Alex, Brunell, Cristian, Dotson, Petkovic, Rusnak, Arriola, De Rosario, Ferreira, Minoungou, Musovski, Rothrock, Tsukanome.

Notes: Not sure whether Antino Lopez is available with the senior team for this match. Rothrock and Minoungou were last known to be injured pending late fitness tests. Rothrock was not on the substitutes bench for the St. Louis match on 7 March, but Minoungou was. Gomez Andrade has likely been ruled out with a hamstring issue.

Injury List

(best guess for Vancouver, best guess for Sounders + additional info available from a recent press conference)

Vancouver -

OUT: Adekugbe (Achilles), Gauld (knee), Halbouni (knee), Schonlau (calf), Veselinovic (knee).

MATCHDAY DECISION: none.

Sounders FC -

OUT: Gomez Andrade (hamstring), de la Vega (knee), Hawkins (quadriceps), Sailor (knee), Morris (quadriceps), Kim (calf).

MATCHDAY DECISION: Minoungou (foot), Rothrock (foot).

Discipline

(as listed on mlssoccer.com at press time)

Vancouver: Ocampo and Cubas are suspended this match due to accumulated bookings.

Sounders FC: First match in the tournament, so no disciplinary record, no players suspended.

Fun Fact

The last time we played Vancouver in this tournament was the better part of 11 years ago on 23 September 2015. The final result was Sounders FC 3:0 Vancouver at Royal Brougham Park.