It was Saturday March 19, 2011 when a dream finally came true. I came to Vancouver 8 and a half years ago, and I loved the city since the very beginning. Its people, its multicultural background, its organization, its weather, and the passion for sports as hockey, Canadian football, basketball and so on. But I could feel that the city was missing something, and that was a real Football (Soccer) League. But before talking about last Saturday, let's talk first about some memories.
Some Memories:
I am a big soccer fan, I am a "frustrated" soccer player, coach, manager, so on..... Anyway, I used to go to every single game that my team, the now powerful Liga de Quito, played in my home city, and that was every weekend. Other than my family and friends, soccer and Liga were the things that made me homesick.
Over the years, I had the opportunity to experience professional matches between Guatemala and Canada (Qualification to Germany 2006) that I got invited by a good friend. Great game with a lot of fun. Also, I went to the U-20 match between Spain and Brazil during the 2007 U-20 World Cup, which it was the best game ever in this province. Spain beat Brazil 4-2. Both games were really exciting, but these happened once and then Football was gone again. I wanted more, I wanted to see a real Soccer League and enjoy more of my favourite sport live.
The MLS History
MLS was the answer to my dreams, in 2009 the Whitecaps got the MLS franchise, so in 2011 the dream was coming here. But when the MLS started? After the successful organization of the 1994 World Cup USA. Before that tournament, American soccer executives had the idea to create a similar thing to the disappeared NASLA. After a couple of years of planning, the MLS had its first season in 1996. Players like Marco Antonio Etcheverry (Bolivia), Carlos Valderrama (Colombia), Eduardo Hurtado (Ecuador) and more, were taking part of the event and the fans started to enjoy great games. DC United was the first champion after beating LA Galaxy in the final. The DC team enjoyed victory three more times in 1997, 1999, and 2004. They are the most winners in 15 years of MLS history. Later, more teams had its turn to raise the MLS cup. Chicago Fire (1998), Kansas City Wizards (2000), San Jose Earthquakes (2001, 2003), LA Galaxy (2002, 2005), Houston Dynamo (2006, 2007), Columbus Crew (2008), Real Salt Lake (2009), and Colorado Rapids (2010). As we can notice, just 9 teams have been able to sing "We are the Champions" in 15 years of great seasons.
At this current moment, 16 American teams and 2 Canadian teams take part of the competition. Toronto FC was the 1st Canadian team to join, and yes Vancouver Whitecaps FC are the 2nd. Coincidentally, the 1st game for the Whitecaps was against the "experienced" Ontario team.
Last Saturday March 19th, A day to remember
But, enough of history, let's talk about last Saturday. The missing thing that Vancouver needed finally arrived on March 19th. MLS arrived here to stay, and we welcomed this dream with a great victory in an unforgettable game! Eric Hassli twice, Terry Dunfiled and Atiba Harris made us yell GOAL 4 times! Whitecaps won 4-2 over Toronto FC. The atmosphere was amazing, rivers of people filled the Empire Field, and our Football Drum Band "La Doce" was part of that huge crew of soccer fans.
Six goals for a first game were more than my expectations. The debutants beat the experienced team (It is the 5th season for Toronto FC), but for many moments of this game, the Whitecaps seemed to be the experienced ones. Simply, the performance was excellent and it looks promising for future games. Will the Whitecaps be the Champions? I don't know. The only thing I can say is that let's be motivated and keep supporting our team. Of course, we have season passes, but my message is for the rest of the fans. This victory was a great start, but let's keep it real and keep our feet on the ground. Game by game, and step by step, we can achieve our dreams. I think the next dream to come true is to see the Whitecaps being Champions, well let's keep supporting and cheering in order to make that dream come true.
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