By Canadian Press

Balance key as Whitecaps host Saprissa in CONCACAF Champions Cup play: coach

Feb 26, 2025 | 4:56 PM

VANCOUVER — The Vancouver Whitecaps are looking to strike a fine balance when they host Deportivo Saprissa on Thursday.

Last week, the ‘Caps suffered a rough last-minute 2-1 loss to the Costa Rican side in the first half of their two-game aggregate CONCACAF Champions Cup matchup.

“We know we have to win,” Vancouver head coach Jesper Sorensen said of Thursday’s rematch. “That’s actually pretty easy. We have to win the game first and foremost.”

Away goals factor into the tournament, so in order to advance and face LIGA MX club CF Monterrey in the next round, Vancouver needs a victory Thursday with either a clean sheet or by two or more goals.

Achieving that outcome is all about balance, Sorensen said.

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“You want to attack as much as possible, but you don’t want to be too vulnerable all the time. And that was the same thing going into the first game,” he said.

“We will not go out and just open ourselves up completely and be too vulnerable for counter attacks and stuff like that, but we will also come out aggressively and not wait for anything.”

The Whitecaps know defeating the three-time champions of the tournament won’t be easy, said striker Brian White.

“They have experienced players, they have savvy players, so they’ll be doing everything they can to slow the game down and use their one-goal advantage to manipulate the game in whatever way they see fit,” he said. “But I think it’s up to us to get on the ball, play our game, be attacking, and give ourselves the opportunity to score.”

Vancouver was first on the board in Costa Rica, with captain Ryan Gauld slotting home a shot in the 21st minute.

Saprissa replied with a goal in the 51st, then put away the game-winning strike five minutes into injury time.

“It wasn’t easy walking out of the pitch with the loss, but that’s how football is sometimes,” Sorensen said of the game, his first as head coach of the ‘Caps. “And I saw a team that gave everything on the pitch. It was a difficult first match.”

After the game in Costa Rica, the Whitecaps faced a challenging travel day to Portland, Ore., where they took on their regional rivals, the Timbers, to kick off the Major League Soccer season on Sunday.

With little rest and nearly 14 hours in transit, Vancouver thumped Portland 4-1, thanks in part to a goal and three assists from newcomer Jayden Nelson.

The ‘Caps acquired the 22-year-old Canadian midfielder — a product of the Toronto FC academy — from Norwegian club Rosenberg in January.

Sunday’s performance showed Nelson’s fitting in well with the club and will give him confidence, Sorensen said. But the young athlete also needs to know he won’t put up four points every game.

“I will, of course, just tell them that this is maybe a measuring stick. This is what you can hope for doing sometimes, but not always. This is not the benchmark,” the coach said.

“The benchmark would be playing solid performance and helping the team, having good individual actions sometimes. And then maybe have less spectacular actions. You cannot expect to have that spectacular actions every time. But in every day work, just keep on pushing yourself and your talent to go forward.”

The Whitecaps return to MLS play on Sunday when they host the L.A. Galaxy in their first home game of the campaign.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 26, 2025.

Gemma Karstens-Smith, The Canadian Press