LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – Vancouver Whitecaps FC will play their penultimate preseason match on Wednesday, facing the reserves of Liga MX side Club Tijuana in a closed-door scrimmage at Dignity Health Sports Park. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. PT – follow Whitecaps FC on Twitter for live updates and stay tuned for post-match coverage.
The ‘Caps are coming off a scoreless draw with LA Galaxy on Saturday in their latest preseason affair. It was the first match in which certain players were given 90 minutes, with goalkeeper Maxime Crepeau, centre back Derek Cornelius, left back Victor “PC” Giro, and midfielder Jon Erice going the distance.
“It was important for us to start stretching some guys,” Whitecaps FC head coach Marc Dos Santos said after the match. “Now we have to be a little bit careful how we manage the Wednesday game against Tijuana, to then stretch again against LAFC.”
One player who did not play the full match on Saturday was Lass Bangoura. The 26-year-old Guinean international was forced off around the half-hour mark with a facial laceration, but was back on the training pitch with the team this week.
Also of note, newcomer Lucas Venuto was given his first minutes of the preseason on the weekend, coming on as a late substitute after joining the team last week in Vancouver.
“He showed us what he’s going to be about,” Dos Santos said. “He’s explosive, he tries to take guys on all the time. He’s still far from a physical point of view because his transition from his club towards us was not easy, so he stopped for about 15 days. Now he just has to catch up again. But the 15 minutes he was in, he showed some good things.”
The ‘Caps conclude their preseason schedule on Saturday against LAFC, before opening the 2019 MLS regular season against Minnesota United FC on March 2 at BC Place. Visit whitecapsfc.com/tickets for ticket information.
