VANCOUVER, BC – Understatement alert: it’s been a busy few days in Major League Soccer. With that in mind, here’s a quick roundup of what’s been happening around the league and here in Vancouver.
-
LA Galaxy won their fifth MLS Cup championship on Sunday, defeating New England Revolution 2-1 in extra time. Striker Robbie Keane, who scored the game-winning goal, was named MVP.
- As a result of LA Galaxy’s MLS Cup win, Real Salt Lake become Major League Soccer’s final entrant in the 2015-16 CONCACAF Champions League. The five teams are listed below:
1. LA Galaxy (MLS Cup champion)
2. Seattle Sounders FC (U.S. Open Cup champion)
3. D.C. United (top team in the conference opposite of the Supporters’ Shield winners)
4. Real Salt Lake (highest-ranked team in MLS regular season standings not already qualified)
5. Vancouver Whitecaps FC (top-ranked Canadian MLS team in 2014)
Whitecaps FC will be placed in the same group as LA Galaxy, Seattle Sounders FC, or one of the two Mexican champions (in addition one more team from Central America or the Caribbean). Click here to learn more about the CONCACAF Champions League.
MLS and adidas unveiled the official 2015 matchball on Monday, dubbed NATIVO. Among its other features, the ball has a Canadian Maple Leaf displayed on it. See below for the ball’s launch video, which includes comments from Whitecaps FC midfielder
Russell Teibert
, and
click here
to learn more.
1. The club orchestrated a trade and transfer of Omar Salgado with MLS expansion side New York City FC. In a nutshell, the ‘Caps traded Salgado to NYCFC, who will then transfer him to an international club yet to be named for a shared transfer fee with Whitecaps FC. So why didn’t Whitecaps FC just transfer Salgado to the international club themselves? Because there’s a rule in place during expansion years that prevents non-expansion clubs from making any transfers after the September Roster Freeze and before the Expansion Draft.
2. Whitecaps FC announced that they have finalized the future considerations trade with Toronto FC from last February to keep Matias Laba in Vancouver.
3. The club also announced that they’ve exercised the 2015 contract options on nine players and declined five. Robinson noted, however, that “there are a number of players that we’ve declined options on that we want to try and bring back.” On the other hand, he said Sebastian Fernandez will not be returning.
4. Another announcement that was made on Monday was the re-signing of Canadian striker Caleb Clarke, who scored eight goals in 26 matches last year on loan with German Bundesliga club FC Augsburg II. The Richmond, B.C. native joined Whitecaps FC Residency in 2009, making him the second longest tenured player at the club.
-
Finally, MLS released the Expansion Draft protected lists for all clubs on Monday. See below for the full breakdown of Vancouver’s protected and eligible players and click here to learn more. The Expansion Draft will take place on Wednesday at 11 a.m. PT (stay tuned to MLSsoccer.com for live coverage).
PROTECTED EXEMPT AVAILABLE Steven Beitashour (DF)
Jordan Harvey (DF)
Erik Hurtado (FW)
Gershon Koffie (MF)
Matias Laba (MF)
Johnny Leveron (DF)
Kekuta Manneh (FW)
Darren Mattocks (FW)
Pedro Morales (MF)
David Ousted (GK)
Kendall Waston (DF)Sam Adekugbe (DF)
Marco Bustos (MF)
Marco Carducci (GK)
Caleb Clarke (FW)
Christian Dean (DF)
Kianz Froese (MF)
Ethen Sampson (DF)
Russell Teibert (MF)Mehdi Ballouchy (MF)
Mamadou Diouf (FW)
Sebastian Fernandez (MF/FW)
Andre Lewis (MF)
Nicolas Mezquida (MF)
Carlyle Mitchell (DF)
Andy O’Brien (DF)
Mauro Rosales (MF)
Paolo Tornaghi (GK)
Participate in the best sporting experience in Vancouver! 2015 Whitecaps FC Season Tickets are on sale now. In addition to Season Tickets, Whitecaps FC offer a flexible range of ticket products, including Half-Season Packs, 5-Packs, Student Half-Season Tickets, and a Youth Soccer Half-Season Ticket. For more information on 2015 Season Tickets, visit whitecapsfc.com/tickets.
