During his time with Millonarios FC in Colombia’s premier soccer division, Cristian Arango never traveled more than two hours for an away match.
Three weeks into Arango’s Major League Soccer venture, the 26-year-old Los Angeles Football Club striker has already experienced the quirkiness of the league’s sprawl across the U.S. and Canada.
Arango and his teammates flew nine hours to and from Atlanta last weekend. And as the club struggles to end a six-match winless rut they will make a six-hour round trip to Vancouver.
Saturday’s match against the Whitecaps at BC place comes with the extra challenge of back-to-back games on artificial turf.
“The turf does impact the players where it gives a lot of strain on their knees,” Arango said, “however two teams are playing on the pitch so it’s the same for both.”
Despite its artificial home field at BC Place, the Whitecaps have actually not played a game off grass in the last two and a half months.
Saturday’s matchup versus LAFC marks the first true home game for the Whitecaps this season.
In late July, the Public Health Agency of Canada and the Minister of Immigration approved an exemption that outlines health and safety protocols addressing the pandemic that cleared the way for MLS players to participate in cross-border matches.
Throughout the first 19 weeks of its season, the Whitecaps settled in as guests at Utah’s Rio Tinto Stadium. Led by former LAFC assistant Marc Dos Santos, Vancouver has not lost in seven straight matches dating back to July 7, when they fell 4-0 to Rio Tinto’s actual occupants, Real Salt Lake.
The impact of playing soccer on a surface other than natural grass has been debated and discussed, so whenever the topic is mentioned, LAFC manager Bob Bradley likes to joke that the people asking are only trying to get him in trouble.
“It’s not something I speak about on a day when a result doesn’t go our way or anything like that,” said Bradley, whose distaste for artificial fields is well known. “That’s just not where I’m coming from. The game is not the same on turf.
“I know for sure that if you ask all the players in the league I know what they would say if they were open. Yes, it’s a little different but it’s a part of it.”
Opinions about field conditions notwithstanding, results after 90 minutes continue to stand and points are tallied.
With its 1-0 loss to Atlanta United FC, LAFC’s first three-match losing streak has pushed the team outside the Western Conference playoff picture.
Discounting an own-goal by San Jose two weeks ago, Bradley’s group has scored once over its previous 270 minutes.
In California, as in Colombia, or British Columbia, Arango believes “that goals equal confidence” and if LAFC can find a way to get a few across the line the dam will break.
Even when LAFC (6-8-5, 23 points) operated like a goal-scoring machine, it averaged a goal a game the three times it traveled to face Vancouver (4-7-8, 20 points).
Improved play, including a win in Austin last Wednesday, has the 11th-place Whitecaps within striking distance of the Black & Gold, whom they tied 2-2 at Banc of California Stadium last month.
LAFC at VANCOUVER WHITECAPS FC
Kickoff: 7 p.m. PT; BC Place
TV: My13 KCOP; Estrella TV (Spanish)
Radio: 1110 AM; ESPN App; 1220 AM (Spanish)
LAFC gets ready for Vancouver’s first home match this season - LA Daily News
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