The Whitecaps returned to Thunderbird Stadium for training on Friday. Since it was the first of two sessions that day, and knowing that the club would be heading to Victoria after another session on Saturday, the coaching staff decided to take it easy on their players.
They made them do the bleep test. For those unaware, it can be a gruelling experience. In essence, players must run laps between two sets of lines in a predetermined amount of time that gets progressively shorter.
In these tests, it’s usually a foregone conclusion that Russell Teibert will emerge victorious, and today was no different. Even so, the players take this kind of event seriously.
Some were jockeying for position, others expended their energy in a strategic manner, and yet more expressed a, shall we say certain dissatisfaction, when the officiating didn’t go their way.
It’s the kind of passion we love to see.
Sebastián Fernández, Vancouver’s number seven, and Nicolás Mezquida, 29, acquitted themselves well. St. Lucian midfielder Caniggia Elva was a new face, while Kenny Miller and Mackenzie Pridham worked on the side lines under the supervision of Graeme Poole. Gershon Koffie seemed limited to laps around the field. Click here to open our fullscreen slideshow.
