The Whitecaps returned to training at Thunderbird Stadium on Tuesday. They trained in the rain, and they trained in the snow, because that's what Rose City Invitational champions are made of.
The trophy, oh yes, when you win a tournament, you are given a trophy. Except in this instance, it was a very special trophy. This one is of the invisible variety. At least that's what assistant coach Gordon Forrest opined.
He suggested that the Timbers might be planning on waiting until the host wins it before they start handing out trophies. Portland finished second in 2012, fourth in 2013, and third this time around.
Peter Schaad of the Team 1040 and our own Christopher Vose braved the weather to watch the action. They were joined halfway through by the Province's Marc Weber, who had enough sense to bring an umbrella.
But why would these men go out in the midday rain? Because Vancouver had added some new players, naturally!
Paolo Tornaghi and Matías Laba had joined the club while they were in the Rose City, and so this was our first opportunity to see the Italian goalkeeper and the Argentine holding midfielder.
And while Laba continued his impressive form from the Invitational, Tornaghi was left with little to do. While we were watching him, the defenders either cleared the ball of danger, or harassed the attackers into mistakes.
We hope that Andrew Lichtenfels, the Caps assistant equipment manager, isn't still there, waiting for those balls to come down. Click here to open our fullscreen slideshow.
