Whitecaps FC Becomes First Canadian Team in MLS Playoffs

They had to get in via the back door, but what’s done is done. On Sunday, the Vancouver Whitecaps — courtesy of their rivals the Seattle Sounders — became the first club from Canada to qualify for Major League Soccer’s postseason parade since the league was founded in 1993. The way it occurred, however, made it feel somewhat less than historic.

The ‘Caps had an opportunity to control their own destiny and earn their way into the playoffs by either defeating or drawing against the Portland Timbers at BC Place. Instead, the sellout crowd of 21,000 witnessed the lone goal coming from the visitors on a superb shot by Jack Jewsbury in the 39th minute and the hosts couldn’t come up with an answer, falling 1-0 in an uninspiring effort.

“That’s frustrating because you feel the team is just about where you want it to be, and you put together a performance like that,” lamented Vancouver head coach Martin Rennie. “We let a lot of people down today.”

Losing to the Timbers was especially ignominious: Portland hadn’t won a game on the road all season. Not only that, this was the final of the Cascadia Cup, awarded to the top team in the Pacific Northwest.

But the biggest prize remained to be taken. As it turned out, the ‘Caps had nothing to worry about: the Sounders came to their rescue by beating FC Dallas in Seattle 3-1 Sunday night.

Now the Whitecaps take on an even more onerous task, that of facing the defending MLS Cup champion L.A. Galaxy on Nov. 1 in the knockout round at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California — where they’ve never scored. They’re going to need all the help they can get, because they’ve never beaten the Galaxy — and they probably won’t this time, either.

“Vancouver is backing into the playoffs, so I don’t give them much (of a) chance,” said ESPN soccer analyst Alexi Lalas after the conclusion of the Seattle-Dallas game.

That’s entirely understandable. The Whitecaps have won once in their last nine games, and haven’t won on the road since the Fourth of July. They appear to have no direction on the pitch, few consistent efforts, and little goal-scoring. If a 4-0 home win against Chivas USA on Oct. 3 is disregarded, Vancouver has scored only three times in those eight games.

Expecting a positive result out of the single-game knockout against a side as strong as Los Angeles — which features the likes of Landon Donovan, Robbie Keane and some guy named Beckham — is going to take a miracle.