VANCOUVER — The Vancouver Whitecaps answered the challenge.
Whitecaps coach Carl Robinson told his players they had to be better after losing 2-0 to Sporting Kansas City in a Major League Soccer match Saturday night.
Robinson shuffled his lineup and was pleased with the result after midfielder Cristian Techera scored two goals to lead the Whitecaps to a 3-0 victory over Kansas City in CONCACAF Champions League play Tuesday night.
"We got outfought on Saturday," said Robinson. "We didn’t get outfought today.
"We haven’t been doing well enough. I challenged them after Saturday’s game to have a go. We certainly had a go today."
Techera opened the scoring early, then put the game away in the 64th minute. Erik Hurtado also scored for the Whitecaps, who led 2-0 with the game just 12 minutes old.
Midfielder Russell Teibert, who helped set up the second goal, said the Whitecaps played with a confidence they haven’t shown in several games.
"I think you can say it has been an issue on the field recently," said Teibert. "We weren’t playing with the same swagger as we did tonight.
"You can tell we played like men tonight. We stood up. We are a tough team to beat when you have that confident, winning swagger. We are a dangerous team."
The victory, before a crowd of 16,383 at BC Place Stadium, doesn’t count in the MLS standings but could be a starting point for a Whitecaps team that is battling for its layoff life.
Vancouver — which has lost four straight MLS matches and managed just one win in its last nine games — currently sits eighth in the Western Conference, two points out of the sixth and final playoff spot.
Goalkeeper Paolo Tornaghi, who earned the clean sheet, said the Whitecaps need to build on the win. Vancouver plays the L.A. Galaxy Saturday on the road.
"There is not time to step back," said Tornaghi. "There is just time to get better."
Techera scored in the eighth minute after Hurtado lobbed a ball from the side of the net. Kansas City goalkeeper Jon Kempin jumped into the air and tried to punch the ball away, but Techera managed to head it into the net.
Hurtado scored just four minutes later. Teibert forwarded a long ball over the Kansas City defence. Hurtado beat Kempin to the loose ball, then chipped it over him into the open net.
Techera made it 3-0 after midfielder Matias Laba sent him through with a pretty pass. Techera outraced a defender and put a low, hard shot past Kempin.
Techera scored the lone goal in the Whitecaps’ 1-0 win over Central FC of Trinidad and Tobago earlier this month in their first Champions League match. The 24-year-old native of Paysandu, Uruguay, has scored just twice in 24 MLS game this season.
"Young players go through confidence spurts," said Robinson. "Unfortunately a number of players were going through that at the same time.
"Hopefully (he) can do that on a more regular basis."
Kansas City coach Peter Vermes said his team dug itself an early hole.
"They scored two good goals, caught us on mistakes," said Vermes. "From that point on they were the better team.
"They were more aggressive, they were better in the one-on-one duels. They were the better competitors."
The Whitecaps made nine changes to their starting lineup from the team that lost in Kansas City. Sporting Kansas played an entirely starting different lineup.
Vancouver (2-0-0) leads the Champions League Group C standings with six points. Sporting Kansas City (0-1-1) and Central FC (0-1-1) are tied with one point each.
The CONCACAF Champions League is a 24-team competition between the top clubs from North America, Central America, and the Caribbean. Vancouver gained a berth in the tournament by winning last year’s Amway Canadian Championship.
The teams play each other once at home and away. The group winner advances to the knockout stage, starting early next year.
The tournament winner qualifies for the annual FIFA Club World Cup, where they compete against the top teams from Asia, Africa, South America, Oceana, and Europe.
NOTES: Defender Brett Levis, one of the Vancouver starters, became the first player from the University of Saskatchewan to sign a MLS contract when he signed a multi-year deal with the Whitecaps Tuesday. … The two teams meet again in Champions League play Sept. 13 in Kansas City … Vancouver’s next Champions League home game is Sept. 28 against Central FC.
