The FIFA Club World Cup will come to a close this weekend when Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain clash in the final. The month-long competition has seen some of the world's biggest clubs battling across the United States, perhaps a small taste of what's to come a year from now when the men's World Cup takes place across Canada, the U.S. and Mexico.
Although there was no Canadian team taking part in this year's Club World Cup, a few Canadian connections could still be found in the tournament. Men's national team star Stephen Eustáquio, of course, played in it for Porto. A pair of former Canadian Premier League standouts, Myer Bevan and Osaze De Rosario, played for Auckland City and Seattle Sounders, respectively.
What most fans don't know, however, is that Vancouver Football Club played their part as well. In mid-June, when teams were arriving from around the world to set up camp and prepare for the tournament, Vancouver FC headed south of the border to Portland, Oregon, to take on three-time AFC Champions League winners Urawa Red Diamonds.
The giants of Japanese football were stationed in the Pacific Northwest ahead of their Group E campaign, where they would take on Inter Milan, River Plate and CF Monterrey. Although they didn't make it out of their group, Urawa impressed, especially against Inter — in a match that Urawa led for 67 minutes and ultimately lost in the 92nd.
For Vancouver FC coach Afshin Ghotbi, the opportunity for his team to spar with such a strong side offered major value to his young players.
"I'm always a big believer that we're a product of our experiences," he told CanPL.ca. "If we can provide the highest level of competition for our players, regardless of the outcome of the result, our players are going to grow, they're going to develop."
It was Ghotbi's extensive connections in the football world that led to this friendly. The Vancouver coach has previously worked in Japan, taking charge of Shimizu S-Pulse from 2011 to 2014, and he now knows several of the staff at Urawa.
Over the past couple of years, Ghotbi has been in contact with Urawa, at one point coming close to signing one of their veteran players. So, when the club was coming to North America, Ghotbi was sure to reach out.
At first, Vancouver and Urawa briefly discussed trying to bring the Japanese side north of the border to play a friendly in B.C., but visa issues made that impossible. So, VFC's squad loaded onto a bus and made the six-hour journey to Oregon, where they were greeted with top-notch facilities and an immaculate grass pitch at the University of Portland.
Although the two clubs have agreed to keep the exact result of the friendly match — which featured a full 90-minute game plus an extra 30-minute period — private, Ghotbi was positive about his side's performance against the high level of opposition.
"We pressed them very high, we put them under pressure with three speedy players. We played up top with TJ Tahid, Terran Campbell and Henri Godbout, and those three did an amazing job," Ghotbi said.
"Then we made a very tight block in midfield, and the backline stepped up, so they faced a team that pressed them. There were moments that were so good where we had to drop lower, and we played a low block or mid block; they faced a team that gave them complete different looks."
The VFC boss also mentioned that Vasco Fry's set-piece delivery caused repeated problems for the Urawa defence, and that the game was close enough to bring a high level of effort out of the Japanese side. Urawa, who were using the match as preparation for the Club World Cup, certainly got the competitive workout they were looking for.
For Ghotbi, building relationships like this between CPL teams and other clubs around the world is crucial to growing and developing the sport here in Canada. His staff and players got a first-hand look at how a J-League team operates: their level of organization and attention to detail off the pitch, their passion for the club and the sport, and the technical ability of the Japanese players.
The growth of Japan's domestic league offers some parallels to the game in Canada. It was founded in 1992, 10 years before the country co-hosted a World Cup with South Korea (a tournament where Ghotbi himself was an assistant coach for the semi-finalist Korean side). Now, the league has exploded in popularity, and the Japanese national team is extremely competitive.
"Having these kinds of exchanges, having our players play against teams from different parts of the world with different tactical priorities and different qualities, you only enhance the game in Canada and our players will develop much faster," said Ghotbi.
Not long after that game, Vancouver thrived under pressure and knocked the reigning CPL champions Cavalry out of the Canadian Championship on penalties. Perhaps their experience against such quality opposition is working wonders already, as VFC head into the second half of the CPL season.
Vancouver FC's next home match is Sunday, July 13th against Cavalry FC. Get tickets here.
