There are no shortage of discussion points as Pacific FC and expansion Vancouver FC inaugurate the sa国际传媒 derby to start the 2023 Canadian Premier League soccer season today at 4 p.m. at Starlight Stadium.
“Derby games are special. The fans really get into them. You see it when Forge FC [of Hamilton, Ont.] plays York United [of the Greater Toronto Area] and when Cavalry FC used to play [now defunct] Edmonton,” said PFC mid-fielder Manny Aparicio.
The opener was nearing sell-out status by Friday.
“This is a very exciting moment, not only for Canadian football, but Vancouver FC,” said the club’s first-ever head coach Afshin Ghotbi, who has coached in eight countries, and been on the coaching staff at three World Cups with the U.S. in 1998 and South Korea in 2002 and 2006.
“Derbies create history and fan bases,” added Ghotbi, head coach of the Iranian national team from 2009 to 2011.
“PFC has been one of the founding fathers in building the CPL over five years and has set a standard and raised the bar by winning a championship [2021]. We are the new kids on the block and have built this team from the ground up, one player at a time. How we react to a full stadium will be intriguing to me. Not allowing the nerves to get the best of them will be the biggest thing for our young players. We have the youngest team in the league with a lots of first-time professionals. But once the whistle blows, none of that matters. We will represent our club well.”
This will be a homecoming for VFC players and former three-season PFC stalwarts, goalkeeper Callum Irving and defender Kadin Chung, both members of the 2021 CPL championship Tridents. Irving returns to Starlight Stadium as captain of VFC and Chung after a season in MLS with Toronto FC.
“You can feel the history of this moment, for me, and for this region and province,” said Irving.
“That pride really does wonders in building passion for soccer in two cities. I spent three really good years with PFC and left on a good note. My main focus is on winning the game. Maybe after the game I will relax a bit and look around the stadium.”
About playing for an expansion club, Irving said: “We want to be competitive from Day 1. Three points is the goal every game. If that is your attitude, you have a chance to surprise anybody.”
Pacific FC, meanwhile, says it will not change the approach that has carried it through some success the last three of its previous four seasons.
“We are going to be a high-energy team again that is good on the counter,” said Aparicio, the darting midfielder who is the straw that stirs the Tridents attack.
“That high-pressure intensity is instilled in us and is a part of our identity as a club.”
PFC winger Kekuta Manneh is new to the Tridents and the CPL but not to soccer in sa国际传媒 with 123 of his career 171 MLS games played for the Vancouver Whitecaps.
“This is like a homecoming for me, too, and is going to be great fun,” said the 28-year-old, who seems to be fitting in well on this side of the strait.
“PFC is a good, tight group. The banter on the pitch during training is amazing. They welcome you in and it feels like I’ve been here a long time. I have been surprised at the talent on the ball and the physicality of play.”
Manneh will head a potentially potent PFC striking corps that includes proven CPL goal-scorers Josh Heard and Easton Ongaro.
“This team is going to be explosive. Everyone is a runner here. This is the best place for me to get back to where I was,” said Manneh, former U-20 selection in his native The Gambia, and who received a call-up to the U.S. national team in 2018 after becoming an American citizen.
The aim is to get back to MLS, which lifts all boats, including that of the Tridents.
“If you don’t have success as a team, you will not stand out as an individual,” said Manneh.
Moving players up has to be the basic ethic of the CPL and was the reason for its creation in 2019.
“We’ve had five players called up to the [Canadian] national team, and moved several other players to other pro levels, and as our league expands our pipeline to the national team and other pro levels will expand,” said CPL commissioner Mark Noonan.
“We’re a league of opportunity for players who have never had that opportunity before.”
