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Vancouver Whitecaps vs. Manchester City: Your Running Commentary

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After the Vancouver Whitecaps' league game against Real Salt Lake was postponed over the weekend due to unplayable field conditions, the playing surface at Empire Field has been inspected and given the green light, so the World Football Challenge continues north of the border as the Whitecaps host Manchester City (10 p.m., ESPN2/ESPN3.com).

While the Carlos Tevez transfer news swirls, City gets set for its second of three friendlies in North America. The Premier League side topped Mexico's Club America in San Francisco on Saturday night and will look to spoil newly signed Designated Player Mustapha Jarju's Vancouver debut when it takes on the MLS team tonight.

If you will be watching the game, please feel free to share any thoughts, opinions and some play-by-play in the comments section below. Enjoy the action.

Comments

  1. do they govern matches played in Gilette Stadium and New Giants Stadium? You know, the places where Spain and Argentina came to play recently.

    I am sure they will get over it, but it makes us look really bad when these teams come over and play on poor and dangerous fields

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  2. Stop playing soccer games in stupid NFL stadiums. These stadiums are for artificial, turf loving clowns. What a huge blow to the game. Real soccer stadiums on real grass is the logical, wise thing to do.

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  3. Agree with you on that. I know he took some racial shyte when he was back in Italy which didn’t help with his attitude. However the farther away from that he gets we now see his real personality.

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  4. the ability to pass in the wrong direction improves with age.

    Actually PBP looked very good in this game. some nifty touches.

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  5. Balotelli is the type of guy I hope fails, not in life, just on the field. The guy’s a jerk. makes 2 really awful tackles considering the type of game, and then get’s pissed at the audacity that someone on Vancouver would get back at em for it. Good for Rob Stone to take him to task at least a little for it.

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  6. Vancouver played some decent football. They were only outclassed with the subs came in and Man City had the likes of SWP, Balotelli etc in…

    The pitch was poor but Man City refused to play on Vancouvers artificial pitch despite the fact that it is the newest field technology and probably would have played closer to their City of Manchester stadium pitch back home than that cut up garden sod they played on tonight…

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  7. Um, USSF does not govern matches played in Canada.

    Man City refuses to play on synthetic turf (even good synthetic), yet they were willing to sign up for a temporary grass field which is a disaster in every way. Maybe they will get over it.

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  8. Jarju looked lively…He is going to benefit from a partnership with Eric H. Camilo is so much better in the midfield. Salinas has come into his own also. Vancouver was missing the playmaking of Chumiento in the Center.

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  9. Salgado looks like he could be a real talent, all things considered. Also, SWP’s strike was top notch, top notch!

    I think I may have been one of the sixty-three folks in all of the US and Canada who watched the 2nd half on ESPN, and was happy to do so…and that’s because I’m stuck in a hotel while traveling.

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  10. The game should be moved to RSL with any fan that can prove they had tickets to the game be let in free. Those would be ticket sales should be rembursed by Vancouver. I think that would work.

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  11. If I told you I travelled over 9 hours to attend the RSL vs VAN match, would I have grounds to wish ill-will upon Vancouver? They offered RSL fans no compensation with the exception of honering the ticket purchased. Total lack of vision from the Vancouver Front office.

    Get me a ticket and a cheap hotel for my next visit and I assure you I and many fans will be back.

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  12. Harkes anti parity rant is really pissing me off. There is a reason i dont watch La Liga. Two team leagues are not fun to watch.

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  13. I don’t think it was serious. There was a moment when he was writhing on the ground where he peeked his eyes up and looked around and then went back to the histrionics for the referee.

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  14. USSF and MLS need to do something about the turf that they are hosting other teams on. Every recent game I can remember against a foreign team has been played on an embarasingly poor field

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  15. It’s amusing to watch him and Stone stumble around when they clearly have little to no familiarity with what’s going on on the field.

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  16. What do you expect play in football stadiums or teams that have grass. Its not that hard these teams know about this and they know the risks.

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  17. Vancouver might just be the most likeable team in MLS. Hell, Vancouver might just be the most likeable city in North America (until the Canucks riots at least)

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  18. The field is embarassing. It would be a huge blow to MLS’s image if Yaya’s injury is serious.

    Man City played Club America on a baseball field where you could see the grass on the diamond was elevated higher than the rest of the field.

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  19. Harkes is irritating. Impressed with Vancouver so far. Hassli took some crazy shots and Jarju didn’t see enough of the ball. As a City fan I hope Yaya isn’t out for long, not to mention we need a goal or two.

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  20. Did anyone else catch the moment when Harkes was pointing out that American fans might recognize Wladimir Weiss from the USA’s World Cup group? I think he forgot that Weiss plays for Slovakia, not Slovenia.

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  21. Watching Vancouver play you would think they wouldnt be dead last in MLS. If they get a solid coach they could be really dangerous.

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  22. Must be a fun experience for Darju to play his first Vancouver (and first division football?) match against Manchester City. As an MLS fan, hoping he does well.

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  23. Why would you root for Vancouver to get spanked? Even if you dislike the team you should want any MLS side to have a good game against an EPL team.

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  24. At some point in the future of MLS league matches will take president over friendlies, until then we can only hope Vancouver gets spanked by City like they have been spanked by MLS teams all season.

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