U13 Whitecaps FC Win Yerseke Mossel Tournament
Title is second european championship this season
 Monday, August 27
VANCOUVER, BC – The Vancouver Whitecaps FC U13 boys claimed their second European competition title in the Netherlands by winning the Yerseke Mossel Tournament to go along with their Hollandia D-Pupillen Tournament championship.
Goals by Michael North and Otis Sandhu secured a 2-0 win in the final of Yerseke Mossel Tournament against Fortuna Sittard of the Dutch First Division. Fortuna, who had tied the Whitecaps 2-2 in group play, had defeated Ajax to reach the final.
In previous results, the Whitecaps went unbeaten in six games to win the prestigious Hollandia D-Pupillen tournament.
Facing a strong line-up of youth professional teams, the Whitecaps defeated MVV Maastricht of the Dutch first division 1-0 in the tournament final on a goal by Giovanni Whelan. The Caps made the final after going unbeaten in group play with wins against SC Heerenveen D1 (4-0), Elinkwijk D1 (4-0), Ajax D2 (2-1), Roda JC Kerkrade D1 (3-0) and AZ Alkmaar D2 (4-0).
“I am very proud of how we played against some tough European competition," said Bart Choufour, Whitecaps Boys Head Coach. “With past winners like Ajax already engraved on the trophy, the Whitecaps are in very good company."
Whitecaps U-13 European Tour Highlights - by Bart Choufour, Whitecaps Boys Head Coach
The Whitecaps U-13 Boys are in the final days of a European Tour in the Netherlands from August 15th to 29th, which includes training and exhibition games at the youth facilities of the professional clubs. The Whitecaps will also play two top-flight tournaments: the Hollandia on August 18th and the Yerseke Mossel Tournament on August 25.
Saturday, August 25 – Yerseke Mossel Tournament Report
 In a dominating performance, we defeated Fortuna Sittard of the Dutch First Division 2-0 in the final of the Yerseke Mossel Tournament. The game was a rematch from the group stage where we came from two goals behind to tie 2-2.
In the final, we emphasized high-pressure defence in the opponents half to keep the ball away from Fortuna Sittard's very dangerous left winger, who had scored three goals in the Fortuna group stage win against Ajax.
We went ahead 1-0 when Lucas Krivak found Michael North who beat his opponent and then the goalkeeper for an early 1-0 lead.
We continued to press and Fortuna Sittard had a difficult time keeping the ball. In possession, the Whitecaps kept a high tempo on the ball, constantly looking for openings in the Fortuna Sittard defence.
Minutes before the end, a slick combination between Matthew van der Eyden, Giovanni Whelan and Bryan Taylor found Lucas Krivak in the middle, who in turn fed a streaking Otis Sandhu to calmly slot home into the corner of the net.
The Zeeland Provincial Selection (beaten by the Whitecaps 4-0 in the semifinal on an Adam Helewka hat-trick) took third place with a 1-0 win against Ajax.
 Thursday, August 23
Today, we played our last exhibition game before the second tournament in Yerseke, Zeeland. This promised to be another good challenge, as NEC is another highly-ranked Premier Division club, whose U-13 team plays in the top National U-13 Division. We were pleased to come away with a strong 4-1 win over NEC.
The game was played on turf, as the rain had taken its toll on the pristine grass fields at the beautiful NEC training facility.
We started the game with high tempo and were dangerous immediately, as NEC had a very difficult time dealing with our speedy forwards and quick passing and movement.
After just five minutes, Michael North was put in the clear by Lucas Krivak for a 1-0 lead. We continued to be very dangerous and created a number of excellent chances for forwards Giovanni Whelan, Michael North and Sean Einarsson. We also received excellent support from attacking midfielders Otis Sandhu and Bryan Taylor. The defence of Matthew van der Eyden, Lucas Krivak, Adam Cotterill and Alexander Kerfoot, supported by holding midfielder Brennan Hoffman, were tight on their opponents and gave very little away. The few times that our keeper Brett Wood had to deal with things, he handled everything very confidently.
In the 24th minute, a fast and flowing attack started by Adam Helewka, reached Giovanni Whelan, who went inside and out before passing to Michael North for a finish by Sean Einarsson.
In the second half, the NEC team came out hard to try to get back into the game. They connected on a long shot that dipped over keeper Jared Lively under the cross bar. Encouraged by some success, NEC continued to give us some pressure to deal with, which we absorbed very well.
After some solid defending, we slowly started to take over the game again and were rewarded when Nicholas Pineda Graham fought hard to win the ball back and then fed Adam Helewka, who sent away Giovanni Whelan on the right wing. "Gio" beat his opponent and sent in a hard and low cross, which slid through as an own goal.
The Whitecaps wrapped up the 4-1 win on another Michael North goal. The play was started by Simon Boserup and Alexander Kerfoot, who put Giovanni Whelan in the clear to cross for North to finish.
 Wednesday, August 22
Today we faced FC Twente/Heracles U-13 and it was clear from the start that we were in for a challenging game. Despite an early 1-1 battle, we gave up the lead early in the second half along with two late goals to go down to our first tour defeat, 4-1.
The pace of the game was high and both teams showed a very positive approach, attacking with a nice mix of short passing and attacking of space behind the defence with some long balls as well. Although we had a bit of the upper hand in the first half, we ended up going down 1-0 when a poor first touch by one of our defenders led to an FC Twente goal.
We tied it at 25 minutes when a long pass by Lucas Krivak found Michael North, who beat his defender and then rounded the goalkeeper to equalize. In the second half, we had the early chances including a build up from Michael North and Nicholas Pineda Graham to Simon Boserup, who fired over the bar from close range.
Shortly after, it was FC Twente that got the second when a miscommunication in the Whitecaps defence again put Twente's striker in front of keeper Jared Lively for a 2-1 lead. The last 15 minutes were dominated by FC Twente, who added two more goals for a 4-1 win. After some easier exhibitions in our last two games, this was exactly the kind of game we needed to sharpen up and get ready for the second tournament this Saturday in Yerseke.
The hospitality shown by the FC Twente/Heracles organization was absolutely top class and the game field was of a top professional standard. All and all, this was another great learning experience for our young team. Tomorrow, we will face NEC (also Dutch Premier Division) U-13 in another very challenging game that will help us prepare for the weekend.
 Saturday, August 18 – Hollandia Tournament Report
The Vancouver Whitecaps U13 boys went 6- 0 in the Hollandia tournament to take the title. After a solid win on Friday evening against UNION, 3-1, we were in keen anticipation of the new challenges to be faced on Saturday, August 18th, at the Hollandia Tournament in Hoorn.
With past winners including Ajax already engraved on the trophy, a strong line up of European professional clubs, and some top amateur clubs, it promised to be a good challenge.
Game 1 - Whitecaps 4 vs SC Heerenveen 0
In the opening game, we scored on a counter attack when Michael North was put in the clear with a long ball by goalkeeper Jared Lively. Michael deftly chipped the goalkeeper to put the Caps up 1-0 after just five minutes.
Our second goal came early in the second half when Alexander Kerfoot passed to Michael North, who beat two players to set up Sean Einarsson for the 2-0 lead. Sean scored again with a volley off a Lucas Krivak free kick. Lucas himself finished the scoring on a penalty kick for a 4-0 win.
Game 2 - Whitecaps 4 vs Elinkwijk 0
In the second game, we faced one of the weaker teams of the tournament, Elinkwijk, and it showed in the quality of the game. The Whitecaps played down to the level of the opposition, but still managed to win comfortably, 4-0, on goals by Adam Kang (rebound), Adam Cotterill (free kick), Michael North and Nicholas Pineda Graham (rebound).
Game 3 - Whitecaps 2 vs Ajax 1
The next opponent was Ajax D2 (U-12/13 combination), winners of last year’s tournament. Ajax, who had already lost a game in the tournament against AZ Alkmaar, were determined to beat the Whitecaps in order to put themselves back in the race for first place in the group.
The Whitecaps had other plans, as we again took an early lead when Renato Molina scored on a header from an Adam Cotterill free kick after just six minutes. The remainder of the first half saw both teams generating some small chances without capitalizing.
Early in the second half, Giovanni Whelan won a 50/50 battle and quickly passed to Lucas Krivak, who found Michael North on the left-hand side. Michael put in a measured cross that was volleyed home by Otis Sandhu for a 2-0 lead.
Shortly after, the Whitecaps were caught napping on an Ajax free kick that was headed in by the far post to cut the lead to 2-1. The remainder of the game went back and forth, but we never got in trouble again, despite Ajax picking up the pace to force the equalizer.
Game 4 - Whitecaps 3 vs Rohda Raalte 0
Next up was Rohda Raalte, a strong amateur club with a very good youth development program. Rohda came into the game with a 2-1 record, knowing they needed to beat the Whitecaps in order to have a chance for first place in the group.
However, we made it clear from the beginning that we were not going to give up the group lead that easily, and we played a very strong game. We took the lead in the eighth minute when Nicholas Pineda Graham scored with a high shot after a strong individual effort.
Early in the second half, Bryan Taylor found Sean Einarsson with a perfect pass on the left wing. Sean put in a great cross past the far post where Adam Helewka controlled and hammered it high in the far corner for a 2-0 lead.
The result was secured when Einarsson turned and shot after a nice pass by Renato Molina. The goalkeeper saved at first, but Bryan Taylor put in the rebound to go up 3-0.
Because SC Heerenveen had beaten AZ in their match up, the Whitecaps were secured a birth in the finals after four of their five group games, as we were leading our closest challengers, now SC Heerenveen, by five points.
Game 5 - Whitecaps 4 vs AZ 0
With a final spot secured, we took on AZ, and put on a nice display of football in the last group game.
Goals by Brennan Hoffman, with a booming shot after he beat his man, and Giovanni Whelan, with a low shot to the far corner after some crisp combination play, made it 2-0. Alexander Kerfoot, again after some great combination play, found the bottom corner, and then a long ball by Lucas Krivak found Adam Helewka, who finished coolly making it 4-0.
In the meantime, in the other group, FC Groningen and MVV Maastricht have been battling for first place in the group and ended up with 13 points apiece at the top of the standings. With an equal goal difference (17-2 and 16-1), it was “goals for” that decided it in favor of MVV.
That set up a game for third place between FC Groningen and SC Heerenveen and the final between MVV (Dutch First Division) and Vancouver Whitecaps.
 Game 6 – Championship Final - Whitecaps 4 vs MVV 0
In the Cup Final, the Caps almost get on the board early when Michael North got behind the MVV defense in the first minute, but he rattled his shot off the crossbar.
The young Whitecaps took charge of the game and put in a dominating performance, much to the delight of the supportive crowd, which has really taken to the Whitecaps attacking style of football.
MVV was on defensive, as the Caps just come up short on several occasions.
Early into the second half, Giovanni Whelan received the ball after some nice pass combinations and he hit it high into the net from the top of the 18-yard box for the 1-0 lead.
At that moment, it was clear that the Whitecaps were not going to let this game get away, as they controlled the rest of the contest, providing few chances to MVV.
The young Whitecaps received the Cup out of the hands of the organizers. With past winners including Ajax already engraved on the trophy, the Vancouver Whitecaps FC are now in very good company.
Friday, August 17
We started our European campaign with a strong 3-1 win against UNION on goals by Giovanni Whelan, Renato Molina and Adam Cotterill. After a nervous start, we got on the board early. Michael North took the corner from the right side to Alexander Kerfoot, who fed the ball to Giovanni Whelan to finish high and hard to the far corner.
Twenty minutes into the first half, UNION equalized after a scramble at the top of the box landed in front of one of the UNION players, who chipped it over Brett Wood in the Whitecaps goal.
After regrouping at halftime and tightening up in some areas, the Whitecaps took control early. From another corner, this time by Nicholas Pineda Graham, it was Renato Molina who headed the ball hard and low off the post and into the UNION goal for a 2-1 lead.
In the last ten minutes, the Whitecaps absorbed a little bit of pressure, without ever getting in danger of conceding a goal, as Jared Lively did not have to make a save.
Adam Cotterill clinched the win with a well-taken free kick from 25 yards.
Assistant Coach Les Krivak and myself used the game to get everybody 40 minutes of playing time to get them used to the faster and tougher game style in Europe. The man of the match was Matthew van der Eyden, who was outstanding defensively and continually getting forward from his right fullback position.
We were happy after the first win, but also convinced that we can still play much better. We are looking forward to playing next day’s tournament at Hollandia in Hoorn, where we will face some great competition.
Thursday, August 16
After a smooth flight, we arrived in Holland. We are slowly getting over the jet-lag and will have our first test on the field tonight against UNION U-13.
For more information please contact Dan Lenarduzzi @ Whitecaps FC Youth Communications: dlenarduzzi@whitecapsfc.com
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