| 2070 Beiträge - Forenlegende
|
|
|
VANCOUVER -- As the Vancouver Whitecaps season comes to a disappointing end Sunday, Sam Adekugbe will offer some hope for the future. The 18-year-old Calgary product is slated to make his Major League Soccer debut, as a starter or substitute, when the Caps (12-12-9) close out their campaign, after missing the playoffs, against the visiting Colorado Rapids (14-10-9.) "If I do start, itll definitely be exciting," said Adekugbe, a defender who came up through the Whitecaps youth program and signed with the MLS squad in August. "I think its every kids goal to debut as a professional as young as possible." Adekugbe, who was born in London and lived in Manchester until age nine before moving to Calgary, gets the opportunity to play due to left fullback Jordan Harveys suspension for yellow-card accumulation. "Growing up, you talked about how exciting it would be to make your debut at 18 because, growing up in England, you see a lot of kids making their debut at 18," said Adekugbe. "So if I get to do this in Canada, its going to be an exciting possibility." Adekugbes debut coincides with the final game of Vancouver defender Young-Pyo Lees distinguished career. Lee, who represented his homeland of South Korea in three World Cups and won titles in his home country, England, the Netherlands and Saudi Arabia, has announced his retirement and will remain with the Whitecaps for at least two seasons to learn about sports administration. "I learned so many things the last two years," said Lee, 36. "It is, someone (said), another world for me about sports." South Korean media are expected to give extensive coverage to his swan song and he hopes to use the game as a chance to say "thank you" for the support he has received from fans. Meanwhile, the rest of the Caps will use the contest as a chance to show that all is not lost even though the club missed the playoffs after being near the top of the Western Conference standings before a summer swoon. "Im really excited about it, because we can have two 18-year-olds out there and another player whos come through our system (Adekugbe and Kekuta Manneh)," said embattled Vancouver coach Martin Rennie, whose future with the team is expected to be determined next week. "Were just really starting to see the benefit of all the hard work that the clubs done for many years, and the clubs poised to be really good, and its because of these young guys coming through." Rennie noted the Whitecaps have achieved many of their aims this season, including: new highs for wins, points and goals; first victories over Seattle, New York, and Los Angeles; and a Cascadia Cup crown for the best in-season record in games between Seattle, Vancouver and Portland. The coach hopes to get an opportunity to stay on for a third season and keep building a club that he guided to the playoffs in 2012. "I know that this team can go on and be a really strong team that contends for titles," he said. "I also know how long it takes to build a team to do that, and its not an overnight process. Its not a one-year process. Its not even a two-year process." But before facing the inevitable changes that will come, the Whitecaps want to excel against the Rapids, who beat the Caps 3-2 last weekend to extinguish Vancouvers flickering post-season hopes. "For a long time, we had the best record at home in MLS and then we had a spell where we didnt do as well as we had been doing before," said Rennie. "We need to finish on a high." Captain Jay DeMerit, who refuses to view the season as a failure despite the teams exclusion from the playoffs, said this is a time for the Caps to reflect on their campaign and put together one final triumph. "We all look at it as: This will be the last game where all these guys are here," he said. "So we need to make sure that we get the most out of it." DeMerits contract is expiring, but president Bob Lenarduzzi has indicated the team wants to re-sign him after he made a strong recovery from a torn Achilles tendon suffered in the first game of the season. Goalkeeper Joe Cannon, 38, who started the campaign as No. 1 but was relegated to No. 3 and has not played since a win over L.A. on May 11, is not expected to get a new deal. Lenarduzzi and Rennie indicated in mid-season, when the team signed new No. 1 goalkeeper David Ousted, that Cannon would not be brought back in 2014. Cannon hopes to keep playing somewhere next season. "Its been great to have seen this organization from day one and grow to what its become," he said. "But, obviously, its a bit bittersweet. "I think, as a group, we could have achieved a lot more things than we have." Notes: The fifth-place Rapids have not officially clinched a playoff spot yet, but their chances of being eliminated, with sixth-place San Jose getting in on a tiebreaker instead, are mathematically remote. Pending other results this weekend, a win over Vancouver could enable Colorado to finish as high as second. Nike Air Max 90 Dames . The Nashville Predators were glad their captain was still on their side. Weber had a goal and two assists, and Roman Josi scored the shootout winner to lift the Predators to a 4-3 win over the Flyers on Thursday night. Nike Air Max 90 Heren zwart/blauw/oranje sportwear . -- About a third of the way through the regular season, the Washington Wizards are at . http://www.sneakersnloutlet.nl/nike-air-max-comman...oenen.h tml . But Bourque, who has missed three games with a lower-body injury, wont be in the lineup when the Habs travel to Buffalo to take on the Sabres on Wednesday. Adidas Originals Zx Flux . Miller reached right to deflect Mikhail Grabovskis attempt with just over 2 minutes remaining in regulation, and then made two more saves in the shootout Sunday to give the Sabres a 2-1 win over the Washington Capitals. Nike Roshe Run Flyknit Dames . Arsenal failed to take full advantage of its main rivals stumbles on Saturday as substitute Gerard Deulofeu levelled with a hard shot from a tight angle in the 84th minute to give Everton a deserved point. Ahead of a crucial fortnight that will see them play against Napoli in the Champions League, Manchester City and Chelsea, Arsenal leads by five points ahead of Liverpool and Chelsea.TORONTO - Kyle Lowry is playing the best basketball of his eight-year career and it couldnt have come at a better time for the Raptors point guard, his team or its general manager. Coming into camp in the best shape of his life, ahead of a contract season for the 27-year-old, Lowry seemed determined to change the league-wide perception of him following a disappointing 2012-13 campaign. In the process he has raised his expected market value while fuelling the Raptors resurgence, dating back to the trade of his best friend, Rudy Gay. "Hes playing at the highest level I have seen," Dwane Casey said after Lowrys season-high 32 points led Toronto past the Knicks, 115-110 Saturday, sweeping a weekend home-and-home set with New York. "He is playing with such force and such confidence. "Thats him, man," said DeMar DeRozan, who added 20 points in the victory. "He could do that every night if he really wanted to, scoring-wise. We feed off him, thats our point guard, we look to him in late-game situations and he always comes through." DeRozan was effusive in his praise of his teammate. "I think this is the best Ive seen him play, ever since he was in Houston and had that tremendous year,” DeRozan continued. “We need that from him and hes been bringing it every night and thats why weve been winning." Lowry flirted with a triple-double against the undermanned Knicks, matching his season-high of 11 assists to go along with eight boards. In his second year with the Raptors, Lowry has recorded at least six dimes in 20 consecutive games, including the last 10 without his good friend Gay. Since Gay was traded earlier in the month, the Raptors have won seven of 10 games, exceeding 20 assists in eight of them. Despite the distractions that accompanied that trade and the subsequent rumours surrounding his future with the team, Lowry has been a pro. "With all the trade rumours and all the bull thats going around, hes been positive and upbeat and a leader from that standpoint," credited Casey. "He could have gone in a shell and kind of isolated himself from everybody else but hes dived in and been positive about it, so Im happy for him and proud of him for handling himself that way." For Lowry, it seems like a no-brainer. Hes auditioning for potential suitors - should general manager Masai Ujiri find an offer that catches his eye - hes playing for a new contract in the offseason and, most importantly, hes too comppetitive, too prideful to sulk.dddddddddddd. "What do you want me to do?" he asked rhetorically. "Its my job, its a business. Be mad? It is what it is to me. Im really not worried about it." After a fourth-quarter comeback sealed a victory in New York on Friday, the Raptors carried their momentum over in front of a sold-out Air Canada Centre crowd 24 hours later. They took an early lead and never relinquished it, despite a late push from the visitors, playing without Carmelo Anthony - the leagues second-leading scorer - for the second straight night. As the Knicks made their final run, to no avail, frustrated big man Tyson Chandler got tangled up with Raptors centre Jonas Valanciunas. It was Lowry who stepped in to defend his young teammate and prevent any altercation. "Im not a vocal leader, Im more of an action leader," said Lowry, who has scored 20 or more in four of the last five games. "Weve got a bunch of guys in this locker room who are soldiers and troupers and theyre going to follow whoevers leading them on the court." With a pair of wins over the Knicks, the Raptors extended their lead in the Atlantic Division to a full game over Boston, four over Brooklyn and five ahead of New York and Philadelphia. Taking advantage of a weak conference and an injury-plagued division, the Raptors are moving the ball, playing hard on defence and carrying themselves with more confidence than they have in the three-year Casey era. One of the biggest beneficiaries has been sophomore guard Terrence Ross. Ross made a career-best seven three point shots on 11 attempts, scoring 23 points in just under 32 minutes on Saturday. "T-Ross is firing that ball and nobody is even second guessing him when he fires it," Lowry said of his teammate. "Tonight, he was 7-of-11 and, if he went 1-for-11, we would still tell him to shoot the ball. I think he knows that we all have confidence in him and thats playing a big part in the way hes playing." "Hes just playing confident," DeRozan added. "I tell him, ‘Dont go out there second guessing yourself. You have the ability to do anything on that court, you jump higher than everybody on that court, youre a great shooter, you could do so much just use it and dont worry about messing up so much. Thats what hes doing." The Raptors will rest up on Sunday before traveling to Chicago for a meeting with the Bulls on New Years Eve. Cheap China Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap Jerseys From China China NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Cheap Jerseys China ' ' '
|
