Whitecaps striker Blas Perez finding form after slow start

Blas Perez is making a minor trade look like a masterpiece.

After an innocuous start to his first season with the Vancouver Whitecaps, Perez has two goals and and unofficial assist for distraction in the past two games. He is likely to figure more prominently from Saturday, when the Whitecaps (5-5-2) visit Toronto FC (4-3-2) onward as the Whitecaps battle key injuries and inconsistency at the striker spot.

Masato Kudo is out of the lineup indefinitely with a broken jaw – and Octavio Rivero, the subject of trade speculation before a transfer window closed during the past week, missed their last game with an ankle injury. Rivero, a designated player, remains an enigma when he is on the pitch.

Perez, 35, is making his acquisition from FC Dallas for Mauro Rosales in February look like a steal, especially after scoring on a bicycle kick in the 89th minute to give Vancouver a 2-1 victory over the Chicago Fire on Wednesday night. The goals came after Perez subbed in for Kudo following a collision with Chicago goalkeeper Matt Lampson in the 11th minute. Kudo lay on the pitch for seven minutes before he was transported off the field on a power cart.  A Whitecaps spokesman said Kudo during the game that Kudo suffered a concussion and facial cuts.

But Perez, a Panama native who spent four seasons with Dallas and has also toiled in Mexico, the United Arab Emirates, Spain, Colombia, Uruguay and his homeland, took his heroics in stride.

"Any time you see a colleague, a friend, a brother of yours on the field hurt, obviously it's a little surprising and it's not nice," he said through a Spanish interpreter. "You've got to be ready when you're on the bench. You've just got to be ready to come on and do your job."

That attitude should help the Whitecaps as Kudo, a former Japanese League star who is in his first MLS season, remains out for an extended period. While Rosales was a popular figure with his Whitecaps teammates and media, his minimal offensive production and relatively low playing time did not pay sufficient dividends on the pitch.

Perez, known for his physical play and unpopular with fans before he arrived in Vancouver, provides a mean streak not seen among Whitecap strikers previously. And, with 38 career MLS goals, he also has a nice finishing touch – as demonstrated by Wednesday’s winning tally.

“I thought the referee called the foul, so I was a little surprised because normally balls like that high up in the air, the referee sometimes calls fouls for high feet,” he said. “But that’s what I normally wanted to do, when I saw my teammates coming towards me, that’s when I realized the ball had gone in.”

Perez said the planned bicycle-kick goal ranks among the best of his career. On his first goal, which provded the Whitecaps with a 1-0 lead at half-time, he sneaked in behind a defender and tapped in a Christian Balonos pass inside the far post.

The goals were a nice follow-up to last weekend, when the six-foot-one Perez distracted Portland goalkeeper Jake Gleeson and Bolanos gave the Caps a 2-1 comeback win over the defending MLS-champion Timbers. Bolanos was actually attempting to lob a pass to Perez for a header, but the ball skipped through Gleeson’s legs instead as he was kneeling down to get it.

But Perez was not about to rave about his recent performances after a slow start.

 “I always come to work and do my job,” he said. “I just support my team. I just haven’t scored goals and I was working hard and that’s the result.”

Such a low-key approach was no longer good enough for the FC Dallas brain trust as Perez was sent packing. But Whitecaps coach Carl Robinson had no problem adding him to Vancouver’s roster.

"He's an exceptional, experienced professional — and he's still going," said Robinson. "Every time we played against him, he caused us problems. That's why I wanted to bring him to the club. I did my research on him with his character."
Physical play and some hard fouls aside, there seems to be little debate about Perez’s character. But there has been ongoing debate about the Whitecaps’ scoring ability for some time – and he might help mute it for a while.

Japanese star earns kudos in first MLS start

Masato Kudo made his mark Saturday night in his first Major League Soccer start.

The Whitecaps striker was at the centre of the play that led to Vancouver’s controversial 1-0 victory over the Houston Dynamo at B.C. Place Stadium.

Pedro Morales scored on a penalty-kick in the 23rd minute after Kudo was pushed down from behind by Dynamo defender Jalil Anibaba in the Houston box. Vancouver (2-2-0) posted its second consecutive win, while the Dynamo fell to 1-2-1.

The goal from the PK punctuated a strong opening for Kudo, who was robbed by Houston goalkeeper Joe Willis on a two-on-one with Kekuta Manneh in the 15th minute.

 “I thought (Kudo’s) movement was very good," said Vancouver coach Carl Robinson. “He’ll be disappointed he didn’t score the goal. It was a great bit of link-up play. He usually eats them up in training.”

Kudo, a former Japanese League star, joined the Whitecaps on a free transfer in the off-season. He gave the Whitecaps an offensive spark almost from the get-go. Willis was forced to stop Octavio Rivero on a back-heeled shot in the 12th minute off a pass from Kudo, who made a number of dangerous runs and caused Dynamo coach Owen Coyle fits on the decisive penalty call.

Kudo was fouled while trying to field a cross that was already beyond him.

"That's never a penalty in a million years," said Coyle. "Unfortunately for us, it's been given."

Coyle felt his team dominated after that point, but Kudo helped the Whitecaps control play in the early going as Houston goalkeeper Willis delivered a masterful effort. The Whitecaps were credited with six shots on target in the first half alone.

“It’s hard to sit here having no points in that game, given the level of the performance that we put into the match,” said Coyle. “But there you go. As you know, it can be a very cruel game.”

The timing of international call-ups can also be cruel, as the Whitecaps found out Saturday while playing with a make-shift back line. It contained contained only veteran starter in left back Jordan Harvey and just one natural central defender in Pa-Modou Kah.

Houston’s domination, as Coyle saw it, was probably debatable, although the Dynamo did put a shot off the crossbar and another off the post. The visitors rarely threatened to score until the Whitecaps withstood a free kick from the top of their box and a corner-kick in the closing minutes.

“We’ve got a squad for a reason – to give guys an opportunity to play,” said Robinson. “I think the guys who stepped in did themselves a lot of good.”

Robinson also bolstered his team’s defensive coverage by substituting Sam Adekugbe and Jordan Smith, who are usually defenders, into midfield positions in the second half.

“From Carl’s point of view, we, maybe, wanted to get a bit more of a strong presence in the box with Sam Adekugbe and Jordan Smith,” said goalkeeper David Ousted. “I think that was the idea. We were trying to make sure we didn’t get over-run on the flanks.”

Ousted did not dispute Coyle’s contention that Houston dominated after the controversial penalty-kick. But the Caps goalkeeper only cared about the final result after his team blanked a Dynamo squad that scored 11 goals in its three previous games.

“We kept a clean sheet and won 1-0,” said Ousted. “So, looking at it that way, we did tremendously well.”

Thanks in large part to Kudo’s early exploits.