The Vancouver Whitecaps, once again, dominated Cartaginés in the CONCACAF Champions Cup. Except this time, there were some goals. Let’s look at how the individual players got on.

Yohei Takaoka: 6.0

Takaoka made one difficult save through a crowd and another off an olimpico attempt. Otherwise, he was largely a spectator, so I’ll give him a 6.

Edier Ocampo: 7.0

This was definitely Ocampo’s best performance so far, as he continues to round into shape after missing time in pre-season. He was a bit unlucky not to have an assist and generally looked much more dangerous in the final third than he had previously. He did take a yellow card after being forced into committing a tactical foul, but on the whole, things are trending in the right direction for him.

Tristan Blackmon: 8.5

Once again, Blackmon managed the game well, preventing Cartaginés from exploiting space in behind the Vancouver defence. He also assisted the first goal, though I don’t know how intentional that was.

Ralph Priso: 8.5

I have pretty much exactly the same comments about Priso as I did about Blackmon. I thought, in particular, that Priso did a good job of making aggressive defensive plays to keep Vancouver on the front foot when it looked like the Costa Rican side might have a counter on.

Tate Johnson: 8.0

Tate Johnson once again looked pretty good in possession, and this was the type of game where that was important. Nobody really got the better of him on the defensive side of things either.

Sebastian Berhalter: 9.0

Berhalter turned in another strong performance, quarterbacking the Whitecaps in attack and keeping things manageable defensively. He capped the performance with a deserved goal.

Oliver Larraz: 5.0

The worry when Larraz was signed was that his on-ball stats were not particularly great. That concern came to the fore in this game, as Larraz looked a bit panicked every time he got the ball. One moment that really stood out to me was when he received the ball from one of the centre-backs, put his head down, and started sprinting with it. The whole time this was happening, Tate Johnson was waving his arms for a pass on the left wing. Larraz actually ran past Johnson, got stuck, and had to play it backwards. But this is the sort of thing that ought to work itself out with more time with his new teammates and with getting used to playing in a possession-dominant team. I did think he acquitted himself decently on the defensive side of things.

Emmanuel Sabbi: 6.0

Sabbi has come into 2026 with a weird chip on his shoulder, frequently getting into shoving matches with opponents, having big negative reactions to calls going against him, and getting booked twice in 175 minutes of play. Still, he did win a penalty and had a couple of moments where he looked dangerous, so it’s not like the match was a total disaster.

Jeevan Badwal: 8.5

Well, it looks like Jesper Sørensen has done it again! Badwal once again looked like a considerably more confident and impactful player than he did in 2025. I’ve particularly enjoyed how he has started feinting a backward pass and then using that as an opportunity to burst forward when the opponent bites. It’s a nice microcosm of how he has progressed as a player. He also has a Laryea-esque ability to win fouls (he was fouled five times in this game). But what was really exciting was the big chance he created for Brian White! If he’s going to be doing industrious, unsung-hero-type stuff and having some offensive impact, then the Whitecaps have a serious player on their hands.

Kenji Cabrera: 7.5

He scored a goal, which is good, but I thought he struggled to find a breakthrough beyond that. He hasn’t quite perfected the Ahmed/Nelson role that he has stepped into. He did leave the game with an injury, and it was a bit difficult to gauge how serious it was. Let’s hope it’s not too bad because the Whitecaps are a bit thin on the wing at the moment.

Brian White: 6.0

Oh, Brian White is missing some chances? He’s having a slow start to the season? Sure, whatever you say — I’ve seen this movie before.

Subs:

Thomas Müller looked excellent after appearing a bit creaky in the first two games of the season. Aziel Jackson once again looked very lively (very good news considering the ’Caps might be without both Sabbi and Cabrera on the weekend). Andrés Cubas and Mathías Laborda both basically did the job, although Cubas managed to get himself suspended for the first leg against Seattle. Rayan Elloumi got his first serious minutes of the campaign and, although he didn’t create any dangerous chances, did look to have some spark.

(Image – Chaehyun Lim, Graphics – Krishan Chawla)