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Vancouver Sun

Are the Whitecaps, not Messi, now the bullies of CONCACAF?

The bodies were dropping all over B.C. Place 's plastic shag last Wednesday in the Champions Cup semifinal. While Inter Miami players rolled hyperbolically on the turf, their faces screwed up in dramatic masks of simulated pain, so did their Vancouver Whitecaps counterparts. Article content Now, there were actual fouls in the game — lots of real, honest-to-goodness infractions — but head referee Mario Escobar, in a welcome departure from CONCACAF norms, swallowed his whistle and chose not to acknowledge them. Perhaps the most egregious example: Ralph Priso's second-half tackle on Lionel Messi, where he wrapped both arms around the icon and suplexed him into the ground just outside the Caps' box — a yellow card in any game, except, it seemed, this one. Article content Article content CONCACAF Champions Cup semifinals, Leg 2 of 2 Article content (Whitecaps lead 2-0 on aggregate) Article content Game time: 5 p.m. PT Article content TV: OneSoccer. Radio: AM730 Article content Article content But this game had all the trappings of a CONCACAF master class. Elbows, studs-up challenges, jersey tugs, penalty shouts and trash talk in multiple languages. Article content Words flew through the air as often as bodies. Messi had some choice words for Whitecaps midfielder Andrés Cubas for his defensive haranguing during the game, and exchanged some with the Southsiders going off the field too. Article content Article content Article content Centre-back Tristan Blackmon found himself in the centre of a melee just after halftime, shoving Federico Redondo after the Argentine scythed down Caps winger Edier Ocompo. Article content Article content He also had to duel with Luis Suárez, whose goal-scoring skills are perhaps only equalled by his superlative skills as an instigator and all-around s–t disturber. Article content 'CONCACAF is a different beast to take on,' Blackmon said the day before holding the Uruguayan superstar in check. 'You're able to play through some things and sometimes the ref will call it quick and give you yellows and stuff like that but you have to be smart. It'll be chippy on both sides and we expect that.' Article content '(Suárez) also represents sometimes things that are not the most beautiful in football. But he is a great player,' said Caps coach Jesper Sørensen. 'He can do a lot of things. He's also a tricky player to play against, because he knows a trick or two when the ball is away.'