The Vancouver Whitecaps and FC Dallas are set to renew their rivalry on Saturday, when the struggling āCaps will host first-place FCD at BC Place (10:30 pm ET; TSN in Canada, MLS LIVE in the US).
These two donāt like each other all that much. Players have butted heads, coaches have exchanged words and weāve even seen a controversial playoff matchup, with Dallas beating Vancouver in the Knockout Round of the 2014 MLS Cup Playoffs on the back of a disputed penalty kick call.
One of the main instigators in the rivalry was, of course, Blas Perez, who played for Dallas from 2012-2015 before his contract expired, and his rights were sent to Vancouver in exchange for the rights to out-of-contract midfielder Mauro Rosales in February.
The Panamanian international had four goals against Vancouver during his time with Dallas, including this bizarre, miraculous strike in FCDās 2-1 against the āCaps in September 2014. Perez, as is his wont, was also involved in his share of dustups against Vancouver, earning a suspension for hitting āCaps defender Jordan Harvey with an elbow in April 2012.
Saturdayās match will be the first time Perez and Rosales face their former teams from the other side of the rivalry. Now both 35, itās unlikely that Perez or Rosales will ever be a regular MLS starter again, but both have made an impact in 2016.
Perez, who missed the Whitecapsā loss at RSL last week due to a hamstring tweak but says heās ready to go for FCD, hasnāt yet found the scoresheet in his five appearances this year but drew the fittingly controversial winning penalty in Vancouverās 2-1 victory at Seattle in March.
Rosales, of course, had a dramatic effect last week, curling in a pretty free kick to give FCD their 2-1 win over SKC on Sunday night.
Both players should continue to contribute off the bench and as spot starters this year, though Perez will probably end the year having made a bigger splash than Rosales.
Thatās less about talent than it is about circumstances. Barring injuries, Perez will likely play far more for Vancouverās flailing front-line ā shut out in three straight, no goals from the run of play all year ā than Rosales will in Dallasā stacked midfield.
If heās fit enough, Iād start Perez on Saturday night. Octavio Rivero could probably use a bit of a break, and Iām guessing Blas will be a little extra motivated to find the back of the net against his old buddies. Carl Robinson has tried several other combos ā he might as well run out a super energized SuperRaton on Saturday.