VANCOUVER, B.C. – The goals keep coming for Vancouver Whitecaps striker Camilo.
On Sunday, the diminutive Brazilian bagged his 11th and 12th goals of the season to leap into the MLS Golden Boot lead as the ‘Caps topped the Chicago Fire 3-1 at BC Place.
Having played with the Whitecaps since the club’s inaugural 2011 MLS season, it was clear scoring the club’s 100th league goal – which he did with his opener -- meant a lot to the player.
“It’s very important for me to be on the club history,” Camilo said of scoring the milestone goal. “And I hope to continue like that.”
As far as the game itself, the forward wasn’t happy with just one – he carried on and bagged a second just five minutes later, seconds after Fire goalkeeper Paolo Tornaghi denied him on a breakaway.
The two goals mean Camilo has scored a remarkable 10 goals and three assists in his last nine matches.
“Once he got squared up against I think it was [Bakary] Soumare, I was really confident he was going to score,” head coach Martin Rennie told reporters after Sunday’s win. “As soon as he gets squared up in the box he’s really deadly…Camilo’s on a fantastic run.
“He’s the top scorer in Major League Soccer at the moment, I believe, and it makes a big difference to any team when your strikers are scoring.”
As for whether Camilo is hoping to push for the individual honor of league’s top scorer, the player was quick to dismiss that as a personal target – stating he’s hoping for collective rather than personal glory.
“For me that is not important,” Camilo said when asked about competing for the Golden Boot. “More important for me is that our club gets up on the table. We are third place [in the Western Conference].
“We play as a club and I’m happy to help the club.”
Goalkeeper Brad Knighton also got into the fun by setting another club milestone – his long-range drop kick set Camilo up for the one-on-one opportunity that resulted in the game’s opening goal and it earned him an assist – the club’s 100th assist since joining the league.
Coincidentally, it was the shot stopper’s second assist in as many games.
“It’s great,” Knighton said. “Coming to claim the ball and seeing Camilo one-v-one, it was just – put it up there and hope and pray – and Camilo did the rest.”
Martin MacMahon covers the Vancouver Whitecaps for MLSsoccer.com.
