RECAP + HIGHLIGHTS: Valour FC vs. Vancouver Whitecaps | 2025 TELUS Canadian Championship | May 20, 2025

Valour FC produced one of the most outstanding performances in club history on Tuesday, as the Canadian Premier League side held Major League Soccer side Vancouver Whitecaps to a 2-2 draw in this first leg of the TELUS Canadian Championship quarter-final at Winnipeg's Princess Auto Stadium.

The Whitecaps came into this game as the heavy favourites, currently sitting first place in MLS's Western Conference and kicking off their CanChamp campaign as champions of the last three tournaments. However, Valour managed to deliver perhaps the bravest, most determined 90 minutes the club has ever played, making the best of the opportunity in their first ever home game against an MLS side.

A handful of surprises came with the starting XIs for this match, Vancouver's in particular. Head coach Jesper Sørensen heavily rotated his team from last Saturday's 0-0 draw with Austin FC, making 10 changes -- the only consistent fixture being attacker Emmanuel Sabbi. Canadian men's national team veteran Sam Adekugbe drew back into the side, as did fellow Canucks Jayden Nelson, Jeevan Badwal, Ralph Priso and goalkeeper Isaac Boehmer, who was this tournament's MVP a year ago.

However, looming on the Whitecaps' bench were stars like Brian White, Ali Ahmed and Pedro Vite, should they be necessary.

Valour fielded a full-strength team, although a surprise inclusion was goalkeeper Eleias Himaras, who has nominally been the backup for most games but played in the preliminary round of this CanChamp against TSS Rovers, as well as in last Friday's win over York United.

The Winnipeg side knew they were in for an uphill battle against these Whitecaps, who came in as the current top side in MLS's Western Conference, and will play a Concacaf Champions Cup final in a few weeks. Still, coach Phillip Dos Santos -- himself a former Whitecaps assistant -- had preached belief to his side, repeating that this game would be, regardless of form or payroll, 11 players against 11 on the same pitch.

Unfortunately for Valour, one of those 11 Whitecaps players was Sam Adekugbe, who didn't need long to remind them of his quality. In the sixth minute, the Canadian international drifted into the half-space at the top of the penalty area and was in perfect position to collet the ball, deflected into his path by a Himaras save on Sabbi's initial effort.

Adekugbe didn't hesitate, firing a shot straight into the top left corner of the net off the crossbar to put the Whitecaps in front early.

The early signs indicated that this could be a long night for Valour; the 'Caps quality had shown up early, and for a few moments after the goal, the visitors appeared likely to run away with the tie in this first leg. They used their pace to stretch out Valour's backline and generated a handful of excellent chances, and Sabbi in particular had two opportunities inside the box that he probably should have finished, but didn't.

After avoiding those early scares and emerging from the first half-hour down just one goal, Valour began hunting for their own foothold in the game. They generated a handful of counter-attacking chances of their own, with striker Jevontae Layne trying to lead the line down the pitch but not quite able to get the separation he needed to truly create chances.

Eventually though, Valour did get numbers down the pitch, and the momentum shifted; they earned a free kick near the side of the box, which was blocked but still earned the hosts a corner.

On the ensuing set-piece, Themi Antonoglou whipped an outstanding cross into traffic near the penalty spot, and the 6-foot-5 Rocco Romeo leapt above the rest to nod the ball goalward, nicking off the left post and in for a remarkable equalizer.

Spirits boosted by the goal -- Valour's first ever against an MLS side -- the hosts pressed onward, with another good chance for Zach Fernandez just before halftime. Most impressive, however, was that the confidence and momentum did not disappear with the break.

Valour came out of the gates red-hot in the second half, and Layne nearly scored moments after the interval by picking off a sloppy Whitecaps pass at the back. Vancouver looked stunned by the increase in tempo and energy from their hosts, and found themselves on the back foot, making a few panicked mistakes to surrender possession or free kicks.

It didn't take long for Valour to earn their reward. Layne moved down the right touchline with intent, absorbing pressure on the ball before Fernandez picked it up and played a clever flat pass across to Bruno Figueiredo at the top of the penalty area. The Portuguese midfielder, seeing no better options, delivered a rocket of a shot, finding the far corner of the net and shocking the MLS team by putting Valour up 2-1.

It was a moment of incredible individual brilliance at a perfect time for Valour, who don't necessarily have a long track record of producing those. However, the opportunity for that brilliance only came from the rest of the team's energy and workrate to win the ball in their own half and put the Whitecaps on their heels, which is a much more familiar theme of all this club's greatest moments.

Vancouver, suddenly finding themselves trailing, needed a wakeup call. They found a burst of energy shortly after Figuieredo's goal and reclaimed the bulk of possession, looking for avenues into the box and sending in a string of dangerous crosses, although Valour's backline were largely able to cope with them.

Sørensen likely hoped his team could get through this game without having to turn to his stars on the bench, but shortly after the hour mark he had no choice. He brought Brian White and Ali Ahmed into the game, in an effort to jumpstart a frustrated Whitecaps side -- which did pay off with another shift in momentum. White had the equalizer on his foot near the 70th minute, finding himself in on goal all alone, but he couldn't beat Himaras who denied him with a great kick save.

Eventually though, the Whitecaps' substitutes did deliver the goal they needed. Sebastian Berhalter delivered a corner into the box that Valour nearly cleared to safety, but it fell instead to Ahmed. The Canadian international turned quickly and floated a shot into the net for his first goal of the year, as Vancouver drew level with their Winnipeg hosts.

The game was a fascinating, back-and-forth battle from there on, both sides playing direct and aggressive in search of a third goal. Valour had a few agonizing chances, including another Figueiredo shot from way out that was only denied by the goalpost.

At the other end, Valour were astonishingly determined to get bodies in front of every Whitecaps opportunity. Even forwards like Kian Williams could be spotted throwing limbs in shooting lanes, and those who lasted the full 90 minutes could be seen limping off the pitch after their heroic effort.

In the end, there will be a slight twinge of annoyance in Valour's camp at the fact they led this game, and could perhaps have scored again late in the affair, but they were full value on the night to earn their first ever draw against MLS opposition.

BOX SCORE

Lineups

Valour FC: Himaras; Fernandez, Romeo, Facchineri, Antonoglou; Figuieredo, Ohin (Mlah 75'), Ressurreição; Twardek (Williams 75'), Layne (Hundal 64'), Venâncio (Faria 64')

Vancouver Whitecaps: Boehmer; Laborda, Halbouni (Veselinović 54'), Utvik, Adekugbe (Bovalina 65'); Ngando, Priso, Badwal (Berhalter 76'); Nelson (Ahmed 65'), Kreilach (White 65'), Sabbi

Goals

6' -- Sam Adekugbe (Vancouver Whitecaps)
38' -- Rocco Romeo (Valour FC)
51' -- Bruno Figueiredo (Valour FC)
80' -- Ali Ahmed (Vancouver Whitecaps)

Discipline

7' -- Yellow: Bruno Figueiredo (Valour FC)
27' -- Yellow: Jeevan Badwal (Vancouver Whitecaps)
38' -- Yellow: Isaac Boehmer (Vancouver Whitecaps)
57' -- Yellow: Rocco Romeo (Valour FC)
66' -- Yellow: Kris Twardek (Valour FC)
73' -- Yellow: Gianfranco Facchineri (Valour FC)
89' -- Yellow: Kian Williams (Valour FC)