Valour FC’s longshot playoff hopes were officially snuffed out Wednesday night in inglorious fashion: with a 1-0 home loss to Canadian Premier League expansion side Vancouver FC.
And it was a 16-year-old Canadian national team prospect Tj Tahid, no less, who delivered the decisive fatal blow with the match’s only goal. Tahid, FYI, was just called up this week to Canada’s U-17 team for two upcoming friendlies against Brazil.
The loss drops Valour to 5-8-12 and eliminated from the playoff picture for a fifth straight season since the franchise and league inception in 2019. Vancouver, meanwhile, improves to 6-5-14 and with 23 points – same as Valour but with one more win – leapfrogs the Winnipeg side out of last place in the standings.
“People talk about ‘deserving’,” began a calm, but passionate Valour GM and head coach Phillip Dos Santos in his post-match media conference. “I was on the field now and some of the members of the other team were ‘Ahh, you guys deserve so much better.’ The problem in life is that deserving is a myth.
“Deserve what? You think the kid that grows up in sub-par conditions that has to fight for his life because he can’t find anything to eat that deserves that? Deserving is a myth, first and foremost.
“You get what you work for. You just look at the game… us with the upper hand and maybe – maybe should have been up in the game – and then you concede two very good chances to the opposition in situations that we speak about every moment in the season.
“The goal… we decided to play like if we were playing in the park and when it’s like that it’s hard to win games. This is a professional sport and players need to play with more responsibility.
“… We need to evaluate these things and now that we’re out of the picture it’s good because I’m finally in a position to evaluate in a very cold way and not an emotional one. That’s the story of our game, it’s the story of our season.”
Valour entered the match having scored five goals in its previous two – a season high – but despite having 66.9 percent possession and having 15 shots, four on target, could not beat veteran keeper Callum Irving.
And, sadly, that’s been a familiar refrain all season for a Valour side that has now been blanked 10 times this year, while scoring just once in another nine matches.
“I was speaking to the guys and there’s guys I would fight with, and I’ll fight with any given day,” said Dos Santos. “So, it’s not all negative. But if someone wanted to know what our season has been like, just watch today’s game.
“(Missing the playoffs) is disappointing because we felt that our team showed glimpses, especially in the first stretch of the season that made us believe we could reach something more.
“But, again, that’s where teams get separated. It’s a professional sport and you need to have the motivation and the ability and the consistency to bring it out every single day. That’s where some players are phenomenal and are able to do it with no resistance whatsoever. And there are some who ride the wave a little bit more and when it gets tough, they play the motivation card. I felt we had quite a few of those and we need to assess that.
“I think that’s evident.”
Valour now has three matches remaining, beginning with Sunday’s match in the nation’s capital against Atletico Ottawa, followed by a visit to Calgary to face Cavalry FC on September 29th and their last home appearance of the season on October 6th vs. HFX Wanderers.
“It’s tough, it’s tough,” said Valour right back Dante Campbell. “I mean, today we kind of feel like it was a prime example of our season. There’s so much potential in this team and we feel like we could have done a lot more, including myself. I felt like I could have done more and there’s others who feel like they could have done more.
“We’ve got three games left to prove to ourselves, prove to our coaches, prove to our fans that we deserve more this year. As I said previously, being eliminated from the playoffs there’s still always something to play for. That’s the message within the group.”
‘V’ NOTES
-Darlington Murasiranwa made the start in goal for Valour, his second being signed by the club and was called upon to make a couple of stellar stops, including a diving save on a shot by Gabriel Bitar.
Valour FC 0 Vancouver FC 1
Goals
Valour FC
None
Vancouver FC77:10’: TJ Tahid
Card summary
Valour FC
None
Vancouver FC
None
VALOUR STARTING XI
GK – Darlington Murasiranwa
D – Jordan Haynes
D – Klaidi Cela
D – Guillaume Pianelli
D – Dante Campbell
MF – Diego Gutierrez ©
MF – Marcello Polisi
MF – Juan-Pablo Sanchez
FW – Matteo De Brienne
FW – Walter Ponce
F – Kian Williams
Valour substitutions
57:01’: On Andy Baquero; off Juan-Pablo Sanchez
57:14’: On Pacifique Niyongabire; off Walter Ponce
67:45’: On Ahinga Selemani; off Matteo de Brienne
84:37’: On Jared Ulloa; off Marcello Polisi