Today I'm going back eight years to 2013 and a Major League Soccer (MLS) fixture between Colorado Rapids and Vancouver Whitecaps. I went to the game whilst living in Fort McMurray in Northern Alberta, Canada because Denver was one of the locations to which I could get a direct flight from Fort McMurray airport and I was in need of my regular football fix.
Denver, Colorado. The mile high city. Denver's American Football stadium is known as the Mile High Stadium because that's how far it is above sea level. Denver sits on a plain and the southern end of the Rocky Mountains dominate the view from the city. I got a strange look from the immigration officer when I answered his question regarding the purpose of my visit. I suppose that flying in to attend a soccer match was a little strange to an American? After touchdown (by the plane!) and having checked into my hotel, I made my way out to the rather splendidly named "Dick's Sporting Goods Park", a soccer specific stadium not shared with other sports teams. I don't tend to favour sponsorship names for stadiums but I have to make an exception for this one! It has the highest elevation of any stadium in the MLS and is actually rather impressive and wouldn't disgrace the English Championship with it's all-seater capacity of almost 20,000 and synthetic pitch. I took the time to visit their club shop (or megastore if you prefer) and I decided to buy a Rapids first team shirt because I loved the intricacies of the design. Woven into the material were the names of hundreds of Rapids fans, there was the Rapids club badge, the state flag of Colorado (which would be hidden if the shirt was tucked in) and then the number 5,280 on the back located between the shoulder blades. I had to ask at the counter what was the significance of 5,280: it's the number of feet in a mile of course! Rather wonderfully there was no sponsor name to spoil the look of the shirt.
Sadly there was no programme to speak of but the club did give away team sheets to provide me with a matchday souvenir as shown. With just over half an hour gone, Whitecaps took the lead with a superb shot cum lob from distance by Gambian winger Kekuta Manneh. Ten minutes later and the Rapids were level from the penalty spot with the goal scored by Gabriel Torres and a snow storm of celebratory ticker tape ensued. It was 1-1 at halftime and five minutes into the second period the Rapids had the lead thanks to another tasty lob this time from Deshorn Brown. Whitecaps then spurned a couple of good chances before winning a penalty in the 73rd minute which was despatched by the Brazilian Camilo Sanvezzo. At 2-2 it was game on again and the winner came just four minutes later to send the crowd home in euphoric mood. It came from Panamanian international Torres' and was a sublime drive into the top corner giving the goalkeeper no chance. It was a goal fit to win any game and I recommend the highlights video attached to my blog if you'd like to see it. Vancouver had been vanquished and Scottish Head Coach Martin Rennie was sent homewards to think again.
Come the end of the season, the Rapids in fifth place in the MLS Western Conference scraped into the Play-Off series that is used to determine the overall Champions (Vancouver finished seventh and missed out). In the Knockout Round of the Play-Offs Rapids luck finally ran out and they succumbed 2-0 to Seattle Sounders who went into the Semi-Finals instead. The overall Champions ended up being Sporting Kansas City who beat Real Salt Lake in the Final on penalties. Don't you just love those team names?
CRB Match No. 1972
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