The Vancouver Whitecaps have advanced to the semifinals of a prestigious international tournament, raising hopes that one of the world’s greatest soccer stars will play in front of fans at BC Place.
The ‘Caps will face off against Inter Miami later this month, the club fronted by soccer legend Lionel Messi.
But Vancouver fans may be once bitten, twice shy about the matchup. When Miami played in Vancouver last year, amid massive marketing and high ticket prices, Messi opted not to travel with the team leaving many fans embittered.
“What broke my heart is hearing the stories of like that little boy, whose parents spent thousands on a hotel and tickets and what not to come here only to say oh yeah, sorry, Messi’s not coming,” Whitecaps fan Tony Gabriel.
“That breaks my heart.”
While the Whitecaps were apologetic, there was little in the way of compensation and some fans went as far as launching a class-action lawsuit.
Now, with the prestigious CONCACAF Champions Cup on the line, will April’s match get Messi or messy?
Whitecaps CEO and sporting director Axel Schuster said fans should first and foremost show up for the Whitecaps, who are having one of their best seasons and sit at the top of the league.
“This is an attractive opponent, that there are a lot of superstars is a nice side effect of it, but first come to support the Vancouver Whitecaps in an important match.”
“This team deserves to get the biggest crowd possible. This teams deserves that the city gets behind it and supports them.”
Whether or not Messi plays, he said, is outside of the club’s control. So are ticket resale prices, he said, though he stressed the club was selling them through the box office at a “fair price.”
Tickets are currently available for season ticket holders, with some already showing up for sale online at prices as high as $1,600.
But while Messi was clearly the key draw when Inter Miami was in town last year, fans Global News spoke with on Thursday appeared more hyped about the Whitecaps’ tournament prospects than the stars on the field.
“You win the CONCACAF Champions League you are off to the Club World Cup playing the likes of Juventus, Barcelona, Real Madrid, PSG, whatever,” Whitecaps fan Tony Gabriel said.
To get to the semifinals of the tournament, the Whitecaps had to eliminate two popular teams from Mexico, first Monterrey, then Pumas — who they eliminated with a dramatic extra-time goal on Wednesday.
“It’s a big deal for us. We are in the semifinals of the top tournament in the continent, so we are excited,” said Peter Czimmermann, president of the Whitecaps supporters club the Vancouver Southsiders.
“I think there is going to be a big buzz and that’s going to be a big day.”
Czimmermann said that whether or not megastars like Messi play is outside of the home club’s control. But he believes if the league is going to promote the stars the way it does, it should require them to travel with their teams.
“Sports-wise I don’t want to force anybody to play because its important they stay healthy and they can play as many games as they want,” he said. “It think it’s just how marketing overlays this.”
With international status on the line, fans like Gabriel believe Messi is more likely than not to take the field.
“Messi, when he comes, not if he comes — it’s going to be such a hostile environment here,” he said.
“I know there will be obviously people cheering for him, but Southsiders will be going crazy, everybody will be going nuts, I think it will be an environment he’s never experienced outside of Europe.”
Tickets to the April 26 matchup are slated to go on sale to the general public on Friday at noon.
Schuster said they aren’t selling tickets in the upper bowl yet, but isn’t ruling out the possibility.