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Brian White became the all-time leading scorer in Whitecaps history this weekend, and by taking the crown from Camilo, the striker can relegate that painful memory to a historical footnote.
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Published Apr 26, 2024 • Last updated 3 days ago • 9 minute read
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Should Brian White score his record-breaking 44th goal for the Vancouver Whitecaps this weekend, there’s only one celebration he’ll do. ‘A group hug,’ said White. Photo by Darryl Dyck/CP /PNG
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At one point last year, Vancouver Whitecaps sporting director Axel Schuster picked up the phone to have a talk with a South American soccer agent. On the other end of the line, Lucas Teixeira was ready to talk about a player Schuster had inquired about. It became clear the fit wouldn’t work, when Teixeira offered up another of his clients, a name Caps fans know well: Camilo.
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“He brought it up, ‘It would be a great story and everyone in Vancouver would love it,’ ” he said. “Long story short, I don’t even know it was really serious. (Camilo) still wanted to make good dollars and I said, ‘Look, if he wants to come here and play for $89,000, retire here and have another good year, I can think about that.’
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“He obviously loves the city. A lot of guys that have been here love the city and a lot of them would love to come back. Unfortunately, I have not enough spots in the office and everywhere else to bring them all back.”
Schuster joked that Camilo, who burned bridges with the Caps and the city by forcing a move to Querétaro FC in Liga MX in 2014, wanted to come back for ulterior motives — to prevent his all-time team record for goals scored being broken.
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But there was no denying Brian White as he scored his 44th goal for the Whitecaps on Saturday against his former team, New York Red Bulls.
White and Camilo were tied at 43, but no longer.
Camilo retired in January, having returned to Querétaro after touring around three other teams in Liga MX, and finished his career with Los Gallos Blancos with a team-record 67 goals.
As with several other attempts in the past, he didn’t respond to a request to speak about his career, including his time in Vancouver.
But while his legacy in Vancouver will forever be a tainted one, the man who supplanted him atop the goal-scoring pile is on track to be mentioned in the same reverent breath as the Dominic Mobilios and Carl Valentine. He’s got talent and skill, but graciousness and humility to match. The New Jersey native’s success has come from hard work, patience and results, not a passport.
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“First of all, he’s just a really good guy — one of the nicest guys I’ve been around. Great teammate,” said Ryan Meara, who’s in his 13th season as a goalkeeper with the Red Bulls. “I always admired his attitude, whether he was starting every game, coming off the bench or on the bench. He really carried himself in a very professional way, even from a young age.”
“I’ve been in a lot of different locker-rooms, a lot of different teams … and he’s one of my favourite teammates of all time. I don’t think that will ever change,” added Nashville SC midfielder Sean Davis, a 10-year MLS veteran who played with White both in New York and at Duke University.
“The reason is because he just has one of the best and most professional attitudes that I’ve seen. And that goes all the way back to Duke. He is extremely humble, extremely hardworking, regardless of any decisions that a coach makes or a GM makes, he handles in stride.
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“When we were in New York, his answer was always to just train harder, do extra work, and just find a way. When I see him play now, it’s not surprising because he has this mentality where he just can’t be stopped. He’s always gonna give his best … You still got the same version of Brian White, that best version of Brian White, regardless of if he was being selected or not.”
His Blue Devils coach, John Kerr — whose father John just happens to be in the Canadian Soccer Hall of Fame — recalled recruiting a fresh-faced White out of the Players Development Academy in Jersey as an attacking midfielder. He saw the ability, but didn’t know he had a dawg who would spend 30 minutes before and after every practice doing skills work with assistant coach Mike Brady.
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“When I first saw him play, I fell in love with his talent,” said Kerr. “He was just the consummate player that wanted to get better, that wanted to push the envelope. And not only was he willing to do the work on the field, but he was also willing to do all the work off the field.
“It’s not an accident. Whatever he’s gotten, is not an accident.”
White was born in Pittsburgh, but grew up in Flemington, N.J. It’s technically Jersey, but it’s a sleepy, rural area where it’s not out of place for a kid to show up to his high school classes riding a tractor.
“There’s not much going on over there,” he said. “My first year at the Red Bulls, I lived at home and then after that, I moved to Jersey City and I never went back. It’s not for me. Cows mooing? I was like, ‘Naw, get me out of here.’ ”
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The dream of being a pro soccer player, while rare in a country where basketball, football and baseball attract most of the athletes, wasn’t uncommon in White’s hometown. The soccer culture was strong in Flemington, and the PDA produces some high-level talent, including White’s youth teammate, DC United’s Jared Stroud.
Duke was a common destination for a lot of elite players in the East. Davis of Holmdel, N.J., went there, as did San Jose Earthquakes forward Jeremy Ebobisse (Bethesda, M.D.) and Stroud’s brother Peter.
“For me, Duke was the best combination of soccer and academics,” said White. “Me, my family, we knew that soccer wasn’t always gonna last. It’s not that we’re making NBA money. So I needed something to fall back on.”
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In his four years there, he was on the ACC honour roll four times, and twice made the All-ACC Academic team majoring in political science with a minor in philosophy. He began playing with the Red Bulls’ Premier Development League (now USL 2) team during the summer while at Duke, before they took him 16th overall in the SuperDraft.
In 2018, he made his MLS debut — against Vancouver, no less — but spent most of his time with the USL side. The next year, he broke through, making 17 starts and scoring 10 goals. He had five goals in 10 starts in 2020 before tearing the ligaments in his ankle and ending his campaign, but his effectiveness to that point wasn’t enough to impress incoming coach Gerhard Struber.
White made a of couple starts in 2021, but found himself stapled to the bench.
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In Vancouver, then-assistant coach Phil Dos Santos pushed Schuster to take a closer look at White, having known his abilities well from his days coaching in the USL. The closer look revealed a player with proven metrics, and an attitude that fit into the culture they were trying to build.
“I wasn’t surprised that I got traded because I wasn’t doing anything. I felt like I was just a mannequin in training,” said White. “But I was surprised because I hadn’t heard anything until it was done.”
Vancouver sent US$400,000 in allocation money to New York. He was supposed to be Lucas Cavallini’s backup, to slot into the lineup when the Designated Player was away on national team duty. But White found immediate chemistry with Ryan Gauld, finishing the season as the leading scorer with 12 goals and providing the propellent that pushed the Caps to their first playoff appearance in four seasons.
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Back in Hoboken, Davis lamented losing his friend, and missing their bonding “bro dates” over Jersey sandwiches (bacon, egg and cheese) at Cangianos. But he saw the success White was having, and knew he had made the right move.
“At the end of the day, it was a personnel decision by either the coach or GM, and obviously, I don’t know … but I do know that it turned out to be one of the best trades that I’ve seen in MLS since I joined the league,” he said.
Injuries kept White from finding any rhythm in 2022, but he exploded for 19 goals across all competitions last season — challenging for the Golden Boot up until the end — and producing the highest total since Camilo’s magic 25-goal Golden Boot season in 2013. The U.S. national team took notice, calling White up for his first cap last year.
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White consistently deflects taking credit for his success; it was all down to his tutelage under Bradley Wright-Phillips in New York, or Gauld’s passing and gravitational effect on defenders in Vancouver. But that belies the fact that he’s playing at a DP level, on a lower salary, in a position usually reserved for hyped imported players.
“You ever see that Paul Rudd Hot Ones video clip, where he’s like, ‘Look at us.’ That’s what I think about this situation. Like, ‘Look at us. Who would have thought?’ ” said White. “I got traded here, and I was realistically supposed to be a backup. And for whatever reason, I’ve been able to work hard, work well with the team… the coach and been able to produce goals.
“So yeah, it means a lot to come into a club and kind of take over that record of the leading scorer in the MLS’ era. It’s something I’m looking forward to achieving.”
It would be poetic for it to happen Saturday. He’ll have more than 50 friends and family at the game. His parents, Chips and Michele, will each have their own crew, along with White’s girlfriend, Catherine.
All that’s needed is a moment of magic.
Kerr, himself a Duke legend as a player, remembers White scoring off of a throw-in against Fordham, a long-distance golazo that punctuated a 3-0 win.
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“You were just like, ‘Wow, that’s a world-class goal,’ ” he said. “You just saw the quality and … you just have to clap. It’s the beautiful thing about strikers of the top level. Brian White scores beautiful goals, dirty goals, header goals, courageous goals … all kinds of goals. And that’s a real art to be able to score the easy ones, but you have to be brave and anticipate and sometimes be willing to get your head kicked in. But he also scores some frickin’ magical creative, ‘Wow, I didn’t realize he was even thinking about that and all of a sudden it goes in’ goals.”
White scored off a deft backheel on Saturday, and there was never any doubt he would break the record from the spot. Of his 51 MLS goals, none have come from penalty kicks — one of just six players to score that many without a penalty kick. Gauld is the designated penalty, and White’s happy to keep it that way. Gauld, for his part, would love to help his friend break the record, but won’t force him to take one if the opportunity arises, just for the sake of the serendipitous timing.
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They’re cut from the same cloth: Team first.
“A lot of times in sports, you have those … selfish attacking players; guys that put their stats first,” said Davis. “But this is a guy that puts winning above everything, and winning for his team. I just think it’s a great story. He’s a great example, great role model for any kid watching the game. For him to get the goal-scoring record … it couldn’t happen to a better guy.”
jadams@postmedia.com
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Courtesy : https://theprovince.com/sports/the-villain-and-the-virtuous-how-whitecaps-brian-white-will-ease-the-pain-of-the-past