“To be honest, today I don’t feel anything,” Kendall Waston said. “The past is the past and right now I’m going to sweat and do everything possible for Cincinnati.”
Those powerful remarks are what FC Cincinnati fans have come to expect from Waston, the club’s captain throughout 2019. But those same sentiments should be familiar to FCC’s next opponent, too.
On Saturday night, the Orange and Blue host Vancouver Whitecaps FC at Nippert Stadium for the first time. For Waston and a handful of players, the matchup is a chance to play against their former club. For the center back personally, it’s the first time he’ll face the team he used to wear the captain’s armband for as recently as last season.
So, it’d be understandable for Waston to be sentimental about Saturday night. His remarks Tuesday morning assured that’s not the case, however.
“I’m just looking forward to the game because we need to win at home and get three points,” he said. “Obviously, there’s some mixed feelings because I have played with a few of their players a lot of years, but it’s always nice to face them again.”
Waston spent five years at the Cascadian club, finishing with 115 regular season appearances. He’s not the only former Vancouver player who could represent FC Cincinnati on Saturday, though.
Darren Mattocks made 93 appearances for Vancouver between 2012-15. Kekuta Manneh played 101 times for the team from 2013-17. Spencer Richey, who’s been FCC’s starting goalkeeper, was in the Whitecaps FC organization for years but only played once for the first team in 2017.
That’s just for players.
As for coaches, assistant Pa-Modou Kah played and coached in Vancouver, while former head coach Alan Koch was the Whitecaps FC 2 coach before joining FC Cincinnati.
The distance between the clubs might be roughly 2,500 miles and a 38-hour drive, but Vancouver might be the team FCC have the most connections with of any side in MLS.
Essentially, the Orange and Blue might say this is just another game, but it’s not – and that’s a good thing.
“It’s always special for every player to play against his old team,” Interim Head Coach Yoann Damet said. “I think there is some major emotions attached to this type of game. It’s something good.”
Regardless of previous clubs, Waston, Damet and Manneh reiterated any fondness of a former team is bypassed when there’s a chance to win and accumulate points.
For Manneh, he said a rematch with Vancouver won’t feel significant simply because he’s played against them already.
“I played against Vancouver when I went to Columbus (Crew SC) and scored and had an assist,” he said. “Leading up to that game, I had similar questions asked, but it doesn’t really matter to me what Vancouver is doing.
“I’m not a Vancouver player anymore. I play for FC Cincinnati. For me, that’s what matters. Maybe in Columbus I had a little bit more pressure because it was my first game against them and I had a point to prove. But now, I just want to help my team anyway I can to win the game.”
