Late Camilo PK salvages a point for the Whitecaps

Camilo PHOTO: TONY LEWIS/CANADA SOCCER

Camilo made the most of a late penalty opportunity Saturday afternoon at BC Place, scoring the equalizer in a 1-1 draw with Real Salt Lake in front of 19,612 fans.

The Brazilian’s conversion from the spot was a relief given he’d missed a pile of opportunities, especially in the first half. On the play, Camilo slotted the ball into the bottom left corner as Nick Rimando dove to the right side.

“I think he played well today,” head coach Martin Rennie told reporters after the match. “He was a little bit unfortunate. It was one of those situations where if he does take a couple of those chances then we win the game but he’s got a goal on the penalty kick.

“He showed great composure because it was such a long time to delay before he actually took it. But he’s had a good performance today. He’s been dangerous today and I think in general our front players have done quite well.”

The penalty was called in the 83rd minute after an unfortunate play in which Nat Borchers slipped and handled the ball after Kekuta Manneh attempted to hit a cross. The ball rebounded off Tony Beltran before Borchers lost his footing.

Following the match, RSL head coach Jason Kreis refused to provide his opinion on the game’s decisive moment.

Camilo’s goal cancelled out a strike scored by substitute Olmes Garcia, who hit a stunning curling effort from outside the box 65 minutes in which found the top right corner of Joe Cannon’s net.

“We could have closed him down better,” Rennie conceded. “But it was one of those strikes – he probably won’t do that very often and it just happened to be against us which is always disappointing. There’s always things you can do when you lose a goal that you could have done better.

“At the time I felt we could have closed him down better. I’ll look at it more. I’m sure there’s multiple mistakes – there usually is on a goal – but it was a great strike and there wasn’t a lot Joe could have done about that.”

Down at the other end of the pitch, Camilo had several opportunities in the first half, but ended up second best time and time again to Rimando.

The Brazilian had his first look at goal 10 minutes in, as he connected on a header which Rimando stopped, before banging the rebound against the ‘keeper once again. From a third attempt the forward once again failed to convert, skying his shot over the target.

That was probably his best opportunity in a half in which he came close with a free kick and a long-range effort which Rimando narrowly pushed wide.

Nigel Reo-Coker also came close in the 55th minute, as he hit a ball from the edge of the area only for Rimando to parry the ball away strongly.

“I just think it’s just a matter of time until our luck changes,” Reo-Coker said of the missed opportunities. “It’s not something where you have to say, oh, you have to go out on the training ground and work even harder, or put a lot of emphasis on it.

“It’s something that happens in football – you can get games like that.”

While Vancouver tied the match on a penalty, it had a strong shout for another one in the 43rd minute, as Lee Young-Pyo was tackled in the box and theatrically grabbed his leg. Rennie claimed after the game that felt there was contact.

The Whitecaps play on Saturday away to FC Dallas with their record now standing at 2-2-2.