The Vancouver Whitecaps are happy with where they stand going into Wednesday’s second leg of the Canadian Championship semifinal against FC Edmonton, but know they must maintain readiness from the first whistle.

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 dived to the right side.

When asked about whether he found the performance of his midfield trio of Davidson, Gershon Koffie and Nigel Reo-Coker subpar, he responded simply that he was “very disappointed.”

“That’s the difference between being playing a higher level of football and a lower level of football. You take your chances. You might only get once chance away from home and you must learn to take that one chance that you may get.”

“We’ve been doing that one-time passing at training a lot,” Koffie said following Saturday’s win. “To do one-time passing, you have to move, and know what to do before the ball comes.”

“Obviously the lateness doesn’t help,” Toronto head coach Ryan Nelsen conceded to The 11 when asked about the last minute additions. “We had to evaluate what we had at Toronto on the playing staff, what we could do with the cap. The cap’s a big issue with this club so we had to be creative. Creative in making this club competitive looking at the short-term and long-term future."

With the MLS season moved up to its earliest start ever, forgive us if we don’t feel 100 per cent totally prepared for First Kick. Judging by the way many MLS teams finished preseason, with tentative matches and still looking at trialists with a week to go before the games count in the standings, a lot of coaches aren’t quite ready for the early start, either.

It might seem like a strange decision. Chris Nurse, in search of another second-division title, came to a franchise that finished in last place in the league last season.

Three goals from Camilo — one on a penalty — gave the Whitecaps a comfortable 3-0 preseason win over the NASL’s Carolina RailHawks in Cary, N.C. Sunday.

“I think that Joe did well,” Rennie said. “I think he’s done well all preseason, all training camp, and Brad’s done fairly well, too."