Whitecaps finish CONCACAF group stage with perfect record

His nickname in Spanish is El Bicho. That translates into The Bug.

Midfielder Cristian Techera certainly proved to be a pest, scoring twice and setting up two other goals as the Vancouver Whitecaps defeated the Central FC Sharks 4-1 in a CONCACAF Champions League group play match Wednesday night.

Techera scored once on a penalty kick to give Vancouver a 2-0 lead in the 22nd minute, then put the game away in the 70th, knocking a pass from midfielder Marcel de Jong into the Sharks' goal.

He also set up goals by Blas Perez and Masota Kudo as the Whitecaps finished first in the Championship League Group C with a 4-0-0 record for 12 points. Central FC, from Couva, Trinidad and Tobago, dropped to 0-2-1 for one point.

Midfielder Sean De Silva scored for Central FC in the 44th minute.

The win, before a crowd of 17,038 at BC Place Stadium, means Vancouver will be ranked in the top three seeds when the Champions League quarter-finals begins early next year.

Techera on fire

Techera, a native of Paysandu, Uruguay, has scored five goals in group play and earned praise from coach Carl Robinson.

"I thought he was excellent in his quality of ball," said Robison. "He's an architect when he has the ball.

"He got into some great positions and managed to score two good goals. His work rate was spot on as well."

The Whitecaps went into the game wanting to score as many goals as possible to improve their quarter-final seeding.

Finishing among the top four teams means a club plays the second game of the two-match, second-round series at home. The first determination for seeding is points followed by goal differential.

Vancouver has a plus-eight goal differential after the opening round.

"I think we played very well," said Robinson. "I'm slightly disappointed we only scored four goals. We missed a number of chances.

"It's very important we got one of the top three seeds. The system I played today was a little bit more attacking based on trying to get some goals."

The CONCACAF Champions League is a 24-team competition between the top clubs from North America, Central America, and the Caribbean. Vancouver gained a berth in the tournament by winning last year's Amway Canadian Championship.

The tournament winner qualifies for the annual FIFA Club World Cup, where they compete against the top teams from Asia, Africa, South America, Oceania, and Europe.

1st-time achievement

This is Vancouver's second appearance in the Champions League but the first time the team has advanced past the group stage.

"For the club its an unbelievable achievement," said Robinson. "We're delighted.

"We will be very well prepared for whoever we face in the next round."

Techera's first goal was set up after Perez was hauled down in the box by defender Keion Goodridge, who was given a yellow card. Techera scored by chipping a shot past Sharks' goaltender Jan-Michael Williams.

Perez opened the scoring in the 11th minute. Techera started the play by moving the ball across the front of the Central FC net, then dropping a pass back to Perez. He made no mistake, shooting into a wide-open goal.

Vancouver went ahead 3-1 in the 49th minute. Techera feathered a pass across the front of the net that Kudo punched past Williams.

Advancing in the Champions League helps ease the sting of a season where the Whitecaps chances of advancing to the Major League Soccer playoffs have almost vanished.

"I thought we got off to a good start," said defender Brett Levis. "It was good to go through the group stage winning every game.

"I thought we could have had a few more goals. Hopefully we can carry this momentum."