Andres Cubas nearing his debut with the Vancouver Whitecaps
Newly acquired Andres Cubas could be nearing his debut with the Vancouver Whitecaps.
Whitecaps head coach Vanni Sartini revealed the player won’t be in the starting 11 for the highly anticipated match against Cascadian rival Seattle Sounders on Tuesday, but will likely be used as a lethal option off the bench.
It would come as a tight turnaround time for Cubas, who joined from French club Nimes on April 28.
“He played two games with his national team last week, but before that he was like a month off and he had a long flight, so you know, as usual, he's a little tired,” Sartini told reporters Monday after training.
"He’s getting adapted, but it's important that he makes the trip with us. We don’t know if he’s going to play a little or not, but he's going to put himself in the group and understand what MLS is so it’s going to be an important trip for him, for sure.”
Cubas stands as the club’s latest Designated Player after signing through June 2026 with an option to extend through the end of the 2026 Major League Soccer season.
“We know he’s a very good player, he’s good technically and he's very good at winning the ball back, so those are all qualities that will be important to improve our team and to improve our midfield,” Sartini said. "He's looking good. Again, we need to work with him and hopefully he's going to be at top condition very soon.”
The defensive midfielder’s involvement would come as a boost for the Whitecaps, who currently sit in 10th on the Western Conference standings with 17 points in 14 games and a record of 5W-2D-7L.
The team is also going into Tuesday’s game with a three game winning streak, but Sartini knows overcoming the Sounders will be no easy task.
“The Sounders are a big team, but I would say we are in a good moment lately and I hope three or four days off mentally recharged everyone,” Sartini said. "The atmosphere at training was pretty good. We’re confident we're going to do a good performance. We’ll see, it’s going to be really hard, but I think we’re going to do our part.”