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GERMAN SOCCER STAR MULLER DEBUTS WITH WHITECAPS IN DRAW WITH DYNAMO

VANCOUVER - Thomas Muller's Major League Soccer debut was almost perfect. 

Almost. 

The German soccer icon came off the bench for the Vancouver Whitecaps on Sunday and put the ball into the back of the net just minutes later. 

Then the offside flag went up.

“I think the moment when I scored the goal was amazing. The noise in the stadium and then also the reaction of my teammates, that was a great start for me," Muller said. "In the end, the result was a little bit disappointing. But that's the game. That's the game.”

The Whitecaps (13-6-7) settled for a 1-1 draw with the Houston Dynamo (7-11-8).

Hours before kickoff, hundreds of fans gathered at Terry Fox Plaza outside B.C. Place to welcome Vancouver's newest star. 

Many in the crowd were clad in crisp new Whitecaps jerseys emblazoned with Muller's No. 13, while others wore the red kit he formerly sported at Bayern Munich. At least two people wore lederhosen, a nod to the World Cup winner's Bavarian roots, and several German flags lined the barriers.

Muller signed with the Whitecaps on Aug. 6 after playing 17 seasons for Bayern in the German Bundesliga. There, he became a household name, scoring 250 goals across all competitions and helping the club to 33 titles, including 13 league championships. 

He also excelled on the international stage, winning the 2014 World Cup with Germany and taking home the Golden Boot from the 2010 tournament after notching five goals and three assists.

The 35-year-old attacking midfielder joined the 'Caps after his contract with Bayern was not renewed. He will remain with the club through the 2025 season on a deal that includes a Designated Player option for the 2026 campaign. 

Expectations for Muller were high on Sunday night, said Whitecaps head coach Jesper Sorensen, despite his limited time acclimating to a new team.

“First and foremost, it’s about blending him together with his teammates," the coach said. "I think he did very well. I think he has a high football IQ so he understands where to position himself and which spaces to attack.”

The sold-out crowd of 26,031 rose to their feet before kickoff Sunday when Muller was introduced on the big screen. He replied by standing and clapping for the crowd before taking his seat on the sidelines. 

Fans had another reason to cheer early in the game after Vancouver midfielder Jayden Nelson was taken down inside the penalty area by Griffin Dorsey. 

Referee Jon Freemon pointed at the spot and people rose to their feet as Brian White lined up to take the penalty in the sixth minute. The American striker then rolled a low shot into the bottom right corner of the net as Houston 'keeper Jonathan Bond dove in the opposite direction. 

The goal was White's team-leading 13th of the season. 

Boisterous cheers emanated through the crowd in the 61st minute when Muller came on for homegrown talent Jeevan Badwal.

Three minutes later, the German soccer legend blasted a shot into the back of the Houston net from the top of the penalty area. The play was quickly whistled down for being offside.

“Of course, everybody had hoped for the result of the magic moment that came when Thomas put the ball in the back of the net," Sorensen said. "Unfortunately, it was a very narrow offside. But you know, that's what can happen.”

Houston spoiled Muller's welcome party in the 91st minute when Amine Bassi slipped a pass to Artur at the top of the penalty area and the central midfielder sailed a shot in past the outstretched fingertips of Vancouver 'keeper Yohei Takaoka to level the score at 1-1. 

“You have little bit of a feeling that you lost the game even though you didn’t," Sorensen said. 

Muller said the pace and intensity of his first MLS match were high, but there are areas away from the ball where he sees room for improvement. 

“In the end, we have to take the result, and we have to take our game and improve it in the next couple of weeks," Muller said. "I'm now fresh into this team, I'm new into the league. I need a few weeks to figure out what's right or wrong. But to be honest, I feel very good after this game.”

Sunday's game capped a whirlwind week for Muller. 

Hundreds of fans were on hand to welcome him when he touched down at Vancouver International Airport on Wednesday and on Thursday a crush of media greeted him at an introductory press conference. He got his first taste of Vancouver weather on Friday when rain soaked his first training session with the team. 

“The first days were busy, but in a positive way," Muller said. "I learned a lot about the culture. I met very nice people. I had a very warm welcome in this city, and also to the whole club. I was enjoying it a lot, and I want to continue our way to more. So I’m excited." 

Life in Vancouver is a change from Munich for the soccer star.

Though the sport's popularity continues to boom throughout Canada, Muller is not yet a local celebrity in Vancouver — and he's enjoyed a tiny taste of anonymity in recent days. 

"When I walk through the city, it's nice to meet some people cheering for the Whitecaps, but it's also nice to go to the supermarket and buy my own stuff. I can relax a little bit between the lemons and the blueberries," he said. "But I'm here to lead this team to something special.”

NOTES

Whitecaps defender Tristan Blackmon left the game at halftime with knee pain. … Midfielder Ali Ahmed came on for Vancouver in the 61st minute. It was his first game action since spraining his ankle while playing for Canada at the CONCACAF Gold Cup nearly two months ago. … Kenji Cabrera came on in the 91st minute, making his home debut for the 'Caps. 

NEXT UP 

Vancouver: The Whitecaps host St. Louis City SC on Saturday. 

Houston: The Dynamo host the San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday. 

- The Canadian Press

THE VAR REVIEW: BAYERN'S OFFSIDE 'GOAL' VS. REAL

Matthijs de Ligt is furious with referee Szymon Marciniak. Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images

 Video Assistant Referee causes controversy every week across Europe, and it even crops up in the Champions League.

On Wednesday night, in the second leg of the semifinal between Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, the Bundesliga club were desperately searching for an equaliser.

Real Madrid led 2-1, giving them a 3-2 aggregate lead, in the 13th minute of added time (only nine had been signalled). Bayern had to score, but they were thwarted by the offside flag and the referee blew his whistle. Bayern lost 2-1 and were eliminated.

Bayern manager Thomas Tuchel was raging, calling it a "a disastrous decision from the linesman and the referee."

So what happened, who was to blame, and how does this all work with VAR?

Real Madrid 2-1 Bayern Munich

What happened?

The ball was played into the Real Madrid area, with Noussair Mazraoui challenging Ferland Mendy. The Los Blancos defender headed the ball away, and as the ball dropped into open space in the area, the assistant, Tomasz Listkiewicz, raised his flag. Referee Szymon Marciniak immediately blew the whistle.

Thomas Müller nodded the ball to Matthijs de Ligt, and he fired into net past Andriy Lunin -- though the goalkeeper made no attempt to make a save because of the whistle, so you cannot say Bayern were denied a goal. The Real Madrid defenders may have been affected, too.

Play stopped at the whistle, so there was nothing the VAR could do. This is all about how and when the play should end from a delayed flag.

Was Mazraoui onside?

As no goal was scored, there's no VAR offside situation to judged. So we won't get the semiautomated offside visualisation for this, and we will never know for certain.

But it looks exceptionally close, and Mazraoui may well have been marginally onside to the boot of Antonio Rüdiger.

Mazraoui's act of challenging Mendy for the aerial ball is an offside offence, even though he didn't touch it.

Why did the assistant raise his flag?

Assistants are told to keep the flag down on close offsides and only raise it when a goal is scored or at the end of the attacking move.

Indeed, Real Madrid's winning goal in the 91st minute came through this route. Joselu scored from a pass by Rüdiger, and as soon as the ball crossed the line the flag went up. The goal was awarded through a VAR review, as the striker was behind the ball. That Bayern lost to a delayed flag when they were denied by a premature flag only adds to their frustration.

The VAR Handbook states that the assistant "should delay the flag if an attacking player has a 'free run' or is in a very good scoring position moving directly to, or within, the penalty area."

For Listkiewicz, Bayern never gained possession from the original pass. It's headed away by Mendy and the offside Mazraoui failed to continue the attack. Had Mazraoui collected the pass, or headed it to a teammate himself, the assistant may not have been so ready to raise the flag.

So the assistant has done nothing wrong here?

Technically no, but in a game of such magnitude and at such a crucial stage, it would have made much more sense for Listkiewicz just to hold the flag for a little longer to see what developed.

We see so many delayed flag situations that seem to be completely needless -- for instance, when a player is running to the corner or is offside by a large margin.

This is a Champions League semifinal, one of the biggest games of the season. You've got VAR, so just wait a few more seconds.

However, Listkiewicz's flag doesn't control the game.

Does the referee share any of the blame?

Absolutely. He is in charge of when the game is halted, so ultimately, the buck stops with Marciniak. We will see a number of examples across a season of an assistant raising the flag too early, and the referee takes the decision to hold the whistle just in case anything develops.

Regardless of the flag, Marciniak should not have stopped the play when the ball first fell to Müller. It should have been clear to him there was still an attacking situation.

The VAR Handbook says: "If the assistant flags for a tight/unclear offside and a player is about to score a goal, the referee should delay the whistle until the goal results so that if the AR has made a 'clear and obvious error' the goal can be allowed."

Marciniak's role is about allowing the attacking phase to complete, not to judge how close the offside may have been. This is on Marciniak.

It's not been a stellar season for Marciniak, who refereed the 2022 World Cup final and the 2023 Champions League final. Listkiewicz was also the assistant for both showpiece games.

Marciniak was the referee who wrongly awarded a VAR-advised stoppage-time penalty to Paris Saint-Germain against Newcastle United in December, which was converted and effectively resulted in the Magpies being knocked out of Europe.

But surely the attacking phase wasn't over?

The delayed flag and the attacking phase (which the VAR can review) are two different considerations.

If the assistant has identified an offside, the flag should go up at the quickest point when there's no clear attacking momentum.

However, if the assistant doesn't spot an offside, the VAR can go back through the whole phase.

A defender heading the ball away and it dropping to an opposition player doesn't count as a reset of the reviewable VAR phase. In a Premier League game between Aston Villa and Sheffield United this season, Leon Bailey had a goal disallowed through VAR as goalkeeper Wes Foderingham was being held by Jacob Ramsey. That came after a five opposition players had touched the ball -- none of which reset the reviewable VAR phase.

- Dale Johnson, General Editor, ESPN FC

HARRY KANE STEERS BAYERN MUNICH INTO CHAMPIONS LEAGUE QUARTERFINALS WITH TWO GOALS IN 3-0 WIN OVER LAZIO

DPA via AP

 MUNICH (AP) — He’s done it again.

Harry Kane scored twice to steer Bayern Munich into the quarterfinals of the Champions League with a 3-0 win over Lazio on Tuesday.

Kane’s 32nd and 33rd goals this season for Bayern ensured the Bavarian powerhouse recovered from losing the first leg of the last 16 tie 1-0 in Rome to win 3-1 on aggregate over two legs.

“A perfect night for us,” said Kane, the man of the match.

The win will ease the pressure on Bayern coach Thomas Tuchel, whose premature departure at the end of the season was announced by Bayern after the team's three-game losing run — including the defeat in Rome.

Bayern's new sporting director Max Eberl said before Tuesday's game that Tuchel would remain in charge afterward even if the team lost, but there had been a feeling defeat would bring forward the coach's exit.

Bayern, which is 10 points behind Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga, was facing the prospect of just its second elimination in 12 appearances at this stage of the Champions League.

“If we had been eliminated today, it would have been more than unfortunate,” Bayern president Herbert Hainer said.

Kane broke the deadlock in the 38th minute after Ciro Immobile had gone close for Lazio at the other end.

Thomas Müller headed Aleksandar Pavlović’s cross back for Raphaël Guerreiro to mis-hit it, and Kane threw himself at the ball to just head it past Ivan Provedel in the Lazio goal.

There was still time before the break for Müller to score in first-half stoppage time with a glancing header to Matthijs de Ligt’s shot after a corner.

Kane sealed the result in the 66th by firing in the rebound after Leroy Sané drew a save from Provedel. It was the England captain’s sixth Champions League goal this season.