No matter how the season is going for either team, derbies are special in soccer, and victories in them can make up for a lot of other things.
Former Hearts striker Dario Zanatta was part of the Edinburgh derby against Hibernian in Scotland and said “they take it seriously.”
The Island product now plays in the cross-strait derby in the Canadian Premier League between Pacific FC and Vancouver FC, which reprises tonight at 7:30 at Starlight Stadium.
VFC defeated PFC 2-1 in the first game this season between the clubs last month in Langley.
“We feel we owe them one,” said Zanatta.
The Gorge FC and Lower Island Metro product is a rare Canadian to have played at the Premiership, Championship or League 1 levels in Britain, performing for eight seasons in Scotland with Hearts, Queen’s Park, Raith Rovers, Ayr United, Alloa Athletic, Partick Thistle and Hamilton Academical.
There was no CPL, or pro B.C. derby, from which to springboard when Zanatta, 26, was coming up.
“There was no pro soccer here then and I didn’t expect to be playing pro in my hometown. I’ve been impressed with the CPL and it’s been enjoyable to play in front of family and friends,” said the former Canada U-20 forward, named to the provisional roster for 2020 Tokyo Olympics qualifying before the pandemic.
Zanatta also represented Canada at the U-18 Slovakia Cup in 2015 and the CONCACAF U-20 championship in 2017 in Costa Rica and hails from an integral Island soccer clan. He was the ball boy at Royal Athletic Park when his dad Dante Zanatta, now head coach of UBC-Okanagan in Canada West, guided Victoria United to championship glory in the Pacific Coast Soccer League. The family wasn’t just known on the pitch. Dario’s brother, Keegan Zanatta, swam with Olympic-medallist Ryan Cochrane at Saanich Commonwealth Place Pool and had a national-championship career in Canada West and U Sports with the UVic Vikes and UBC Thunderbirds.
Dario Zanatta had 43 goals in more than 200 games played in Scottish pro soccer but has yet to find the netting in his first 11 appearances with the Tridents. Goals, however, have been an issue across the board with PFC the lowest-scoring team in the CPL with only 10 on the season.
“Finishing is the toughest part of the game. That’s why strikers go for the biggest money. Scoring is all about confidence,” said Zanatta.
Fourth-place PFC is 4-3-4 in wins-losses-draws in league play and one point ahead of fifth-place VFC (4-4-3) with both teams coming off their worst performances of the season after the Tridents lost 2-0 to a mostly 10-man York United squad following a red card while the Eagles were crushed 4-0 by last place HFX of Halifax in a stunning result.
But it’s the derby that matters now.
“Derbies are different,” said Vancouver FC midfielder Vasco Fry, noting the Eagles have won the last three against the Tridents dating to last season.
“We’ve won the last few so that’s a positive thing for us. Derbies were different for me back home [Peru]. It’s just a different feeling. Victoria and Vancouver are close together. You are extra motivated. You leave [the table] and everything else behind.”
The 23-year-old Fry certainly has, as the former Peruvian U-17 international with 10 career MLS games for the Whitecaps, has scored two game-winning goals for VFC against PFC over two CPL seasons.
The Eagles, in their second CPL season, have rallied to lead the all-time series against the Tridents 3-2 after dropping the first two games against PFC last year.
Meanwhile, PFC gave an update on its goalkeeping situation. With top-two ’keepers Emil Gazdov, out with illness, and Sean Melvin, out with an ankle injury, PFC has played third-string ’keeper Daniel Zadravec the last two games — the 2-0 loss at York United and a 3-2 win over Valour FC in Winnipeg.
“We have made no decision as to [tonight’s] starter,” said Tridents head coach James Merriman, who added however, Gazdov is available for tonight but Melvin is not.
CORNER KICKS: PFC on Wednesday signed eight-time Guatemala-capped midfielder Marco Domínguez through the 2025 CPL season. The 28-year-old native of Montreal, son of a Guatemalan dad and Dominican mom, has played pro soccer in Guatemala since 2018 and led CSD Municipal to the Liga Nacional championship in 2023. He represented Canada in the 2013 CONCACAF U-17 championship and FIFA U-17 World Cup.
