Two former stars for Germany will take the pitch as opponents on Saturday night when the Vancouver Whitecaps host the San Jose Earthquakes.

Vancouver’s Thomas Muller and San Jose’s Timo Werner were teammates on Germany’s 2018 World Cup team and played in 23 matches together on the national team.

Muller, 36, is tied for sixth in German history with 45 goals and leads with 41 assists in 131 matches. Werner, 30, scored 24 goals in 57 national team appearances.

Muller joined Vancouver late last season, had seven goals in seven regular-season matches, and helped the Whitecaps reach the MLS title match before they fell to Inter Miami.

Werner joined the Earthquakes for the start of this season after San Jose coach Bruce Arena vigorously pursued him and made multiple trips to Germany.

Werner has two assists in three matches.

“He said, ‘You are the top player, and I want to win something with you,'” Werner told reporters. “And that gave me a good feeling from the start. He always said he would be behind me.”

Werner and the Earthquakes (3-1-0, 9 points) will face a tough clash with the fast-starting Whitecaps (4-0-0, 12 points).

Vancouver has outscored its four MLS opponents 14-1, and star striker Brian White is tied for the league lead with five goals. Sebastian Berhalter has two goals and a league-high-tying four assists, and Muller has two goals.

Whitecaps coach Jesper Sorensen said he is impressed with how much the players are buying into the team standard.

“I think this group has embraced the challenges put in front of them, and then we have succeeded in some and some we haven’t,” he said. “That’s what it is, but I think this group is always looking forward to challenges ahead of them.”

The Whitecaps routed visiting Minnesota United 6-0 last Sunday. White had two goals.

Vancouver did suffer a disappointment on Wednesday when it was eliminated from the CONCACAF Champions Cup by the Seattle Sounders, losing two legs by 5-1 aggregate score.

The Earthquakes won their first three MLS matches before falling 1-0 to the Sounders last Sunday.

The shutout ended San Jose’s 23-match streak of scoring at least once in MLS play. The Earthquakes boasted a 290-minute streak of not allowing a goal until Seattle’s Paul Rothrock scored in the 20th minute.

Arena was disappointed with all of the squandered chances.

“We had 17 corner kicks,” he said. “You’d like to believe you can be a little bit more dangerous. We weren’t good on our corners.”

The Earthquakes and Whitecaps split two matches last season, with the home team winning each time.

–Field Level Media