Article content continued

Cornelius has also worked into the first-team rotation with the national team, his first full year with the senior team after exploding onto the radar with a strong U-21 performance in Toulon. He wasn’t ready to take a macro look at his evolution with either squad.

“It’s hard to say (how far I’ve come),” he said. “This season has been rapid; it’s gone by really quick. So I don’t think we’ve had a moment to sit down and think about ‘how did you progress?’ in the different areas between the Caps and the national team. And I don’t think we have time to do that, because we have a game coming up tomorrow (Saturday).”

There won’t be any latent ghosts of past mistakes haunting him when he starts Saturday against the Dynamo, his mentality maintaining its integrity in the face of those moments.

“But that’s our job. I’ve said it a lot of times in key moments this season, that a lot of things haven’t gone our way. That’s kind of added up into not the season we were planning for,” he said.

“You really have to look at a lot of footage, to go back and see which were the good decisions, which could have done better. It comes down to learning from everything. If you have a good game, what went well? If you have a not-so good game … what didn’t go well? You try and find the reasons behind it, and try to pull it all together, continue to grow and improve.

“It’s just learning. Learning from all the times. Good moments, bad moments, just always trying to learn.”

jadams@postmedia.com

Twitter.com/TheRealJJAdams

CAPS FINAL 4 GAMES

• Saturday: Houston Dynamo at Whitecaps (7 p.m.)

• Sept. 21: Columbus Crew at Whitecaps (2 p.m.)

• Sept. 29: Whitecaps at L.A. Galaxy (4:30 p.m.)

• Oct. 6: Real Salt Lake at Whitecaps (1 p.m.)

CLICK HEREto report a typo.

Is there more to this story? We’d like to hear from you about this or any other stories you think we should know about. Email vantips@postmedia.com