VANCOUVER -- A mid-week rest and a position change seems to have put some lively samba back in the dangerous feet of the Vancouver Whitecaps’ Brazilian dynamo.

Camilo Sanvezzo scored on a brilliant free kick in the first half of Saturday’s 2-2 draw with the Portland Timbers at BC Place. He also set up the 2-1 goal by Gershon Koffie by winning a battle in the box with physical Portland centre back Andrew Jean-Baptiste.

Although he had started just five of the Caps’ first 10 games and averaged just 52 minutes in the nine he played in, Camilo was left in Vancouver when the Caps travelled to Montreal for last Wednesday’s first leg of the Amway Canadian Championship final.

It was a strategic move by head coach Martin Rennie that paid off in a big way. Playing as a true centre forward for the first time this season after most of his minutes had come as a winger or inside left forward, Camilo was a little pepper pot much of the game, buzzing Portland defenders, holding the ball up well and making some exquisite short passes.

“I think so,” he said when asked if not playing in Montreal had helped his energy level on Saturday.

“I think I stay fresh. It’s a long time I didn’t play there (centre forward). I do my best, hold the ball, play short. And I think we had a very good game.”

He drew the foul that set up his goal with a strong run to the edge of the box. And he fought off a clutching-and-grabbing Jean-Baptiste in the box to serve up a short pass for Koffie on the go-ahead goal The Ghanian midfielder drilled a wonderful curling shot to the top, far-post corner from about 20 yards.

The 24-year-old Camilo has toned down some of the diving and theatrics that earned him scorn in his first Major League Soccer season. But the cheeky little Brazilian is still one of the league’s best at feeling contact anywhere near or in the box and spilling to the turf.

In the 23rd minute, he went down just outside the box, with the chasing Will Johnson just barely clipping his heel. The contact was minimal at best, but Johnson still got a yellow card.

Camilo spent plenty of time eyeing up the free kick, then drilled a brilliant strike over the leaping Portland wall into the top corner, near post, past the outstretched hand of Timbers’ goalkeeper Donovan Rickets. It was his club-leading third goal of the season.

Rennie called the strike “fantastic” and said he thought Camilo did extremely well all game holding the ball up and pressuring the Portland back line.

“That’s one of the best performances I’ve seen from him. He’s the top scoring player in the club’s history and he showed why (Saturday).”

THROW-INS: Coach Rennie said that despite losing points on Saturday, he saw enough positives to believe his club is ready to turn things around after a couple of tough months.

“Our players have put in a hard shift for a long number of days. We’ve travelled a lot ... but there was no sign of letting down, no sign of tiredness. It’s exciting for me to see the heart and character of this team and what they can become.”

gkingston@vancouversun.com