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Ricketts’ goalkeeping heroics against his former team allows Impact to draw Galaxy

By
Mike Wyman
– 05/13/2012

Davy Arnaud: Opening goal

A new Canadian record crowd for pro soccer turned up at Olympic Stadium for this afternoon’s match against the MLS reigning champs, with very few of the 60,860 leaving the park unsatisfied with the spectacle .

The teams fought a tough, physical battle with the home side dominating the opening 45 minutes, scoring their goal early and the visiting LA Galaxy evening the score in the second half, with keeper Donovan Ricketts providing the biggest reason that his old club left town with a single point rather than handing the Impact its first MLS defeat in Montreal. Final score: Impact 1, Galaxy 1.

The first half saw the Galaxy holding a decided edge in possession time as well as the both the number and proportion of passes completed, but ended with the home side a goal up.

The Impact marker came in the eighth minute of play, the result of a sortie that began with a long Nelson Rivas pass out of the defensive zone that found Bernardo Corradi. The Italian striker moved it up to captain, Davy Arnaud, normally a midfielder but starting up front today, who put it easily behind Galaxy ‘keeper, Brian Perk, making his first start of the season.
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Bad news for TFC, Impact: East is proving to be much better than advertised

By
Steven Sandor
– 04/23/2012

There are those who look at Toronto FC’s 0-6 start to the regular season and think “oh boy, I am glad we don’t play in the Western Conference, or the season would already be over.”

The thinking is that, with the West being so much stronger than the East — with the likes of Real Salt Lake, the Seattle Sounders, a Los Angeles Galaxy side that’s got to get better and surprising San Jose — that it would be easier for TFC or Montreal to recover from poor starts to the season and pip am Eastern playoff spot than it would be for a much-improved Vancouver side to hang with the Western juggernauts.

And, through the first two weeks of the season, that thinking would have been right on. In head-to-head matches between teams from the East and West, the Western Conference teams won 10 of the first 12. It was proof that all of MLS’ power lay west of Houston. It was an apples-to-apples comparison and the Western teams were kicking butt.

But since then, from Week Three onward, we’ve seen the Eastern teams start to surge back. And it’s not just Sporting Kansas City, who are off to a 7-1-0 start and most Montreal and Toronto fans would admit already can’t be caught.
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Frings to miss TFC home opener, CONCACAF Champions League dates

By
Steven Sandor
– 03/20/2012

Torsten Frings

Toronto FC will be without its anchor for not only Saturday’s home opener, but for its CONCACAF Champions League semifinal against Mexican powerhouse Santos Laguna.

The club confirmed Tuesday that Designated Player Torsten Frings will miss the next four to six weeks with a right hamstring strain. Frings had to leave Saturday’s MLS season opener in Seattle just after the 20-minute mark after he extended himself to make a sliding, saving challenge.

Of course, saving Toronto’s defensive bacon is part of Frings’ job description. Throughout the preseason and through the CCL quarter-final upset of the Los Angeles, Frings has been slotted into a sweeper role, acting as cover for Ty Harden and Miguel Aceval in the centre of the Reds’ back line. Frings is also TFC’s best option to move the ball out of the back. With Frings in against Seattle, the Reds were out of step against a very quick Seattle attack; with Frings out of the lineup, the Reds simply looked lost.
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TFC’s defensive frailties exposed by Estrada, Sounders

By
Steven Sandor
– 03/18/2012

David Estrada

Just three days after winning its biggest match in club history, Toronto FC got a reality check.

Playing against a Seattle Sounders team that had something to prove after it received a 6-1 hiding from Santos Laguna CONCACAF Champions League action, TFC reminded its supporters that its back line is still too slow, too disorganized.

David Estrada scored three times as the Sounders won its MLS home opener 3-1 in front of more than 38,000 fans, but this was far more than one player having a good day. It was a case of a Seattle Sounders — a team which doesn’t have the star power of the Los Angeles Galaxy but plays at a much faster pace — running TFC’s back line ragged.

And, when TFC — already down 1-0 — lost Torsten Frings to injury after he was forced to make a last ditch saving tackle after TFC’s high line had been unlocked, the soft underbelly lost its armour. Frings had been successfully utilized as a sweeper to try and mask Toronto FC’s defensive defencies through Toronto’s two-legged CCL triumph over the Galaxy; without Frings, the Reds were left exposed.
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Quarter-final rewind: Winter won the coaching battle over Arena

By
Steven Sandor
– 03/15/2012

Aron Winter

Bruce Arena

When you think of who the best all-time coach in MLS, Bruce Arena’s name will come up more often than not. MLS Cups with multiple franchises, former U.S. national-team coach and architect of what’s arguably the greatest dynasty this league has ever seen, the D.C. United squad of the late ‘90s.

But, as Toronto FC fans bask in the afterglow of their team’s fantastic victory over Arena and his Galaxy in the CONCACAF Champions League quarter-finals, they should think to one area where the Reds held a major advantage over the MLS champs.

Aron Winter outmanaged and outcoached Arena in the second leg. Winter made the right decisions, while Arena struggled to adjust. And the coaching decisions could very well have been the deciding factors in the quarters.
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Toronto FC the last MLS team standing in CCL

By
Steven Sandor
– 03/15/2012

Milos Kocic: Robbed Robbie Keane late in the match

If, last July, someone was to predict that Toronto FC would be the last MLS team standing in the CONCACAF Champions League, they’d have been offered some pretty sweet odds.

But, there it is — after TFC played a cagey road game Wednesday in front of a smattering of Los Angeles soccer loyalists at the Home Depot Center, the Reds are the only team to qualify for the CCL’s final four. A second half goal from Nick Soolsma, combined with sterling performances from forward Ryan Johnson and goalkeeper Milos Kocic, gave the Reds a 2-1 win over the Galaxy in the second leg of their CCL quarterfinal, and a 4-3 triumph on aggregate.

The Reds will now face Herculez Gomez and Santos Laguna in the semifinal. And it won’t be easy. The Mexican powerhouse smashed six past the Seattle Sounders Wednesday.
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Record TFC crowd makes the noise, but Galaxy takes the advantage

By
Mark Polishuk
– 03/08/2012

Ryan Johnson... got the opening goal

Through the first 20 minutes of Wednesday’s CONCACAF Champions League quarter-final first leg, it seemed like Toronto FC was having the ultimate storybook performance. Playing in the biggest match (and in front of the biggest home crowd) in club history, the Reds jumped out to a 2-0 lead over the favoured Los Angeles Galaxy, driving the 47,658 supporters in attendance into even more of a frenzy.

Unfortunately for the Reds, however, there was no happy ending. Landon Donovan’s goal in the 88th minute equalized the score at 2-2 and cost TFC a chance to get an edge in the CCL tie.

“The city definitely delivered tonight and they felt like a 12th man,” said midfielder Terry Dunfield. “It’s too bad, the script was waiting for us to hold on and take that 2-1 score to L.A.”
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The 11′s super-duper MLS 2012 season preview

By
Steven Sandor
– 03/07/2012

The 11’s Steven Sandor, Mark Polishuk and Aman Dhanoa held a virtual round table, discussing how they foresaw the 2012 MLS season.

Will the Galaxy repeat? Will any of the three Canadian teams make the playoffs? Who will be the MVP?

We tallied up our votes, and came up with our list of how the teams will finish, who will win MLS Cup and who will be the league’s MVP. No need to play the season, now. We have it all figured out.
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Galaxy’s Keane: Rogers Centre turf “could be dangerous” (WITH VIDEO)

By
Aman Dhanoa
– 03/07/2012

Robbie Keane

As Toronto FC held its second practice at the Rogers Centre on Wednesday morning media had its first look at the artificial turf on which the first leg of the CONCACAF Champions League quarter-final will be played — and it wasn’t a pleasant sight.

Up close it was evident that this type of turf wasn’t of the highest quality and had a plastic look — almost like the first examples of this type of surface used years ago. From up above it did not look any better. It looked as though two different types of turf were stitched together to make one and patch lines were visible all over the field. One side also looked more worn than the other.

This is not exactly the type of playing surface used in a professional tournament like the CCL, especially in a high-stakes quarter-final. But with the early March weather, the match was moved from the grass surface of BMO Field to the Rogers Centre. And then it became known that it was too expensive for MLSE to truck in real grass for just one game at this time of year.

When asked about the turf, TFC Head Coach and Technical Director Aron Winter didn’t have much to say, positive or negative.

“No, I didn’t expect it, but it’s good,” said Winter when asked if the turf was what he expected. But he did think it was an improvement on what was used in the Buffalo Bills game last fall. “Yeah, it’s better, much better.”
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Despite shortened preseason, Winter says TFC is ready for CCL quarter-final

By
Aman Dhanoa
– 03/07/2012

Danny Koevermans

Entering its biggest match in franchise history, there is no question that TFC will be playing the role of underdog on Wednesday night.

Playing in the warm confines of a sold-out Rogers Centre and in front of its biggest crowd ever, TFC’s home field advantage in the first leg of the CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinal will be crucial to the team’s hopes. But, on the pitch it will be a completely different story.

The Galaxy is the defending MLS champ and was almost unbeatable last season. But anything can happen in football, especially when the season starts anew. As stated since the match-up was announced, TFC Head Coach and Technical Director Aron Winter is not focused so much on LA. as he is on his own squad.

“We’re going to play our own game,” said Winter. “We know their strengths and weaknesses.”
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