The United World Cup bid’s split of games is still open for discussion, even though the people at the top of the effort feel confident that their proposed schedule won’t change.

It’s easy for Moroccans to point out just how the United bid isn’t, well, very united.

After nearly a decade of suffering, I have come to the conclusion that there’s a TFC fan who watched Tuesday’s game knowing full well that (s)he has made a deal with the devil.

For the United bid, some kind of news that doesn’t come from the United States is welcome, as the America-first tack that had been taken by the bid (until last week) has worked more as an anchor than as a sail.

Osorio with the wonderful through-the-legs back-heeled effort off a pass from Sebastian Giovinco, then Mavinga with the game-saving lunge. On a pockmarked winter-scored pitch in Toronto, Wednesday night was a time for heroes.

Canada now has its qualifying path set for the 2019 Gold Cup and the new CONCACAF League of Nations.

The Rapids played probably as well as they could at BMO Field, Toronto FC was as indifferent as it could be. Still, the Reds had little difficulty protecting the 2-0 advantage it held from the first leg.

It could become our annual cold-shaming-of-teams-from-other-parts-of-CONCACAF festival. Oh, hi there, Mexican champs! Welcome to -20 C! Oh, hello L.A. Galaxy. Welcome to Winnipeg in February. No, this isn’t “bad” weather to us. This is NORMAL weather to us.

Toronto FC was, by a wide margin, the livelier team, and got two well-deserved road goals. A 2-0 result in the CONCACAF Champions League Round of 16 first leg gives the Reds a commanding advantage heading home for next week’s second match.

So, as Calgary looks to edge closer to a “yes” and four other Canadian cities work towards a World Cup, is someone finally going to take charge ask if these processes are on a collision course?