Toronto FC caps historic season with MLS Cup
TORONTO The MLS Cup has long been a dream for beleaguered Toronto FC fans. For captain Michael Bradley, it was an obsession after losing the championship game last year in a penalty shootout.
“Not just for me but every single guy in our team,” Bradley said.
“I could sit here and try to explain to you guys for the next two hours what it’s like to lose a final on penalties the way we did last year and to have to wake up the next morning and feel like your chance at redemption might as well be 50 years away,” Bradley added Saturday after finally scratching that very big title itch.
Toronto avenged last year’s MLS Cup final loss to Seattle by dominating the Sounders 20 in the championship rematch.
Jozy Altidore scored in the 67th minute and Victor Vazquez added a stoppagetime counter-attack goal as Toronto completed its recordbreaking season.
The home side put on a performance brimming with confidence and intent before 30,584 on a warmer-thanexpected late afternoon at BMO Field, where it was 1 Celsius at kickoff.
Seattle was on the back foot almost from the get-go. Toronto grabbed the Sounders by the scruff of the neck and didn’t stop shaking for 90 minutes.
Seattle coach Brian Schmetzer said his team will be taking some pointers from Toronto.
“If you look at Toronto’s year, the start of the year was the loss in the 2016 MLS Cup, and you could tell that that was a motivated franchise, motivated coach, motivated team,” he said.
“Their success throughout the year I believe was fuelled by the loss last year, so what I told my group was I said ‘Look, we can use it the same way. We’re still a good team. We can go out and compile a few more wins and maybe host an MLS Cup final in front of our Seattle fans.”’
The win was especially sweet for a Toronto franchise that, while a hit at the turnstiles since entering MLS in 2007, was the league doormat for a long time. Ownership changed coaches, players and philosophies seemingly at will. Toronto missed the playoffs for its first eight years and needed five seasons to register a total of 10 away wins. In 2012, the team set a league record by losing nine game straight to open the season. “We’re setting a record for the worst team in the world, man, and it’s painful,” star striker Danny Koevermans said famously at the time. “What can I say more? It’s just the worst ever.”
After that disastrous 5-21-8 season, Toronto rolled back season-ticket prices to 2007 levels to appease disgruntled fans.
Tim Leiweke, hired as president and CEO of owner Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment in April 2013 got the ball rolling. Leiweke had the vision and inclination to bring big-ticket designated players like Bradley to Toronto.
He didn’t always hit the right note but he pushed the franchise back on track.
The hiring of Tim Bezbatchenko as GM (September 2013), Greg Vanney as head coach (August 2013) and Bill Manning as president (October 2015) steadied the ship. The right players were found and the right culture was instilled.
But in all, it took 11 seasons, nine coaches and 370 games to hoist the MLS Cup.
Saturday’s win completed an unprecedented treble for Toronto, adding the Philip F. Anschutz Trophy to the Supporters’ Shield symbolic of the best regular-season record in this case the league’s best regular season ever - and the Voyageurs Cup as Canadian champions.
Toronto (20-5-9) earned a league-record 69 points this season, dispatching the New York Red Bulls and Columbus Crew SC earlier in the playoffs.