TFC on right side of CONCACAF drama

The utter ridiculousness of Tuesday night deserves recounting. Admit it. You appreciated every bit of it — including the spate of post-game accusations. If this is what being “CONCACAF’d” means, count me in.

The aforementioned term was coined by U.S. and Canadian fans who roll their eyes when things don’t go their teams’ way.

We’re more than willing to blame pitch conditions, poor refereeing and any other unforeseen obstacle whenever we fall victim to “injustices” on the road within the confederation.

We’re just as willing to laugh and point when those same “injustices” work in our favour.

While Toronto FC fully deserved Tuesday’s 3-1 Champions League win, Club America bench boss Miguel “Piojo” Herrera wasn’t far off with some of his criticism.

It all got lost when he started accusing Toronto cops of assaulting his players — the culmination of a semifinal that had a little bit of everything: Fact, fiction, finger-pointing, wild accusations, quality soccer and engaged supporters.

The most amusing moment arrived when an unassuming member of the media accused Herrera of completely fabricating his account of the tunnel brawl.

“It’s nothing like you de- scribed,” the reporter stated.

Herrera didn’t budge. The man has conviction.

This after Herrera spent the hours before Tuesday’s fixture chiding BMO Field, where pitch conditions remain as bad as they were when the Reds travelled to Real Esteli.

Piojo was rebuked further pre-game for another honest take.

The embattled bench boss was 100 per cent correct to insist Major League Soccer still trails Liga MX in overall quality.

He didn’t change his mind post-game, either, arguing TFC shouldn’t have been awarded a first half penalty.

He’s right. Had VAR been involved it might not have been given.

“(The referees) influenced the game from the beginning,” Herrera said, adding the standard of officiated, in his opinion, was below the level of a Champions League semifinal.

“When you see the officials are from Costa Rica, there isn’t a good vibe,” Club America sporting director Santiago Banos later added, according to ESPN’s Tom Marshall.

Deep down, CONCACAF knows most of us have been glued to the storylines since Piojo made headlines before, during and after this week’s opening leg.

For once, it was good to see someone else suffer at the hands of the confederation. Toronto FC’s Jonathan Osorio is taken down by Club America’s William da Silva and Guido Rodriguez during CONCACAF semifinal action on Tuesday.