TORONTO FC FACING THE TIGRES’ DEN
This team might be the best in MLS, but Mexico’s elite think they’re on another level
Don’t poke the bear — or the tiger, it seems.
Tough talkin’ UANL Tigres team official Miguel Garza Martinez responded to Postmedia’s playful jab ahead of Tuesday’s anticipated return leg at the raucous Estadio Universitario.
A “Paper Tigres” headline in the aftermath of Toronto FC’s 2-1 CONCACAF Champions League win provoked the Tigres’ second in command to fire back ahead of this week’s decisive second leg.
“(In Canada), the cold freezes their ways of thinking,” a confident Martinez told reporters, adding the Tigres will do their talking on the pitch this week instead of in the press.
They certainly have some explaining to do following Toronto FC’s stunning comeback.
Tigres, Tijuana and Club America were scrutinized after the Liga MX trio fell to MLS opposition in their CONCACAF Champions League quarter-final meetings.
Mexican sports magazine Record was far more harsh than Postmedia, using its front page to call the results “insulting and unacceptable” for a league and country that prides itself on continental supremacy.
Last week wasn’t just about Tigres-TFC or Tijuana-Red Bulls or Chivas- Sounders. It was about Liga MX versus MLS, us versus them, an established league versus one deemed inferior.
“These Mexican clubs don’t like losing to MLS clubs. It’s that simple,” longtime MLS and Liga MX striker Herculez Gomez said. “(Toronto FC) might be a Canadian club, but (Liga MX clubs) equate MLS to American soccer. That rivalry is still there. They know it will be talked about.
“They know they’ll be scrutinized by the national press. Everyone knows Tigres is one of the most expensive rosters in North America. When they lose to an MLS team, they don’t take it lightly.”
But competing at home has never been an issue for MLS clubs. Toronto FC defeated Cruz Azul at BMO Field back in 2010 before drawing the Pumas a year later. Gomez’s Santos Laguna drew at BMO in 2012. However, Toronto FC was dominated each time it ventured south of the U.S. border.
“The tempo can be different,” Toronto FC head coach Greg Vanney said ahead of his team’s arrival in Mexico on Sunday.
“Get down there and the game tends to look like how they want it to look.
“(MLS) teams continue to improve. Our tactics continue to improve. Our difference-makers continue to improve,” Vanney added. “You’re seeing more parity in some of these games.”
Some have expressed disappointment the TFC-Tigres series is happening so early. Gomez referred to this tie as his “dream final” when reached by phone during the weekend.
Not only has Toronto FC been the best side in Major League Soccer two years running, its roster appears to be best suited to survive a do-or-die fixture inside Tigres’ home pitch, ominously nicknamed The Volcano.
Toronto FC’s roster is stacked with guys who’ve experienced similar environments. The occasion won’t be too big for a group of players who together possess an encyclopedia of fixture lists.
“It’s not going to surprise me if Toronto pulls this off,” Gomez said. “I think (Toronto FC) surprised Tigres with their willingness to play almost the same sort of game (last week), where we open ourselves up and throw numbers forward, with the understanding we’re vulnerable behind us.”
Expect Vanney to adjust his tactics given the situation.
Toronto’s ability to win games in different ways, including on the counterattack, has been an underappreciated pillar of Vanney’s tenure.
But while Toronto has proven it can score against the best Mexico has to offer, there are lingering doubts they can contain CONCACAF’s top strikers.
Frenchman Andre-Pierre Gignac enters Tuesday night’s affair in elite form on the back of a thunderous strike that lifted the Tigres past Tijuana in league play on the weekend. Likewise, Chilean Eduardo Vargas showed his quality in Toronto.
It’s difficult to imagine a scenario in which Toronto FC emerges from The Volcano with a clean sheet.
“They’re going to treat this as a final,” Gomez said.
“I don’t even have enough fingers to count how many finals Tigres has been in.
“This is very routine for them. They feel very comfortable in these do-or-die situations. That’s what sets Tigres apart from any team on this continent.”
They appear eager to show they’re anything but paper thin.