Opportunity knocks for Vancouver, MLS B
Exciting Montreal-Toronto playoff series ramps up enthusiasm for Canadian club soccer
obby Lenarduzzi watched Wednesday’s instant classic from bed. The flu-ridden Whitecaps’ president was transfixed by the Toronto FC-Montreal Impact spectacle like many Canadian soccer fans, despite the obvious pain that comes from watching one’s rivals duke it out while your own team has long been eliminated.
“Aside from the fact you’d like to be there, it was a fantastic advertisement for the game in Canada,” Lenarduzzi said of Toronto’s dramatic, roller-coaster victory in the MLS Eastern Conference final at a rocking BMO Field.
“And not just that (second) leg, but the first and the second, and having a 7-5 total aggregate score line, and the drama that took place. It can only help the game in our country.”
Montreal had led this series 3-0 after 53 minutes of the first leg at Olympic Stadium.
Toronto’s barnstorming comeback — keyed, in large part, by a ruthless, rampant Jozy Altidore — marked just the second time in MLS playoff history, and first time in 13 years, that a club had trailed by three goals in a two-leg series and come back to win.
Many were calling this the greatest MLS playoff series ever by the final whistle Wednesday.
It’s also being touted as perhaps the greatest day in the history of Canadian club soccer, although those folks perhaps weren’t around in 1979, when the Caps claimed the Soccer Bowl and tens of thousands — 100,000 by some estimates — lined Robson Street for the victory parade.
It’s a fun debate and, ultimately, all positive. Around 96,000 fans took in this Eastern Conference final in person over two legs. The television numbers for leg one were around one million in average audience for TSN and RDS combined. That made it Canada’s most-watched MLS game ever.
The second leg might have topped that, although TV numbers weren’t out by press time Thursday.
Toronto FC is the first Canadian team to reach MLS Cup. They’ll host the Seattle Sounders on Dec. 10. Make that two seasons in a row for the Caps to watch a rival — or two — battle it out for the biggest prize. The Portland Timbers won MLS Cup last season.
“If you were saying you didn’t wish it was you, you’d be lying,” said Lenarduzzi, “but we can’t dwell on that. We need to figure out what we need to do between now and the start of next season to get back to the playoffs and make a deep run.
“We also have a chance now, with the Champions League (quarterfinals in February), to extend that enthusiasm in Vancouver and around the country by getting to the semifinals. We saw what happened in Montreal and Toronto (during their deep Champions League runs) and that’s something we should view as a great opportunity.”
While some will point to the free spending of Toronto and Seattle as evidence that money talks in MLS — TFC has the league’s highest payroll at around $22 million; Seattle is fourth — Lenarduzzi disagrees.
“I think you have to have a larger sample size because history doesn’t necessarily support that,” he said. “Other than L.A. (who won multiple titles) there’s been a lot of different winners, and they’re not spending near the money the top teams are.
“What it comes down to is finding the players, regardless of what they’re costing you, who can score the goals.
“It’s the combination of spending the right money on the right DPs (designated players), and making sure you’re pushing players through.”
Montreal, who were only 4-6-3 since August, are further proof that it’s about getting into the playoffs and getting hot, he added. Even Toronto limped down the stretch with one win in six.
Lenarduzzi also said the Caps will need the likes of goalkeeper David Ousted, defensive midfielder Matias Laba, centre-back Kendall Waston, and winger Cristian Techera, to return to their 2015 form after dips in performance.