TFC triumphs in fight to the finish
TFC’s second straight Voyageurs Cup comes with ticket to CONCACAF Champions League
> TORONTO FC 2 > IMPACT 1 TFC WINS 3-2 ON AGGREGATE
It was a rollicking good time on the pitch at BMO Field: joyful Toronto FC players hugging each other, their kids, wives, partners and other loved ones bouncing around the field in a movable party.
The fireworks were exploding over the north end of the stadium and Bryan Adams was blaring over the public address system, because winning the Canadian Championship will create that kind of magical moment.
Sebastian Giovinco called it “beautiful” after scoring twice, leading TFC to a 2-1 win over the Montreal Impact for a second straight national title.
As he ruffled the hair of his son standing in front of him, Michael Bradley said he wanted the moment to be just one of many for what is now the most successful team in the city.
“This was a huge priority for us,” Bradley said after Toronto took the two-leg championship 3-2 on aggregate, following a draw in Montreal last week. “We want to win trophies. We want to compete for every competition that we’re in.
“At the end of the year, we want to be the team that’s held up the best and won the most and competed the hardest and won the most trophies. We got our first chance tonight.”
It wasn’t easy, and it wasn’t in the bag until Giovinco worked some of his magic three minutes into added time, scoring his second goal of the game against a Montreal team reduced to 10 men after the sending off of skipper Patrice Bernier in the 90th minute.
“We win. I score. It’s good,” was about the perfect quote from the diminutive striker, who buried his first goal in the 54th minute to offset a first-half marker by Montreal’s Ballou Tabla. “I feel happy because in the final when you score, for the strikers, it’s always beautiful.”
The win also gives Toronto FC a berth in the CONCACAF Champions League. That it came against their arch-rivals from Montreal and in front of a typically crazed crowd of 26,539 made it all the sweeter.
“You always know that when you play against them you have to be patient, move the ball around well, and if you make sure you keep an eye on their dangerous attacking guys in transition, you’re going to get chances,” Bradley said.
“I thought, even when it didn’t come easy, we kept at it in a really strong way.”
The win keeps alive an impressive Toronto home winning streak. In league and Canadian Championship play this season, they are unbeaten in the raucous confines of their home park.
“This is why I came to the club, to be here on nights like this, to try to help lead in a strong way,” Bradley said.
“This is the first one this year, and there’s more still out there for us and every guy’s determined to keep going.”
The win finishes one crazy schedule stretch for the Reds, who were playing their third game in seven nights after the draw in Montreal last Wednesday and a Friday MLS win at home over New England Revolution.
They won’t have much time to celebrate, though.
The Reds have league date in Dallas on Saturday.
“One of the best things about this group has been that we have been so committed and so concentrated on 90 minutes at a time,” Bradley said. “It’s 90 minutes at a time, a week at a time over the course of season, 10 or 11 months. That’s what our mentality is, and obviously it’s been a good stretch for us.”
It was the last Toronto FC game for weeks, however, for midfielders Jonathan Osorio and Raheem Edwards as well as forward Tosaint Ricketts, who will join the Canadian national team for the CONCACAF Gold Cup.
Canada opens Group A play on July 11 in New Jersey against French Guyana, before facing Costa Rica in Houston and Honduras just outside of Dallas later in July.
By waiting to name his team until after Tuesday’s game, Canadian senior team coach Octavio Zambrano assured Montreal and Toronto would have their full complement of Canadian players available.
The U.S. also offered TFC a helping hand by leaving Bradley and Jozy Altidore off its Gold Cup roster. Although coach Bruce Arena did summon defender Justin Morrow.