UP IN THE AIR
TFC’s shot at CONCACAF Champions League glory in Guadalajara could really use a kick-start from Victor Vazquez — if his back lets him.
If Toronto FC’s problem in the first leg of the CONCACAF Champions League was execution, as coach Greg Vanney suggested, the answer might be inhouse.
But whether creative midfielder Victor Vazquez — who has been battling a back injury and hasn’t played since putting up 26 minutes in the quarterfinals against Tigres — will be available for Wednesday night’s decisive second leg against Chivas de Guadalajara remains unclear.
“I want to say every day, but it’s probably every week he’s progressing and getting better. He’s doing more things. He’s more mobile than he has been,” Vanney said last Thursday, a day before the Reds — including Vazquez — travelled to Guadalajara, where they will try to reverse a 2-1 deficit and win the tournament.
As of Monday, his status for Wednesday’s game was still up in the air. Vazquez is suffering from a nerve problem in his back that affects his legs and feet, sometimes causing numbness. There’s also discomfort in his hips, which made the source of the problem difficult to pinpoint early on. It took several MRIs and visits with specialists to nail it down, Vanney said.
The midfielder, who played every minute of their roundof-16 series against the Colorado Rapids, was subbed out after 53 minutes of TFC’s season opener against Columbus when the injury first flared up. He played just 26 minutes against Tigres and didn’t make the bench for either leg of the semifinal against Club America or the opener against Chivas.
Rest is imperative to Vazquez’s recovery, Vanney said, adding the prognosis was six to eight weeks — and it’s been a little more than six now.
“He’s happier now because he knows he’s getting closer and he’s able to do more things,” Vanney said, “but for sure, as the team has been going through these big matches and he’s been unable to play a role, he’s been extremely frustrated.”
What the team misses most, Vanney added, is Vazquez’s touch late in a play, and ability to think creatively to disrupt the opposition’s defence.
“Obviously Seba (Giovinco), Jozy (Altidore) and Vic have a great relationship, in terms of whether it’s combining and the runs or working off of each other,” Vanney said. “He’s smart and other teams know that they have to keep an eye on him, so sometimes defensively he doesn’t necessarily have to do quite as much defensive work, because he can hurt teams so much on the other side that they actually have to defend him.”
That’s not to take away from the players who have stepped up in Vazquez’s absence, namely Marky Delgado and Jonathan Osorio. Both put in an incredible amount of work, which has been particularly helpful at BMO Field, where the pitch conditions have been less than ideal early in the season.
“Just some good old-fashioned running and young legs, and working through the mudish feel, hasn’t been the worst thing for us by any stretch,” Vanney said.
On the attacking end, Osorio has come up with a goal in each round of the Champions League tournament. His four goals put him atop the list for the Golden Boot award. It’s not something Vanney would have predicted, but he’ll take it. “Somebody asked me about him coming into the season and I said, ‘He doesn’t need to worry about scoring goals for us. He can play his game and keep possession and move the ball and do all those things.’ And then he starts scoring goals like that’s his job, so perfect. Shows you how much I know.”