TOUGH TRIP FOR TFC
But warm weather will be welcome in Panama as Reds open campaign
Facing Panamanian team on their home turf promises to be a challenge for Reds,
According to Lonely Planet, La Chorrera is famous throughout Panama for its chicheme — a sweet non-alcoholic drink made from milk, mashed corn, cinnamon and vanilla.
“It’s not really worth a stop, though,” the travel guide concludes, however.
Toronto FC, having journeyed 3,850 kilometres south from the ice and cold of home, will find out for itself Tuesday when it takes on Club Atletico Independiente de la Chorrera in the first leg of their round-of-16 CONCACAF Champions League series.
“I’ve been to Panama once and it’s just hostile,” said new striker Terrence Boyd. “I’m not really looking forward to playing over there, but then again at the same time I’m so much looking forward to the first competitive match for Toronto.”
It will be a brief visit. The MLS team is staying in Panama City, the capital, and busing to La Chorrera some 30 to 40 minutes inland.
“Playing in Central America always has its challenges,” said Toronto coach Greg Vanney. “Sometimes the opposition is just one challenge and the conditions and different things become another challenge.
“We’ve got to deal with the conditions but still play the way we want to play that’s going to make us successful.”
While the artificial turf at the compact Estadio Agustin Muquita Sanchez (capacity 3,000) is one such issue, the warm weather might be welcome af- ter Toronto’s deep freeze.
The La Chorrera forecast calls for a Tuesday high of 32 C — feeling more like 37 C — with temperatures dropping to 26 C for the evening game. Compare that to Toronto where Tuesday’s temperatures range from -12 C to -3 C. The weather will be more of factor for the return leg Feb. 26 at BMO Field.
“But we like those conditions a lot more than they will like these conditions,” Vanney said.
The long-range forecast for the return leg calls for a daytime high of -3 C and a nighttime low of -10 C. The Panamanians might as well be playing on the planet Neptune.
Vanney’s scouting report on Independiente is a team “pretty organized defensively,” quick on the counterattack and decent on set-pieces.
As in similar trips in the past, Toronto sent in head chef Elaine Flamenco and Jim Liston, director of sport science, a day early.
“For us, it’s a smart thing to do,” said Vanney.
A win and Toronto will meet either Mexico’s Club Deportivo Toluca or Sporting Kansas City in the March quarter-finals. Its semifinal opponent would be the last team standing from Atlanta United versus C.S. Herediano (Costa Rica) and Mexico’s Monterrey versus Alianza FC (El Salvador).
The tournament features 16 top club teams from CONCACAF, which represents North and Central America and the Caribbean. The winner advances to the FIFA Club World Cup.
Last year, Toronto beat the Colorado Rapids and Mexico’s Tigres UANL and Club America to reach the final in April when it lost via penalty shootout to Chivas Guadalajara.