TFC’s Altidore apologizes for outburst against Manning

Toronto FC striker Jozy Altidore apologized Monday for a postgame outburst in which he accused team president Bill Manning of letting his ego get in the way of player welfare.

Altidore left Toronto’s 4-3 Major League Soccer win over Minnesota in the 82nd minute Friday night, complaining of hamstring tightness. The U.S. international laid into Manning after the game, saying the president’s ego was hurting player welfare by banning trainer Giuseppe Gueli because of his affiliation with the now departed Sebastian Giovinco.

On Monday, Manning met with Altidore and then talked to reporters on a conference call, saying Gueli was back in the fold. Manning said his only issue with the Italian trainer was that he wanted to formalize their relationship so he was available to all players, not just a few.

“Jozy didn’t know that Giuseppe was going to be back,” said Manning, who put the Altidore outburst down to emotions running high after his early exit.

Altidore issued an apology to Manning and the soccer club soon after via social media.

Manning downplayed the incident with Altidore, who leads the team in scoring with five goals this season.

Manning also revealed that Altidore’s injury was not serious.

“The MRI was very good. It’s going to be two to three weeks (out) ... Certainly it’s nothing long-term and I think that was his fear in the moment. Mentally, he kind of went through a tough spot,” said Manning.

Toronto (4-1-1) hosts Portland (1-5-1) on Saturday.