Underdog role suits Toronto FC just fine
Reds must find a way to stop Impact’s Didier Drogba if they hope to advance
“These are the big games that, when you start in January, you talk about playing in, so we’re excited.” MICHAEL BRADLEY TORONTO FC CAPTAIN
Playoff time is here and Toronto FC is starting to act like it.
The team that adamantly refused to celebrate earning its first postseason berth in franchise history — “Just a first step,” captain Michael Bradley has said repeatedly — gave in to some hype Tuesday, hosting a fan rally in Toronto and admitting to some anticipation ahead of Thursday’s do-or-die rematch in Montreal with the Impact.
“What is this, the Super Bowl?” centre-back Josh Williams quipped as he prepared to face a larger-thanusual group of reporters following a training session in Toronto Monday.
“We’re excited,” Bradley said with a slight smile. “It’s a big game. These are the big games that, when you start in January, you talk about playing in, so we’re excited.”
It’s an attitude that will have to translate on the field come Thursday.
Montreal is the favourite going into the match, after a 2-1win over Toronto in the final game of the regular season Sunday. Didier Drogba scored two goals a minute apart to erase a 1-0 TFC lead.
The three points secured Montreal third place in the Eastern Conference and home-field advantage in Thursday’s knockout game.
Toronto was dominant in the first half of that match, but a sleepy start to the second half might have cost the Reds their chance to host a playoff match this year. It was the first time this season Toronto lost after scoring the first goal.
Lucky for the visitors, the weekend game was only a dress rehearsal for Toronto’s post-season debut. Reds coach Greg Vanney admits Montreal has the advantage, but playing the underdogs is familiar for Toronto.
“Once you get into the playoffs and the game gets going, anything can happen in these games,” Vanney said. “It’s about the team that comes out with the right mentality and makes the right adjustments from the last game.”
The most obvious adjustment Toronto must make is controlling the game for a full 90 minutes, or more if necessary.
That includes containing Drogba, who was relatively unmarked for two flicks of his foot that turned into goals.
“We’ve got to make it harder than that,” Vanney said. “He’s obviously proven to be one of the greatest goal scorers in the game and it was just way too easy in the box, he was just too loose.”
Less obvious is the pressure up front. Toronto created some chances in the first half of the last game, but couldn’t convert more than one, a header from Jozy Altidore.
Much of that pressure to attack incisively will fall to Sebastian Giovinco, winner of the league’s Golden Boot award, who was unusually quiet against Montreal last time.
If Toronto has a match to Drogba, it’s Giovinco. And Williams said TFC will look to its leaders, like Giovinco, for composure in what will likely be an emotional match.
Amidst the playoff hype, everything is ratcheted up, the defender said.
“It’s the playoffs. Everything from intensity to focus to diet, rest. It all raises at this time of the year.”