Reds don’t plan to be gracious hosts to Vancouver
The last time the Vancouver Whitecaps visited BMO Field, Toronto FC was left with a bitter taste in its mouth.
A careless Reds side give up two early goals and two more late in a 4-3 loss a little more than a month ago. And coach Greg Vanney and his players were the team’s harshest critics.
“Not good enough in any way; so (I) can’t help but walk off the field and be frustrated and disappointed with how things played out,” captain Michael Bradley said at the time.
Defender Drew Moor echoed the thought. “We didn’t deserve anything out of this one.”
Vanney believed the loss was the antithesis of what the team had done in its previous nine games, a blip stemming from a lack of concentration. But that did not mean he was happy about the “pathetic” performance.
“We didn’t start the game with the right mentality. Period.”
Going into Tuesday’s clash, the first leg of the Canadian Championship final, things have to be better on Toronto’s end, especially given that the home team’s resident Whitecapturned-Red, defender Steven Beitashour, expects a similar showing from his old club.
“They’re going to come out here, be disciplined and try to do what they did last time; they did a good job of it,” he told reporters Monday. “We have to be prepared for that, stick to our game plan and execute better than last time.”
Getting a result at home in the first leg of the two-game series is crucial, as is keeping Vancouver off the scoresheet at BMO Field, said goalkeeper Clint Irwin. In the event the series is tied after two legs, away goals carry more weight than those scored at home.
Toronto is familiar with taking advantage of its home leg. The Reds beat the Montreal Impact 4-2 at BMO Field in their semifinal opener, and advanced after a 0-0 tie in the second game in Montreal.
“To be able to give yourself a cush- ion going into the second game puts more pressure on the other team going back to their home stadium,” Irwin said.
The last time Toronto met Vancouver — who beat North American Soc- cer League’s Ottawa Fury to advance to the final round — in the Canadian Championship final was in 2012. That was also the last time the Reds earned a berth into the CONCACAF Champions League.
Toronto’s president Bill Manning told the Star earlier this season that the club is putting emphasis on winning the tournament this year. He believes returning to the Champions League is an important step in garnering international attention for the organization.
The players share in that vision. Irwin, who is playing in his first Canadian Championship this season, has never appeared in the Champions League. He is excited by the possibility of playing on an even bigger stage.
But for now, he’s not looking past claiming the Voyageurs Cup.
“It’d be huge to win it and that’s what we’re focused on.”
The second leg of the final takes place June 29 in Vancouver.