Reds are all drumming to the same soccer beat
Minutes after Toronto FC beat New York City FC 2-0 at BMO Field on Sunday night, the home team crowded around a pair of drums at the south end of the stadium, ready for its now routine celebration with fans.
But the squad and its supporters held off, waiting for striker Jozy Altidore, the night’s winning goal scorer, to finish an interview at midfield.
The camera was hardly off, the microphone hardly put down when thousands of fans began chanting the forward’s name. The serenade continued as Altidore jogged over to take his place at the drum.
If TFC’s most successful regular season — and ongoing playoff run — has proven anything, it’s that this squad has a special bond with its fans. What can sometimes be overlooked, though, is the relationship between the players themselves.
“We’re becoming closer every game, after every moment like this,” Altidore said following Sunday’s match. That’s not necessarily by chance. Coach Greg Vanney said the squad spoke about its closeness at the beginning of the season. The team was keen to represent its club’s “all for one” slogan by lifting each other up and having each other’s backs unconditionally. It wasn’t a rule, Vanney said, but the thinking was clear: Whenever the players do something, they do it together.
So as much as it warms the coach’s heart to see his players celebrate with fans, it’s just as important to Vanney to see them look to one another in the big moments.
On Sunday, when Altidore and fellow striker Tosaint Ricketts scored two late goals to secure the Eastern Conference semifinal’s home-leg victory, even TFC’s bench got in on the excitement.
“You can’t really fake that stuff,” Vanney said. “You can see it when it’s on the field that the group, they enjoy each other, they like to play together and they’re believing in each other.” Defender Nick Hagglund, who joined Toronto FC as a rookie in 2014, said this season’s group is closer than in years past thanks to little changeover in the dressing room. Nine of the Reds’ players have been with the club since 2014 or before, while another nine came in during the 2015 season. Vanney, the longesttenured coach in TFC history, has more than two years under his belt.
“With the consistency that we’ve had over last year and this year, I think we just get to be together more, we get to know each other better,” Hagglund said.
Winning doesn’t hurt either, said Ricketts, who joined the Reds midseason. The Canadian admitted this week he can’t remember many moments when he has been this happy playing soccer.
“The results bring everyone together. We’re in this together, we’re a family,” he said.
It’s a mentality Ricketts believes the team needs as it aims to make a successful run to the MLS Cup.