TFC: Reds willing to wait for Giovinco, could clinch Shield without him
It will be mid-October before Sebastian Giovinco returns for Toronto FC, by which time the Reds should have Major League Soccer’s Supporters’ Shield long locked up.
Giovinco, who has missed three games since suffering a quadriceps strain Sept. 9, practised Friday but won’t play Saturday, when the New York Red Bulls visit BMO Field. The Reds need three points from that game to clinch the regular-season title.
There is still a risk associated with testing Giovinco in a match situation, one coach Greg Vanney is not willing to take with an international break on the other side of Saturday’s 90 minutes. The Reds don’t play again until Oct. 15.
“(Giovinco is) eager, to put it mildly,” Vanney said. “He wants to get going but he understands where he’s at, and he understands where we are in terms of the season and what’s in front of us.”
What’s in front of Toronto, accordingly to captain Michael Bradley, is everything. And Giovinco, who was banged up during last year’s playoff run, won’t want to miss minutes again.
“We’ve not done anything yet,” Bradley said. “We’ve not come all this way, we’ve not worked as hard as we have, to start celebrating things before they happen. That goes for the Supporters’ Shield, that goes for the playoffs. The biggest games are still to come.”
While a win Saturday would bring a trophy, it’s just another three points to TFC. After back-to-back losses to Montreal and New England, the first time Toronto has suffered consecutive defeats since early 2016, swaying the momentum in the Reds’ favour is as important as any shield.
“We’ve talked in an honest, hard way amongst ourselves to make sure we all understand what we’ve got to be about as the biggest games come, but we also understand that you’re going to have little spells in a season where things like that go against you,” Bradley said. “That’s life, that’s normal. You have to have the ability to keep going, to bounce back in a strong way. I know we will.”
The Reds will be buoyed by the return of striker Jozy Altidore, who has missed the past three games with lower body tightness. Giovinco is the only player unavailable for Saturday’s game.
“To feel like we’ve got everybody back and fit and healthy, there’s nothing better,” Bradley said.
Toronto will be facing another team desperately hunting for a playoff spot. New York is in the sixth and final playoff spot in the East, and hasn’t managed a victory in eight games.
Still, nobody in Toronto’s camp is expecting the Red Bulls to sit back. That’s not in their DNA, Vanney said.
“They will very much come in and they will try to put us under pressure and make us make mistakes,” he said. “I think it’s a great time to have to deal with that, have to manage it and have to find the right solutions in the right amount of time. It’s a good challenge for us right now.”