Backup goalie hoping for a place on Cup final stage
Tornaghi a patient teammate, but it’s not easy sitting behind Ousted
Nobody dreams of being a backup goalkeeper.
There’s no glamour, no security and, often, no first-team minutes. Especially when you’re sitting behind someone like David Ousted on the depth chart.
Paolo Tornaghi, the Whitecaps’ No. 2 netminder, knows this all too well because he’s been with the club since 2014 and he’s played a grand total of zero MLS minutes.
Ousted’s been that good and that consistent.
But there’s always hope, and for Tornaghi that takes the form of the Amway Canadian Championship, which will crown a winner Wednesday at B.C. Place (7 p.m., TSN, TSN 1040).
Toronto FC leads 1-0 after the first leg at BMO Field, with away goals the first tiebreaker in this total-goals series.
Unlike last year, when Caps coach Carl Robinson played Tornaghi in the semifinal series and then switched to Ousted for the final, Robinson came back with Tornaghi in Toronto, on his birthday no less.
The feel-good storyline here would be for Robinson to again tap Tornaghi for a start — the eternal backup thrust into the spotlight in a Cup final.
“You can’t say enough about him as a teammate,” said Caps midfielder Russell Teibert. “But you can say so much more about him as a person. He’s always a good support system for any guy. He wants the best for this team.”
There would be some symmetry to a Tornaghi start, too.
The 28-year-old from Milan, Italy, last competed in a Cup final in 2007, when he played for Inter Milan’s under-21s in the Coppa Italia Primavera.
The opponent that day? A Juventus team that featured Sebastian Giovinco, who of course scored the winning goal on a free kick.
Now with Toronto, Giovinco again poses by far the biggest threat to the Caps’ Voyageurs Cup aspirations. He scored and struck the post in the first leg.
“At the time you could see his movement, his quality on the ball was amazing, and everyone knew he’d go on to the next level with Juventus,” Tornaghi recalled of his U21 days.
“He’s the MVP of the league (MLS). He needs just one ball and he can score so we have to be very, very focused on him. But if we get the (first) goal and go from there with the support of the stadium that we’ll have, I think we’ll have very good chances to win.”
Tornaghi did win a title earlier that same ’ 07 season with Inter. They beat Sampdoria in the Campionato Nazionale Primavera. Mario Balotelli scored the winner.
Tornaghi then went on loan to play professionally in Italy, before a move to MLS and the Chicago Fire in 2012. He made nine MLS
appearances for the Fire over two seasons.
He appeared to be on his way out of Vancouver after the 2015 season as the Caps declined his option. But he rejoined the team on a training basis late in the pre-season and in March he re-signed a one-year deal plus a club option for 2017.
“I know my position here,” Tornaghi said Monday, still beaming from Italy’s round of 16 win and the play of goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon. “I have to be ready when I’m called. The last time I had played (before the Canadian semifinal se- ries) was October in Honduras, and then I got back in against Ottawa. It’s not easy at all but I have to do it and if I play at my level I will be of help for the team.
“Being in the (final) would be great. I was looking forward to it last year.”
Robinson wasn’t giving anything away at Tuesday’s news conference. No one would be surprised to see him start Ousted, although Tornaghi has done his job well in the three Canadian championship games. He had no chance on Giovinco’s deflected opener in Toronto.
But just like Tornaghi did two years ago in Toronto, when teenager Marco Carducci got the call ahead of him in the semifinal, he’ll be the first guy to encourage Ousted if that’s the choice.