Chanting fans pack downtown Toronto to celebrate TFC’s victory
TORONTO — With fans chanting his name, Toronto FC captain Michael Bradley said the club will bask in its MLS Cup win a little while longer before getting to work on a second title.
Thousands of fans packed into Nathan Phillips Square on Monday for a fan rally celebrating Toronto FC’s first MLS Cup victory.
Toronto beat the Seattle Sounders 2-0 in the championship game at BMO Field on Saturday, becoming the first Canadian team to win the title.
The team arrived on a doubledecker bus, carrying the Philip F. Anschutz Trophy with them as they made their way to a stage.
Seattle beat Toronto on the Reds’ home turf in the 2016 MLS Cup final, winning on penalty kicks following a 0-0 draw. Toronto made sure there was not a repeat of that outcome on Saturday, thoroughly dominating the Sounders and before getting second-half goals from Jozy Altidore and Victor Vazquez.
“To be able to lift that trophy in this city in front of our fans, to be able to give everybody a day like this, this is why every single one of us are here,” Bradley said.
Bradley told the fans he had immersed himself in Toronto’s sports culture and said his team will work hard to emulate the Blue Jays’ back-to-back World Series titles in 1992 and ’93.
Toronto (20-5-9) was the best team during the regular season and set a record with 69 points — the most ever in Major League Soccer history. Led by Bradley and forwards Sebastian Giovinco and Altidore, the Reds set franchise records for wins (20), goals scored (74), fewest goals allowed (37), shutouts (13), home wins (13), home points (42), road wins (seven) and road points (27).
Toronto also won the Voyageurs Cup as Canadian champions, beating the Montreal Impact in a two-game series in June.