Nutrilite Canadian Champions!

For the second time this week Toronto FC were taking on the Vancouver Whitecaps.  Having beaten them 1-0 in a fairly dull league match thanks to a penalty earlier in the week TFC were feeling confident that they would be able to get the result they needed in the second attempt at the second leg of the NCC final.  In case you have forgotten, it was a good while ago, Toronto FC were totally outplayed in Vancouver but managed to steal a 1-1 draw in the first leg.  Then the second league again saw Vancouver being the better side by a clear margin but heavy rain and thunder storms had other ideas as the unsafe weather conditions led to the match having to be abandoned a rescheduled for the next time Vancouver were in town.  That meant that Canada's club championship was now set to be fittingly decided on Canada weekend.

The weather on saturday was once again calling for rain and a good chance of thunder storms but thankfully it held off and we can finally say that this seasons Nutrilite Canadian Championship is in the books.  The two teams made their agendas for this match fairly clear earlier in the week when you looked at the teams that they selected for the MLS match.  TFC, who are currently ravaged by injury, fielded a fairly strong side as they looked to end their 10 game winless run while the Whitecaps rested several players as they were seemingly willing to give up 3 points in the league in exchange for improving their chances at winning the Voyageurs Cup.  The move on Vancouver's part was a bit of a tricky one since giving TFC the win in the league was sure to restore some of their battered confidence and give the players increased hope that they would be able to win again on saturday.  After all this week was one of great optimism around TFC as they finally ended their winless run as well as announcing the signings of two former internationals.

Toronto FC came into the second leg with a lineup that was almost the same as it had been on Wedensday night as only Julian De Guzman and Maicon Santos were brought in.  Vancouver on the other hand made a drastic 7 changes from midweek.  The match kicked off in a fairly lively fashion with the first real chance falling to Santos after a quick counter attack and some ver questionable decision making by the keeper left him in all alone chasing after the bouncing ball.  By the time Santos was able to catch up to the ball he was almost on the goal line and was unable to hit anything but the side netting with his effort.  In the 20th minute though it was the Whitecaps who would open the scoring thanks to a beautifully taken free kick by Sanvezzo who stepped in with his right and fired a shot in to the top corner that gave Frei no chance of making the stop.

Toronto almost found an answer only 5 minutes later as a lively run from Plata opened up the Whitecaps defence and his ball allowed De Guzman to fire in a shot that was well save by Cannon but came back off the post to Martina who's effort had to be cleared off the line.  That chance was followed up with more scrambling and more chances for TFC but in the end they could not convert and the ball eventually went out for a corner.  It was clear that TFC were going for the win in this one and the signs of life were encouraging for the home fans having seen their side already go down 2-1 on aggregate.

Just before the half there was another moment where the Whitecaps were left wondering what their keeper Cannon was thinking.  He came well out of his box to claim a long through ball but the ball bounced off of his chest and ended up landing at the feet of Martina who was then staring at a wide open net.  Martina slid his shot in goal wards but some great hustle by Jay Demerit allowed him to get back and just barely clear the ball from off the goal line, or did he?  This one will go down as yet another case for goal line technology as the ball was definitely most of the way past the goal line before it was cleared but the question was whether or not it was completely across and personally I can not say having watched the replay a number of times.  I think that the right call was made in this case though as it was far to close to tell and awarding a goal would have been very harsh for Vancouver.  The Whitecaps went into the halftime break leading the game 1-0 and the final 2-1 so the job for Toronto was a simple one.  If they wanted to win the NCC then they had to find a way to come back and win this match in the second half.

The signs of life that TFC had shown in the first half carried over into the second as they again came close to levelling the score in the opening minute of the half.  Once again it was a lively run by Plata that got things started as his low cross into the box eventually ended up at the back post where Soolsma turned it toward the back of the net but it ended up being picked up by Cannon.  Cannon once again looked shaky as he failed to deal with the low cross.   The pressure continued for TFC and only a few minutes later a ball into the box ended up at the feet of Plata who was brought down and awarded the penalty.  This time Cannon did not look the least bit shaky as he got across well to push Plata's spot kick up and over the bar.  Unluckily for Cannon though the assistant referee caught the fact that he had taken several steps off of his goal line before the shot was taken which meant that the penalty was going to have to be retaken.  Cannon was absolutely furious at the decision and was only going to be made more angry by the fact that this time Plata stepped up a sent him diving the wrong way.  Plata who had been right in the middle of most of TFC's chances was rewarded with the goal that made it 1-1 on the night and all even at 2-2 on aggregate.

The 2-2 scoreline would have meant extra time and maybe penalties but with Toronto on top in terms of the run of play they looked to press their advantage.  A lovely ball over the top once again opened up the Vancouver defence and once again it was the pace and skill of Plata that got on to the end of the ball allowing him to bring it down at the top of the box before running in and sending a low cross into the middle past several defenders before it eventually wound up at the feet of Yourassowsky who fired it home giving Toronto its first lead of the match.  The Whitecaps tried to find some fight back but the couple of chances that they did create were well dealt with by Frie and after 93 minutes of play Toronto FC were hoisting their third straight Voyageurs Cup.

The win gives Toronto FC a date with Nicaragua's Real Esteli in a 2 legged qualifier from which the winner moves on to the group stage of the 2011-2012 CONCACAF champions league.  For TFC, who are already thin thanks to injuries, the Champions League is probably one competition more then they can afford to be worried about and I expect them to make a swift exit as they have other priorities.  The win also gives Toronto back-to-back wins for the first time in ages.  Yes they may both have come against the Whitecaps who are also struggling along at the bottom of the MLS but they have done enough to at least give the fans back some hope that the team is heading in the right direction.  At the very least TFC and its fans can now claim that they are the best club in Canada still but barring some sort of incredible second half turn around in the MLS they will once again be missing out on the playoffs.

Playing Surfaces are real Problem

This post is brought to you by Ford Field.  The field that will be home to a pair of matches tonight in the Gold Cup has come into question in the days leading up to the match for the quality of its playing surface and that led me to think about some of the other low quality fields that I have come across watching soccer in North America.

I do understand that maintaing a quality grass playing surface takes a lot of time and money and it can be very difficult to do in areas where the weather is not good enough for the entire length of the season.  For a lot of cities in Canada and the northern United States it would be difficult to have a natural grass playing surface in good shape earlier enough in the spring to start the season since it is still to cold and wet for grass to grow.  That has forced a lot of teams to resort to using some form of field turf to ensure that it will be in playable condition for more months of the year.  I have played on a wide variety of surfaces myself as an amateur player and though I can see the positives to using an artificial surface it really is not the same thing and it takes a real toll on your body not to mention how awful turf burn can be from some of these surfaces.

That brings me back to Ford Field which is normally an artificial playing surface which is quite common in the NFL which is the fields main use.  I would have understood if they decided that they could not put in a real surface at Ford Field but I was glad when I heard that they would be putting in a grass playing surface for the Gold Cup matches since that would be better for the players and will improve the quality of the game.  This way we also wont have to deal with any issues of having NFL lines on the soccer field making it look poor and being a distraction as you cant tell which one is the touchline a lot of times.  The choice that they ended up making at Ford Field though was to bring in a natural grass surface and place it on top of the artificial one.  The concern with this is that the grass will not be thick enough and by the time that the second match in a row is getting near its end the surface may very well be torn up and filled with divots.

The players have reported that training at Ford Field has been good and they are enjoying the surface which is very promising.  Hopefully the grass is thick enough and able to stand up to have two matches played on it since that is a lot more stress on the field then just training sessions.

While I am on the topic of playing surfaces I really hope that in the near future Vancouver is going to be moving to a better one.  The White Caps current playing surface is artificial and with each passing game it seems to be getting worse and worse as the grounds crew are forced to add more and more plastic pellets to the surface every game and even more so when it has rained just to make it playable.  It may not be the direct cause of any injuries but I cannot be doing the Whitecaps players any good having to play on that terrible surface so often.  I remember seeing the condition it was in for the first league of the Nutrilite Championship and it was more plastic pellets then fake grass it seemed as some areas had taken on a dark almost black shade rather then being green.

The point is that playing surfaces are key and while grass is the ideal I understand it is not always possible but for the sport to advance in North America and in Canada in particular we need to work on ways to improve the field quality on which we play both for the quality of the games and for the safety of the players.

Toronto FC beat down

It was made abundantly clear that when Toronto FC took on new management under Aron Winter that the club were going to be undertaking a rebuild and that fans would need to be patient through what was looking like another season of hardships.  Winter joined the club having enjoyed a very successful career playing for Ajax and several other top European clubs.  His resume as a manager might have been a bit lacking but his experience as a player at the highest levels seemed to be enough to convince TFC that he would be the man to finally get the job done for the club.  Winter promised to grow the club from the ground up by investing in young talent and developing players in a fashion similar to what made Ajax into one of the top clubs in Europe.

His first season at the helm has seen the club make a few big changes including shipping off star player and perennial leading scorer Dwayne De Rosario to the already star powered New York Red Bulls.  His departure made it clear that the club were going to give up success this season to ensure the long term plan would pay off.  It has led to a season of struggles and ups and downs so far but on the whole it has been pretty much par for the course compared to recent seasons.  The club are now sitting 7th in the east with 12 points but the main concern is that they only have collected 2 wins so far.  The 6 draws are nice but fans are sure to be getting impatient for the club to get a few more wins under their belt.  Things are only made worse for the fans when you consider that the club has only managed to score 13 goals in 13 matches while conceding a terrible 23 goals.  Sure a rebuilding team is supposed to struggle but it has to be getting hard on the fans who keep going to the games just hoping to see an exciting display from TFC.  Besides Maicon Santos who has scored 5 goals in the league so far the team has struggled to get any sort of consistent scoring with the next best total sitting on 2.  The one positive for the fans is that both wins have come at home where the club has only lost twice in 8 matches.

This weekend though the fans patience was put to a real test as the home team took a serious beat down at the hand of the Eastern conference leading Philadelphia Union.  Coming in to the weekend game the Union had been having success thanks to their defence which had only conceded 7 times in the first 10 matches.  On the other hand though they had only scored 8 goals in league action.  At BMO field though they discovered their scoring touch and it took them barely more the 10 minutes to get ahead 2-0.  Toronto did try and put up a fight at the start of the second half where a good spell of play allowed them to close to gap down to 3-2 but having gone down so far early in the match TFC were forced to open up and push forward in hopes of salvaging the match but that just left them exposed at the back and when all was said and done the Union managed to put 6 into their net and leave with a resounding 6-2 win.  The 4 goal margin of defeat was the worst MLS beating that TFC has received in 5 seasons and was sure to have left many fans with a bad taste in their mouth.

It is never easy to get beat down so badly but it has to be even harder on the players when it takes place at home and in front of your own fans.  Toronto FC have never conceded 6 goals in the league before so this result would have been a shock to the fans and a very hard one to watch. Many of the players were very apologetic for the performance and you could see that they were honestly embarrassed to have put in such a poor showing for the home fans. Toni Tchani tweeted "What a disaster that was!!!We r really embarrassed about what happened today n especially myself. Thanks for ur support n we need it" and he seemed honestly interested in what the fans had to say about how things could have gone so wrong for them on the field and was genuinely appreciative for the support that he received from fans.  He is just one example of players searching for answers and hoping to use the defeat as something to motivate them to be that much better going forward to ensure there is no repeat of the performance.

I do not expect Toronto to get beat like this again any time soon but the fact of the matter is that this match shows how far away they still are from being among the top sides in the east.  The team have been in various stages of building and rebuilding since they came to the MLS but at some point fans might start to get sick of waiting for the team to deliver on 5 years of promises.  I hope that Winter is the made to finally live up to what he has said and build the team in to one that can compete for the MLS crown but it is clear that he still has a long ways to go and it will be important to get things turned around fast so that the fans and players don't begin to lose faith in the team or themselves.  

Next up for TFC will be a replay of the rained out Nutrilite second leg which will give TFC a chance to win a trophy which will at the very least be a positive in a hard season and give the fans something to be happy about.  To win the game though they will have to play much better then they did against the Union and also better then they did in the first half of the rain cancelled match.

Nutrilite Disaster

Last night was the second leg of the Nutrlite Cup finals, or should I say the first attempt at it, but weather got in the way of what was potentially a good game.  With the first leg having ended in a 1-1 draw despite Vancouver controlling much of the play things were set up for an interesting match.  The weather forecast was clear that rain was expected around 8 which would mean that it would be around just in time for the second half and that is exactly what happened.

The first half saw Vancouver take a 1-0 lead thanks to Eric Hassli who scored a 17th minute strike which would have been his second of the finals having given Vancouver the lead with a similar shot in the first leg.  His goal had a lot to do with the deflection that it took but based on the run of play before the ran came the lead was nothing more then what Vancouver deserved. When the rain did arrive that is when the problems began for players, officials, coaches, and the powers in charge of the championship.  The turf surface at BMO field quickly became coated in water and it proved impossible to actually play the game as the ball was getting stuck and the safety of players was clearly being endangered.  Thankfully thunder and lightning arrived around the 60 minute mark and the officials were forced to stall the game.  This was actually the second stall as the match had been delayed by 30 minutes before the second half could kick off.  They tried to wait out the storm and get the rest of the game in but by the time 11 pm rolled around fans were being sent home and some kind of decision was needed.  It was clear that a match of only 60 minutes would not count and if they decided to make it official I don't think anyone would have been happy about it and it might have done irreparable damage to the cup itself and the reputation of soccer Canada.

Around 11 the coaches, refs, and officials in charge of the tournament all met behind closed doors to discuss what to do about the match.  Initially it was reported that the plan would be to play the final 30 minutes of the match the following morning but it would have been in front of an empty stadium which I personally think would have been a terrible solution.  That would have resulted in Toronto FC having basically lost its home field advantage for 1/3 of the match and it would also have been very physically draining on the players who would have been faced with a very quick turn around and playing a match at such an unusual time.  The 8 AM kick off time seemed quite insane in light of the fact that it would have been after 11:30 by the time that they players were all able to leave BMO.  


Thankfully this morning it became apparent that the field conditions had not improved since the rain had continued in the overnight overs and the whole 8 AM plan would have to be scrapped.  Instead they made the decision that I think should have been made in the first place which was to scrap the entire match and start it over again at a later date.  The date has been set for June 2nd when the Whitecaps are already in town for an MLS league game.  This way the whole match will be played under tolerable conditions, assuming the weather is better that night, and in front of the partisan crowd that Toronto FC deserve for their home leg.  I for one hope that this decision allows the match to be much more entertaining match that is fitting of ending in a team claiming the top club prize in Canadian soccer.


The strangest part of the whole night is how long it took them to come to these decisions when apparently it was all written down for them in the competition rules.  As I was watching it I wondered if they even had a plan in place for such an eventuality.  With the weather being such an unpredictable force it would have been very poor planning on the part of the Nutrilite championship not have put something in place.  I found out this morning that it was all clearly outlined in the rules for the tournament under the following rule:


Official Nutrilite Canadian Championship rule 12: If the match is abandoned before the completion of normal playing time because of extreme weather or for reasons outside the control of the host team, the match shall be replayed in its entirety the following day, thus avoiding the considerable extra expense for the visiting team. If it is still impossible to play the match the next day for the same reasons, the match may be postponed by another day, provided both teams agree. If the match can still not be played on the third day, the expenses thus incurred by the visiting team shall be split between the two teams. A decision will be taken within two hours of the referee’s decision to abandon the match, in consultation with the two clubs concerned. In case of dispute, the CSA Organizing Committee fixes the date and kick-off time of the match. Its decision is final.


So if they want things to go a lot smoother next time the right thing to do would be getting a copy of these rules into the hands of the people who are broadcasting the match so that they can convey something useful to the fans and spectators so we are not left staying up late wondering just what is going to happen.  The other issue I have here is that playing the last 30 minutes the following day does not seem to be anywhere in these rules.  They suggest that the whole match would have to be replayed no matter what and that is the correct thing to do.  In the end I am glad that they got this right and avoided turning this championship into a complete joke.  They have worked hard to improve the standard of it and increase its profile so thankfully they did not let some bad weather undo all of that hard work.

Nutrilite Cup: Is Professional Soccer moving forward in Canada?

So tomorrow night, May 18th, is the first leg of the Nutrilite Cup which is the corporate sponsor name for the Canadian Soccer Championship.  In past years this cup has been a bit of a joke as it has only included 3 teams, Toronto FC, Vancouver Whitecaps and the Montreal Impact and the format was basically that of a group stage so there was no winner takes all show down at the end and as a result the tournament lacked a real level of excitement in my opinion.  That was made worse by the fact that Toronto FC was an MLS team and they were competing against teams from a level lower that they really should have been far superior to.  In the end the 2010 edition of the Cup was exciting as Toronto FC needed to claim a massive win on the last day to win the prize but up until that last match it was dull and doubt it won over to many new fans.

This year things have been much different.  FC Edmonton have been included and the format has been completely revised.  The addition of the 4th team allowed a shift to two round format with both rounds featuring two legs.  In the first semi-final match up Toronto FC cruised to a win over FC Edmonton which should come as no real surprise due to the gap between the levels of the two teams.  On the other side the match between Vancouver Whitecaps, who are now in the MLS, took on Montreal Impact who will be the third Canadian team in the MLS next season.  This tie was a very exciting one with the White Caps winning the first leg on the road it set up for an exciting second leg.  To be honest the only reason that I ended up tuning in to the second leg of this one was the timing.  Since the game was in Vancouver it kicked off at 10 pm for me and by that time there was nothing else on tv and I decided to give the match a try.  It was a dull on for much of the game but in the dying moments Montreal started to try and get the goal that they needed and things really opened up.  Partially as a result of the lack of quality in the sides it seemed that once things got opened up the teams struggled to calm them down at all.  It made for exciting viewing as a neutral with Montreal drawing level in the 83rd minute thanks to Canadian international Ali Gerba.  Vancouver would go on to win the match in extra time thanks to a 100th minute strike but what really struck me was the way in which the extra time went.  I am used to seeing times completely shut things down after they score but this time it seemed that the Vancouver goal only opened things up more as Montreal created several chances of their own.

The semi-final results set up what is probably the final which most fans would have expected with both of the MLS teams managing to advance.  Toronto FC and Vancouver opened the MLS campaign against each other earlier this spring when they met in Vancouver.  That was a very exciting game with Vancouver come out on top 4-2 but again it was marked with the sort of sloppy defending that seems to have characterized games that involve Vancouver this season.  Since that game both teams have really struggled in their MLS campaigns as Toronto FC have only collected 2 wins in 11 matches while Vancouver have failed to win in their 7 matches since that opening night.

On that opening night of the season there was a real sense of excitement for the future of professional soccer in Canada.  Empire Stadium in Vancouver was rocking and both teams went out and put on a show to match the spectacle of Vancouver being back at the highest level.  That excitement seems to have died down a fair bit since then though with both teams struggling to make any progress in the MLS.  For Vancouver that is understandable since it is their debut season but with Toronto FC being around for 5 seasons now fans are sure to be expecting better from the club.  The gap between these two sides seems to be fairly small and that should lead to these two games being fairly exciting.  The first leg will likely be a bit of a nervy affair with neither team wanting to do anything that could cost them the tie before the second game but they will both be looking to try and gain the upper hand.  I think that these two games might just be the best chance to witness what sort of foundation there is for Professional soccer in Canada.  Hopefully both stadiums are load and supportive and both sides come out and show what they can do.  This is the only trophy that either of these teams is going to get anywhere near so lets hope they go all out to try and win it.

Beyond the improving of the Nutrilite Championship the teams are all improving.  It was only 5 years ago that the MLS decided it was time to expand into Canada by including a team from Toronto and now they have added Vancouver and Montreal will join in 2012.  That will give Canada three teams at the highest level and hopefully that will increase the competition between them.  The creation of strong rivalries between these teams will only help increase the fan base for the clubs and get people more involved.  The team still have a long ways to go in terms of reaching the quality needed to win an MLS title or even compete for a playoff spot but with strong management in place and the foundations there it looks like the future is getting ever brighter.  I would like to say that optimistically in another 5 years Canada could be home to 3 of the better teams in the MLS.  This growth can only help to develop the grass roots program as well which could lead to more talented Canadians coming up through the ranks and if the clubs keep increasing in stature they might even be able to keep top Canadians from going over to Europe, at least for a while.