The MLS Experiment: The Fall 2010

Hello friends and my apologies for the lack of updates this week but a family illness first metioned last September reared it’s ugly head again and so it’s been a difficult week.The situation is now stable so I’m happy to bring you the final update of the MLS Experiment which has seen Toronto FC for the most part struggle through the season though there were signs of improvement as the summer came to an end. Lets see what happened as we conclude the season in The Fall months.

We started off the final portion of the campaign with an excellent 2-1 win over Eastern Conference rivals Dc United but then fell victim to the MLS scheduling which saw us play Houston during a round of international fixtures which chopped off nine of my players from the squad and so our momentum was crushed and we lost 2-0. We got a respectable draw in Chicago before coming home where we put in our best performance of the season with a dominating win over San Jose. Again though we couldn’t build on our success and ended the month with a bore draw in Dallas.

The situation therefore dictated that we had to win our remaining four games to have a mathematical chance of reaching the play offs. Those hopes were immediately dashed with a 1-0 loss in Seattle where the Brazilian contingent of Gil and Moreno missed chance after chance. Our season was therefore over and we were just playing for pride. The mini road trip ended with 2-1 win over Chivas which was followed by an electrifying hat-trick by Gil in front of 21,000 fans at BMO Stadium. Or final game of the season saw us travel to Washington to play DC United and a win would secure a top 4 finish and perhaps even end in third place. Skipper Adrian Cann put in a memorable performance heading in two goals from a corner and completing his hat-trick with a well taken goal on the volley. Brazilians Moreno and Gil chipped in with a goal apiece to complete a 5-0 rout in the US Capital and finish the season off in style

But wait…..

I had interpreted the league rules incorrectly at the start of the season thinking only the top two qualified for post season action and so we were suddenly in the play-offs for the first time in the clubs history where we will now meet Kansas City over two legs.

Standings

The Play-Offs

Two powerful headers by DC Adrian Cann and a wonderful individual effort by Gil saw us take a 3-0 advantage in the first leg over Kansas City at BMO Field.

Kansas City jumped out to an early lead after just 3 minutes in the second leg which we quickly neutralized with Cann heading in from a Moreno corner. From there it was a complete rear guard action with solid efforts from centre backs Attakora and Cann that kept the ship steady and we found ourselves heading into the Eastern Conference final.

Eastern Conference Final

So it was off to New Jersey to face Thiery Henry and the New York Red Bulls in the Eastern Conference final with New York playing in front of their home fans. I told the players the pressure was off and that they had nothing to lose. A header by ML Moreno’s which hit the bar and bounced off a NY keeper Greg Sutton and into the net gave us the lead with 16 minutes gone and that was doubled after the interval when Gil headed in from a Moreno corner. Henry pulled one back just after the hour for New York but they had little fight in them and against all expectations we clinched the Eastern title and are in the MLS Final!

After an incredible couple of months it was time for the MLS Final and the travelling Toronto faithful were there on hand in a noisy fashion at The Gillette Stadium in Foxboro Massachusetts. Colorado, who we had played twice before and struggled against in regular season play, took the lead after just 11 minutes with an easy goal from a corner as our defence stood still and watched the ball go into the net. Mexican right back Ozunas’ long clearance out of defence found Gil who swept the ball on to Martinez and the young Ecuadorian who hadn’t scored since April unleashed a rocket of a shot into the roof of the net just after the half hour. From there we continued to cause trouble in front of the Colorado goal but just couldn’t get that second goal and the game went to extra time.

Colorado took the lead once more in the 96^th minute with a long range effort that our keeper had no chance of stopping but six minutes later a run down the left flank by Moreno found Martinez whose shot from 20 yards out crashed against the under -side of the bar and it was 2-2. Neither team could find that little bit extra for the winning goal and so The Championship would be decided by a penalty shoot out. Both teams had decent penalty takers and at 4-4 it looked as if we were going way down the list of players to decide the outcome. Dominguez then missed for Colorado striking the ball straight at GK Molis Kocic so up came Brazilian Moreno who struck the ball into the corner of the net………GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! We had won the MLS Championship for the first time against all expectations after what was really a miserable start to the season and so the MLS Cup will be crossing over the border and into Canada.

A mixture of Brazilian and Canadian flags flew proudly in the stands as the cup was presented and the fans finished off an exciting end to the season with a rousing rendition of the national anthem O Canada!

O Canada!
Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all thy sons command.

With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!

From far and wide,
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

God keep our land glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

Thanks for taking the time to read this and I look forward to bringing you another season of the MLS Experiment in the coming weeks.

Have a great weekend!!