Toronto FC

Toronto FC is a professional soccer club located in Toronto, Ontario  and the first Canadian team to participate in Major League Soccer. The club was founded in 2006 and was MLS' 13th team, joining the league in the 2007 season.

Toronto FC is owned by Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment, which operates the NHL's Toronto Maple Leafs, the AHL's Toronto Marlies, and the NBA's Toronto Raptors. TFC plays its home games at BMO Field, located in Exhibition Place along the Toronto lake shore.

Toronto FC's title sponsor, found on the front of their jersey and on most team merchandise, is the Bank of Montreal (BMO). TFC fans have helped make the club one of the MLS' most successful franchises off the pitch, having been profitable since its first year with regular sellouts and sold-out seasons tickets.

The club is the current Canadian Champion, winning the 2009 and 2010 Nutrilite Canadian Championship.

(Wikipedia)

More information: History ; Stats ; Players

Reds Relishing Champions League Role



TORONTO – Toronto FC  made an impressive start to their CONCACAF Champions League group-stage campaign on Tuesday night at BMO Field, shocking Mexican powerhouse Cruz Azul 2-1 on goals from Martin Saric and Mista.

Up against the two-time CONCACAF finalists from Mexico City, the Reds attacked early and often, with Saric returning from injury and putting the Mexico City club on its heels in just the third minute of play.

An initial header by Reds target man Mista was blocked by the Cruz Azul defense, but the ball fell to Saric, who made no mistake heading the ball past a surprised Cementeros backup goalkeeper Yosgart Gutierrez.

Toronto pressured the visitors early and often in the first half, and midfielder Dwayne DeRosario almost made it 2-0 in the ninth minute, whiffing a dangerous shot through the Cruz Azul goalmouth but wide of the net.

Meanwhile, Emmanuel Villa missed tying the game for the visitors just two minutes later when his scorching 25-yard free kick was blasted just past goalkeeper Jon Conway’s left post.

A similar effort by Mista on a Toronto set piece also narrowly missed giving Toronto a 2-0 lead.

But then Mista finally converted in the 44th minute with a clinical finish from the top of the Cruz Azul penalty area.

The former Deportivo La Coruña target man collected a centering pass from defender Raivis Hscanovics and screamed a hard left-footed blast past a diving Gutierrez, who got his fingertips to the ball but couldn’t stop it from crossing the goal line.

Cruz Azul coach Enrique Meza made five changes to his starting lineup after his squad beat defending CONCACAF champions Pachuca last weekend. And it took the insertion of one of those regulars for la Máquina to gain some momentum back.

Argentine midfielder Christian Giménez entered the game at halftime for César Villaluz and quickly made his impact felt, forcing Conway to turn away a thunderous blast in the 54th minute.

Giménez finally converted a late consolation goal for the visitors in the 89th minute, banging a curving free kick over the Toronto wall off the left post, past Conway and into the goal.

With the victory, Toronto remain undefeated in all games played at BMO Field this season, extending their streak to 14 games including international play and exhibition games. The Reds return to league action on Saturday afternoon when they host Thierry Henry, Rafa Márquez and the New York Red Bulls.

Preki's men play their next Champions League Group A game on Aug. 24 when they travel to Panama City for a game against Árabe Unido.

Cruz Azul, meanwhile conceded their first-ever goals against MLS competition in Champions League play, having failed to give up a goal in previous encounters against Columbus and D.C. United.

http://www.torontofc.ca/news/2010/08/reds-relishing-champions-league-role

Nemogu virovati da ima navijaca ili simpatizera ovog kluba na Bureku, pa evo kad je vec napravljena tema smo da kazem da sam bio na utakmici (Toronto FC vs. Columbus Crew) kad sam bio u Torontu ima 2 godine. Sve oko utakmice je bilo super, zabava, dopusteni alkohol (samo sto je skup, 2 tocene od 0.5 je 30 dolara), sve je super organizirano, pale se dimne bombe ali u dogovoru s policijom, jedina pisma koja se piva "This is our house!!!" i tako.... Ima sam sidalo medu boljim mistima na stadionu (prvi red na katu, odmah kraj svecane loze), kraj mene su sidile dvije stare kineskinje i samo su pljeskale ka i svi ostali a onda sam se ja zadera iz petnih zila "Hajduk" a kad su me babe uplaseno pogledale reka sam im "I ma Hoologan from Croatia!" i samo su okrenilu glavu i vise me nisu pogledale.... hehehe   
Ka sta sam reka, sve je super osim nogometa koji se igra, moga bi reci da je u rangu s Hrvatskom ili Srpskom ligom, znaci nista specialno... ali jedno zanimljivo iskustvo je iza mene!
Evo i karta pa pogledajte kolike su cijene, a stadio je rasprodan priko godisinih preplata i vec imaju 10 tisuca ljudi na cekanju za kupnju preplata pa ce nadogradivati stadion.... sick

MLS je veoma slican po rangu Srbiji ( manji stadioni, manji broj publike )  ali je fora u tome sto se u MLS-u makar nesto radi na napretku lige dok se u Srbiji nesto veoma slabo na tome radi.

Isto tako MLS je dosta mladja liga. Osnovana je sredinom 90ih tako da se jos radi na napredku.

Toronto sam poceo da pratim otkako su usli u ligu jer su jedini kanadski klub koji igra u MLS-u pa volim da ih pratim 

manje ljudi je na stadionima, ali kad pogledas u zadnjih nekoliko godina i to se prominilo, npr. LA Galaxy prije beckhama je posjecivalo 5000 gledatelja a nakon sto je on dosao u klub  27000 koliki je kapacite stadiona, a to nije malo, pa tako toronto kad igra toronto doma uvik je pun stadion (22 tisuce)....
za koju godinu MLS liga ce biti daleko ispred nasih sa balkana jer to su jebeni amerikanci i oni tezu savrsenstvu u uvakom sportu pa tako i u nogometu....

A ko to brani Evropi da se i po evropi tezi dobrim utakmicama svugda

Nego .. ovde nije rec o MLS ligi nego o Torontu

Koji ti se igrac svidja ?

Fresh Injury Concerns



Toronto FC’s players returned to BMO Field on Wednesday as coach Preki assessed the fitness of his squad following Tuesday’s stunning CONCACAF Champions League win over Mexico’s Cruz Azul.

There are no new injury concerns for Preki, although he is still dealing with a number of absences as he begins to prepare the team for Saturday’s league match against the New York Red Bulls.

Defender Nick Garcia missed the match against Cruz Azul with a knee injury picked up in training ahead of the game and is rated as doubtful for the weekend.

Preki is waiting to see if Chad Barrett will be available to face the Red Bulls on Saturday. The forward left the defeat at New York last week with a tweaked hamstring and is yet to return to full training. He did some light running ahead of last night’s match and will be assessed over the next couple of days. Maicon Santos is expected to miss out again with the knee injury sustained in the win over Chivas USA on August 7.

Preki left goalkeeper Stefan Frei out of the squad for the Champions  League match to give the Swiss ‘keeper a rest. “I just decided to give Stefan Frei a break from action last night,” said Preki. “He has played in every single league game so far this season and it is good for him to get rest both physically and mentally. Jon Conway was pretty solid. He had a couple of shots to save and he was pretty good. There was nothing he could do about the goal we gave up.”

http://www.torontofc.ca/news/2010/08/fresh-injury-concerns

A Sweet Victory For TFC



How sweet it is.

Tuesday’s 2-1 victory over Cruz Azul in CONCACAF Champions League play has already been dubbed the best game in the four-year history of Toronto FC.

“It’s always great to win, especially (against) an opponent like Cruz Azul,” said Director of Soccer Mo Johnston. “It was big for the team, for the league. I felt for the whole 90 minutes, we were terrific.”

“It’s a benchmark game, not only for the franchise but for the MLS as a whole. They want us to compete, to win games, and we showed we could do that. It’s a serious benchmark for the league and for Toronto FC.”

As they prepare for Saturday’s home gig with New York, the Reds have the look of a team far removed from a losing team. Next Tuesday in CCL, they have a road contest against Panama Arabe Unido (GOL TV Canada, 8 p.m.), a six-time league champion.

“I think we’ve turned the corner,” said Johnston. “It’s just staying clean and healthy.  The amount of games we have coming up, the guys are going to get tired but there's no excuses. The guys are playing very well, jelling together. Off the field, they’re a happy bunch.”

Johnston credits Preki for a run that has seen the club lose just five of its last 23 games.

"The point I have made is that he brings that experience of MLS. He’s been a player, he’s played in all-star games, playoffs.  He’s coached in the playoffs. Hopefully he can get us into the MLS playoffs.”

“We are very happy with where we are. Looking down the bench we have much more depth than last year and in year’s previous. When you look at it it can only be good moving forward.”

MORE ON THE 'BENCHMARK' from Mike Ulmer.

A benchmark is an indispensable tool when building something great.

It is a fixed, everlasting mark. Everything to come exists because of it. Future endeavours are measured against it.

Tuesday night at BMO Field, and Toronto FC delivered a coming of age 2-1 win over Cruz Azul in a CONCACAF Champions League group game.

It was a benchmark game. The Reds delivered 90 minutes worthy of the most rabid support. In the opening half they outplayed and outchanced the Mexican team.

Based on their ability to shut out North American opponents over their previous four games, Cruz Azul was heavily favored.

It mattered not a bit to Toronto. First-half goals from Martin Saric and Mista delighted hometown fans. Jon Conway, in for regular keeper Stefan Frei, enjoyed a star turn. Toronto FC shrugged off the loss of the injured Chad Barrett and Maicon Santos and surrendered a goal only in the game’s waning moments.

A squad largely overhauled since the season opener and the resolute work of Preki has delivered a talented, entertaining team after three years of necessary but occasionally painful growth.

And that’s what Wednesday’s game was about, a benchmark moment that signals a break from the struggles of the past and draws a bright future into clearer focus. There will be losses. There will be disappointments. But for the first time, the club, its followers and players, have savored a night at the top.  And now that they have, everything is different.

http://www.torontofc.ca/news/2010/08/sweet-victory-tfc

A Jolt Of Confidence

Can Toronto use the Cruz Azul momentum against New York?



TORONTO – A big confidence boost was just what Toronto FC needed, and they got it in spades Tuesday night.

Coming off a demoralizing 1-0 loss on the road last week to New York, the Reds were forced to open the group stage of the CONCACAF Champions League against Mexican giants Cruz Azul. And they rose to the challenge like professionals with a comprehensive 2-1 victory over los Cementeros, arguably one of the biggest-ever victories for TFC at BMO Field.

“We were just really well prepared and ready to go tonight against a very formidable opponent, one of the toughest teams in CONCACAF,” Toronto coach Preki said after the match. “We really prepared for this match, the players responded and I feel we really deserved the win tonight.”

The Reds wasted no time against Cruz Azul. Martin Saric opened the scoring just three minutes in, marking the quickest goal in any Toronto FC match in their four-year history. The Argentine midfielder headed the ball into the open net after a well-placed header by striker Mista was deflected in his path.

Saric had just returned from a knee injury and marked the occasion with a morale boost for a Toronto side who had just come off a frustrating 1-0 loss at Red Bull Arena last Wednesday.

Mista also looked dangerous throughout the match, and his memorable left-footed blast in the 44th minute gave Toronto a 2-0 halftime lead.

“The timing on his goal was just excellent,” Preki said of the Spanish striker's goal. “We were concerned, we knew they were a good team that was capable of producing, but Mista’s goal just changed the course of the game.”

The result gives the Reds a huge shot of confidence at just the right time. The pressure in their MLS card game gets turned up a notch on Saturday when they again face the second-place Red Bulls and their dangerous three-pronged attack of Thierry Henry, Rafa Márquez and Juan Pablo Angel.

“We are raring to go heading into our next game,” said Toronto defender Adrian Cann, who played solid 90 minutes Tuesday. “Now playing New York after a game like this, we are really looking forward to that game.”

New York lead Toronto by five points in the standings and, although TFC have a game in hand, they definitely need the points as the MLS playoff race tightens ahead of the stretch run. But perhaps Tuesday night's performance is the launchpad they need – as long as they don't let it go to their heads, according to Nana Attakora.

“We just can’t go into the game too high on ourselves," said the defender. "We have a really tough game coming up on Saturday."

http://www.torontofc.ca/news/2010/08/jolt-confidence