Toronto with a Chance to Take Home the Prize

Tomorrow Toronto FC will look to do something that’s never been done before. Win the Nutrilite Canadian Championship with games to spare. They had a chance to do it last year in a similar situation, they were going to Vancouver with the clear objective; win and you are Voyageurs Cup champions, but Vancouver went on to win 2-0 and Toronto had to wait a week for their dramatic 6-1 win over the Impact. Tomorrow’s situation is the same, and Toronto FC are going in with massive confidence. All that’s in their way is a Vancouver side that is looking towards their biggest game of the season tomorrow as well.

Whitecaps coach Teitur Thordarson said tomorrow’s match will be the most important of the season so far. Even though Montreal has already played three times, Vancouver have only played once and it was a poor 1-1 draw against the Impact so their tournament is just getting started. Toronto played so well in their first two matches that many are predicting a bit of a walk in the park for Toronto. However they seem to forget this is a Toronto team without a point on the road until a week ago and a team that is playing its third away match in a week. This will be a very tired Toronto FC side.

The Whitecaps are coming off a 0-0 draw with the Impact in USSF Div 2 play in which they once again failed to really impress, but there is still a lot of talent on that Vancouver team that is yet to really show its best in the tournament. Marcus Haber is yet to score from open play in his return to the Whitecaps, but indications are that if he were to get some better service the chances and goals would follow closely behind. Others like Gage and Edwini-Bonsu who have shown promise in the past really need to step it up in big matches and try to make a difference coming off the bench.

The key for the Whitecaps will still be how they contain Dwayne De Rosario who has been a menace for Toronto this season. This task will most likely fall to the fullback Greg Janicki who has looked a little shaky in recent weeks. He will have to be perfect if Vancouver are to stop Toronto. The other main threat from Toronto FC in Voyageurs Cup play has been Chad Barrett. Barrett scored a beauty at BMO against Montreal and set up DeRo’s goal in Montreal. Keeping him quiet will also be key for the Whitecaps.

Toronto FC will look for more of the same if they are to wrap up the championship tomorrow. The back four of Toronto FC have yet to give up a goal, and the central defensive pairing of Nana Attakora and Adrian Cann (Interviewed by Fighting For Canadian Supremacy) were near perfect against the Impact.

Tomorrow could be a massive match in the course of both of these teams’ seasons. If Toronto FC win they will successfully defend their Voyageurs Cup title, and if Vancouver wins they will be in a great position to challenge Toronto for it on the final day of the competition.

FFCS Special – Adrian Cann Interview

We have a Fighting For Canadian Supremacy special for you! I spoke with Adrian Cann earlier today and we talked about the Voyageurs Cup so far, looked forward to tomorrow’s match against Vancouver, his first year with Toronto, and a bit about his future with the national team.

You can download the show to itunes by clicking the “subscirbe with iTunes” link on the bottom right corner of this page.

You can also listen online here.

Enjoy!

The Need For A Final

Watching the FA Cup this weekend reaffirmed to me that the Voyageurs Cup needs a final match. I have little emotional investment in either Chelsea or Portsmouth but I found myself totally encapsulated by the FA Cup Final. It wasn’t a great match, but the importance, the drama, the supporters everything made it an exciting match to watch as a neutral and it encapsulates all of England. I think a Voyageurs Cup final could do the same for Canada. Now I can hear the skeptics already saying “you’re comparing a soccer final in hockey-mad Canada to one in the birthplace of football”.

I respond to this with the Grey Cup comparison. How many people outside of the CFL hardcores in local markets watch CFL games? Very few. Now how many people watch the Grey Cup? It’s a Canadian tradition, sports fans who could care less about the CFL have Grey Cup parties yearly and get behind which every city they like more. A Voyageurs Cup could be this event for Soccer.

Put it on Canada Day every year. Easy to remember, everyone has the day off work and will have the opportunity to watch. Make it a national event, put in on CBC with a week of build up. Start the pregame show three hours early and dissect the match to nauseum. Sports fans love that kind of thing, by making it appear extremely important you’ve immediately made it important to the average Canadian. The Voyageurs Cup is already massive for the supporters of Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal. It’s the every day Canadian or occasional soccer fan that they need to suck in. Making the final a massive event will do so.

With Edmonton joining USSF Div 2 it won’t be too difficult to make a one off final that the entire country can enjoy. Have eastern and western semi finals with Toronto vs. Montreal and Vancouver vs. Edmonton two-legged home and home ties. The two winners play in the final with the host city switching back between the east winner and west winner annually.

If Toronto beats Vancouver this week the Voyageurs Cup will have already been decided with two games to spare. This isn’t the kind of drama that will bring in average sports fan. Since Toronto FC don’t look like they’ll be making the MLS Cup final any time soon and Vancouver and Montreal will likely take their time as well the best chance to get this high pressure winner takes all match is through a Voyageurs Cup final.

Is the Gap Widening?

In 2008 the then USL’s Montreal Impact won the Voyageurs Cup over the only MLS team in the competition, Toronto FC. The next year Toronto FC were taken to the wire by the Vancouver Whitecaps who only lost the tournament by way of the infamous 6-1. This year Toronto have taken control of the tournament with two wins over Montreal and look much better than Vancouver.

The ability for USL teams to get results against the MLS team in the first two years of the Voyageurs Cup was something often waved in the faces of Toronto FC supporters, but now it seems like the gap between the leagues is finally starting to show. Toronto FC were clearly the better team in both of their matches against Montreal. For most of the match in Montreal there was very little separating the Impact and Toronto in most aspect, but where the difference shows is going forward.

Toronto have that little bit of drive and flair that is just a level above Montreal. The possession was pretty equal, but Toronto FC have two or three players who are just that extra quality better. Players that you don’t find in the USL (USSF Div 2). The difference between the MLS and USSF Div 2 is not the 5-11 type players. They are mostly on par. It is the Dwayne De Rosario, the Chad Barrett that just don’t exist in the second division. That has been the difference in the first two matches of the Voyageurs Cup for Toronto and they look like potential Champions only halfway through the tournament.

Luckily this isn’t a gap that will likely last for long with Vancouver and Montreal sure to get this next caliber of player once they join the MLS in 2011 and 2012 respectively. The gap didn’t really exist in the 2008 and 2009 tournaments, but it looks like Toronto FC are finally starting to break away and show the difference in quality of leagues.

Toronto Win Eliminates Montreal

Photo Courtesy: CanadaSoccer.com / Pépé

After a very dull first half at Stade Saputo, Toronto FC came out looking threatening in the second half and DeRosario’s goal in the 73rd minute turned out to be enough for Toronto to leave with a 1-0 victory. This result eliminates the Montreal Impact from contention, although the Impact still have one match left against the Whitecaps at Stade Saputo in two weeks time.

The first half really was void of any chances and unlike the earlier match between these two teams in Toronto there were no tensions spilling over while an empty stadium didn’t help to boost the teams either (although both the UM02 and Toronto FC supporters were very vocal). It wasn’t until the second half that anything really got going and it was the introduction of Chad Barrett that changed the match for Toronto. Barrett who came into the match with a 3 in 3 scoring record against Montreal really started pressuring the Impact centre backs Aboubou and Pizzolito high up the pitch and forcing errors.

In the end it was the rebound off a Barrett shot from the top of the box that separated the teams when De Rosario was first to the ball off Jordan’s save from Barrett. Matt Jordan who had looked very good against Vancouver a week earlier was a little shaky against Toronto. Jordan was making quality saves, but could have held on to the ball in many situations when he chose to parry. He allowed several scrambles in front of the goal which were easily preventable, but could have led to more Toronto FC goals. Aboubou also had a poor match allowing Barrett too much time on the ball for the goal and giving O’Brien White a little too much space to work as well earlier in the match.

Once again Montreal’s primary threat going forward came from the left hand side of De Roux and Di Lorenzo, but this time Di Lorenzo was creating more by cutting into the centre and playing balls through the middle. These through balls were the only real tests for the Toronto back line and for the most part the centre back combination of Attakora and Cann dealt with them well.

Adrian Cann had one of his best ever matches for Toronto FC against his former team in Montreal. He completely shut down Peter Byers who was very dangerous against the Whitecaps and has been one of the Impact’s primary goal scoring threats in the league. Cann was solid in the air, marked tightly and played a very smart match. He is looking like a very good acquisition at the back for Toronto FC. Again it is great to see Canadians perform in the Voyageurs Cup, and Adrian Cann put in a man of the match performance against the Impact.

In the middle of the park Toronto’s main threat did not come from Julian De Guzman, but rather from Martin Saric who was surprisingly composed and effective. Saric rarely gave the ball away, was playing balls through to De Rosario and White while keeping Montreal’s Felipe Soares quiet throughout the match. De Guzman on the other hand had a very poor outing and gave the ball up countless times while really failing to create anything. Every game his big-money move to Toronto FC is looking more and more like a mistake.

With this win Toronto FC keep their near-perfect record against Montreal with five wins and one draw, while Montreal will hope to forget this Voyageurs Cup campaign as soon as possible. It all went downhill after the Roberto Brown punch to the face of Nick Garcia and the subsequent sending off. Although they played some good football against Vancouver the Imapct can hardly complain about either of the two losses to Toronto and will hope that next year they can get off to a better start.

Montreal Holding on To Voyageurs Cup Hope

Tomorrow’s match against Toronto FC could be crucial for the Montreal Impact. After losing in Toronto and drawing in Vancouver the Impact’s home game against Toronto is a do or die. Anything but a win would eliminate them from contention. Despite the desperate circumstances Montreal have a lot to be enthusiastic about going into the match.

This past weekend for the Impact was one of the most exciting in their history. It was a good one on the field as they came back from 1-0 down to beat Minnesota 2-1 on the back of a 94th minute Placentino goal. But it was the events of Friday that made this weekend such an important one for the Montreal as they were awarded an MLS franchise for 2012. The news means that by 2012 all three teams currently competing with one and other for the Voyageurs Cup will be in the MLS. Great news for Montreal and Canadian soccer in general. But before Montreal can start think about MLS they have two more years left in USSF Div 2, and more immediately a Voyageurs Cup game against Toronto.

Toronto FC have still yet to win away from home this year, while they remain perfect at BMO Field. They will hope to break the streak when they visit Stade Saputo tomorrow. Toronto has a perfect record in their two previous matches in Montreal recording 1-0 and 6-1 victories over the Impact. Coming off a 4-1 win over Chicago midweek they will be looking for another big performance against Montreal.

Despite early concerns from Toronto FC supporters, Preki has treated this competition as seriously as anyone after he played De Guzman and De Rosario in Toronto’s only match of the Voyageurs Cup so far only to rest them for the following league match. So expect a very strong Toronto team to hit the field against the Impact.

The teams have now played a total of five matches against each other, with tomorrow’s being their last of 2010, and an interesting stat has arisen. Despite Montreal winning the Voyageurs Cup in 2008 against Toronto at BMO Field, the Impact have never beaten Toronto. For one of the Impact’s biggest rivals, it has to be a source of disappointment for all supporters, staff and players associated with the club. Coming off such a massive week there really is not better time for the Impact to turn this record around than tomorrow.

It will be interesting to see if Montreal return to the forward combination of Placentino and Byers as Agourram and Brown are suspended, while Sebrango is still injured. Montreal will also be looking for Di Lorenzo to continue performing in what’s been an excellent tournament for him. Despite the Impact’s poor start, Di Lorenzo has been lively throughout creating chances, showing a little bit of creativity and pace, he could be crucial if Montreal are going to break through a much improved Toronto FC  defense.

Heading into tomorrow’s match there is only two points seperating Toronto and Montreal, but Toronto FChave a game in hand and they could take firm control of the Voyageurs Cup if they manage to beat the Impact something they have only failed to do once.

Woah What a Weekend

Well I take a weekend off from the site and it’s the craziest one in months.

Montreal get awarded an MLS franchise then score a 94th minute weekend that weekend.

Toronto FC win 4-1 at home and De Rosario doesn’t score…

Craziness. Anyways I’ve been super busy recently, but will try and keep up with everything this week, so tomorrow I’ll have a Montreal-Toronto preview and everything will be back to normal around here.