Remarkable victory of Toronto FC vs Impact
Toronto nearly let it slip in epic series, but according to second leg training they said will play tough, well most of big effort goes to Jozy Altidore and rest of the team.
The Impact broke through first, absorbing waves of pressure to convert a perfectly played counter. Patrice Bernier won a 50-50 ball, hit Matteo Mancosu upfield in space, where the Italian striker drove at the back line, finding a pocket between five defenders to slip a ball through toDominic Oduro, whose cool finish put Toronto on its heels.
But in the 37th minute, Sebastian Giovinco put a corner kick on Nick Hagglund’s head. And though Impact defender Hernan Bernardello cleared it off the line, Armando Cooper was there to gather and put the rebound past goalkeeper Evan Bush.
Just before the half, Altidore and Giovinco freelanced – chatting and then changing a corner kick call – resulting in a low line drive that Altidore angled past Bush with a full-speed header as he crossed in front of Mancosu.
Montreal stunned the home crowd early in the second half, when halftime sub Johan Venegas hit star midfielder Ignacio Piattias he split the defense. Piatti angled a shot to the right, but it deflected off a TFC defender, catching Clint Irwin wrong-footed as the ball trickled across the goal line for an equalizer.
A short corner give-and-go from Cooper toJustin Morrow and back set up a Hagglund header that again put Toronto ahead, and locked the aggregate score at 5, forcing extra time.
Greg Vanney the Head Coach of Toronto FC said after the press conference, “I couldn’t be more proud of this group. The game tonight was a rollercoaster, it went from giving up the first goal, which obviously wasn’t in the cards or plan, to get back on top as we come into halftime. So then we are
preparing to lock down the game, and then we give another one back. The guys kept fighting, I know it wasn’t easy. It was just the release at the end. For me, it has been a stressful week trying to get the guys to feel like they are ready to go for this game, and they went out and they proved they were ready and then some. I couldn’t be more proud.
Your bench has been important over the last few games, tell us how important it is to have a big squad?
That is something that we really worked on over the last year, to try to create some depth, and to also have some guys with experience that we can turn to. Different types of players, guys that can bring different things to the equation, and it has taken me a little time to get to know how to best use these guys. I think we are now in a position where we brought in guys that are able to make a difference at the right times. It is a tribute to them because they continue to work hard every day. One of the things I have to say is the guys that are in the locker room, the guys who played and the guys on the bench, were fantastic tonight. I give a lot of credit to the guys that weren’t in the 18, because they played like crazy this week to get these guys ready. They were excellent in training and they really gave us things to think about to help us get prepared, so those guys have to be included in this.
They weren’t out there on the field tonight but they are every bit a part of us being able to do this tonight.
Can you appreciate how great it was today, some people are saying it is the greatest game in MLS playoff history.
Yes once I took a step back, during the celebration, and took a moment to think about how many people were in both stadiums. The first game had over a million viewers and I don’t know what the viewership was tonight but imagine it was every probably every bit of that again. The excitement of the two games, the quantity of goals, the amount of attacking, and back and forth, the twists and turns. I can’t imagine the experience and the emotions that people went through. This game will, both for MLS and Canadian soccer, really motivate and bring people into this sport. For me the most exciting playoff event that I have ever been a part of and one that I have seen. I will probably have more thoughts on that later, but it was just an amazing match.
The score line alone, in a conference final, is amazing. I’m so proud of the guys, we battled back many times in the game and we showed so much character. It’s a very special moment for all of us.
This moment right now, actually I’ve been visualizing this all day, coming back in the dressing room with the boys and just celebrating. Just getting that monkey off our back so to speak. Thoughts on the impact games like these have on Canadian young players… Of course this is what builds the youth because they are here, they are seeing this success, they are seeing that hard works pays off and this will inspire them to push harder, work harder and make it to this level and higher.
What’s it like to see Jozy Altidore can be up close?
“He’s a beast. I love playing with the guy, as you see he gave me a great assist, that run was world-class, and he put the ball right on my foot all I had to do was put it in. It’s a joy to play with great players like Jozy, Seba, and the rest of them like Bradley. It’s just an honour to be here.
Michael Bradley, talks to media..
Did you get a sense that this is the kind of performance that moves the club so far ahead?
“Without a doubt. All week we spoke about what tonight could be. Obviously nobody knew for sure, but I think we all had an idea that it could be a special night in terms of atmosphere, emotion, in some ways 10 years of emotion coming out in one night. We talked about it being a two-way street, we have to play in a way that every person who comes into this stadium feels proud and excited and passionate about what they’re watching.
There’s also going to be some moments where we need them, we need their energy, their emotion to lift us and tonight was a perfect example because there were so many twists and turns along the way; down one-zero, up 2- 1, tied 2-2, obviously then 3-2 and at three-two it was on a knife’s edge because obviously we were pushing, we were the team that was for the most part getting chances but one play going the other way and all of the sudden we have a lot to do. Again, it was a night with so many twists and turns, the atmosphere was incredible and I think we felt it all week. I dropped my son off at school this morning and I saw, every kid that walked into the
school had a TFC jersey on and most of the parents as well, so you could feel it in this city that people have really taken notice, people are proud. Tonight was a special night and in ten days from now we want to do one better.
Our groundskeepers are unbelievable. They are a part of our club, we see them every day at the training ground. We ask how things are going, they give us feedback, they show us pictures, so we have an incredible amount of respect of the work they do for how professional they are, how much they put into it all. They had an impossible task in the last few days of turning a field around in this weather from a Grey Cup to an Eastern Conference Final and they did an incredible job and obviously regardless if there had been a game three days, when you play 120 minutes and it’s raining, the field gets a little bit heavy, that’s normal. I think we all fully expected, with ten days to come back, it’s going to be in perfect condition for the finals.
Congratulations Toronto FC, next opponent will face Saunders FC, Saturday December 10th BMO stadium, 5:00pm. #TorLive
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