Mornin'
TFC 'Lite
Ryan Johnston
The inaugural Nutrilite Canadian Championship was a disaster for Toronto FC.
On Wednesday that elephant in the locker room can be evicted when Toronto and Vancouver raise the curtain on the second-annual all-Canadian Cup.
But will Jumbo go without incident?
It has been tacitly agreed upon that the team must win the all-Canadian tournament in 2009. The schedule has been adjusted accordingly and when asked, every player is quick to reiterate. Nobody wants another year of standing in the shadow.
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CSA raises levies, anger
PETER MALLETT
It may just be a drop in its collection bucket but plans by the Canadian Soccer Association to increase youth soccer player registration levies by one dollar to fund national programs are being met with resistance by youth and professional soccer club officials.
The increase comes after Canada's governing body of soccer held its annual general meeting in Banff, Alberta, over the weekend, with membership voting to increase player levies for Canada's 865,000 youth and senior players from $8 to $9 in 2010.
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Toronto's home-field advantage proving to be a myth
By Steve Davis
Sweeping up after the MLS weekend party, here are 10 things I found lying around:
1. A little research goes a long way: Here's a note for bloggers, journalists, TV announcers or fans bent on dropping little nuggets of knowledge at soccer-friendly happy hours. It sounds very dramatic and all to repeat this clichéd ditty about "fortress" BMO Field and how it's such a bugger of place to play, etc.
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TFC to use 'best team' against Whitecaps
By STEVE BUFFERY
Vancouver has mountains, the ocean, the 2010 Olympic Winter Games, an NHL franchise still in the playoffs, a soccer team owned by a big-time celebrity and a lot of people who eat tofu.
No wonder Toronto FC really, really wants to defeat that city's soccer team -- the Vancouver Whitecaps -- tomorrow at BMO Field in the opening game of the Nutrilite Canadian championship.
"This is a massive tournament for us," Toronto midfielder Carl Robinson said. "We have to put a few wrongs, right. We should have won last year."
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Cummins joins list of former assistants to step up
by Ridge Mahoney
AT SOME POINT, THE MLS coaching career of John Carver careened off-course, and whether anyone might have foreseen it happening is no longer an issue.
After 15 months in charge, dating back to his hiring in February 2008, Carver left Toronto FC last week. Clashes between him, MLS, and team management had not only become more and more virulent but had begun to seep into the locker room and training sessions.
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Robinson ready for cup battle
Reds face Vancouver at BMO Field on Wednesday
Toronto FC midfielder Carl Robinson believes the hurt of failing to win the Nutrilite Canadian Championship last year will spur the team on in the tournament this season. The Reds open against Vancouver Whitecaps at BMO Field on Wednesday night. "It means a great deal to us," said Robinson. "This is a massive tournament for us and we've got to put a few things right after last year when we should have won the tournament and everyone expected us to win but we didn't. We've got to make sure that we go into this game full of confidence and in a lively manner to make sure we get off to a good start."
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