Pre-Game: CCL Group Stage: TFC at Arabe Unido (August 24, 8pm, Gol TV Canada)

[atlanticTFCfan]

What/When

• Toronto FC will continue their first-ever foray in the CONCACAF Champions League group stage when they pay a visit to Estadio Agustín "Muquita" Sánchez in La Chorrera, Panama to take on Club Deportivo Árabe Unido from Panama in a CONCACAF Champions League group stage match on Tuesday, August 24, 2010 at 8:00 pm EDT.
• Toronto FC is in Group A along with Real Salt Lake, Club Deportivo, Social, y Cultural Cruz Azul AC and Club Deportivo Árabe Unido.

TV/Video

• This game will be shown live on GOL TV Canada (http://www.goltv.ca/), Fox Soccer Channel (http://msn.foxsports.com/foxsoccer/, English) in the U.S., RPC (http://www.rpctv.com/, Spanish) in Panama, ESPN Latin America (Spanish) in Mexico, ESPN Caribbean (Spanish) in the Caribbean islands and ESPN Mas Andina (Spanish) in South America.
• This game is also available online on the CONCACAF website: http://www.concacaftv.premiumtv.co.uk/.

Radio/Audio

• No radio coverage available.

Group Stage Trend

• TFC: WXXXXX
• CRZ: LXXXXX
• RSL: WXXXXX
• ARA: LXXXXX

Supporters Group Match Thread Links

• BigSoccer: http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1520271
• U-Sector: http://z15.invisionfree.com/U_Sector...howtopic=13812
• North End Elite: http://www.kickabola.com/showthread.php?t=21239

[atlanticTFCfan]

And folks, note the stadium where this match will be at. It's not at Arabe Unido's usual stadium. It's actually at another team's ground (San Francisco FC's, to be exact).

That info was on the torontofc.ca site.

[flatpicker]

After that poor showing against NY, I hope the Reds will be hungry for results in this game.

[Nodoubtguy]

There should be a nice sized group at Joe's to watch this one.

[pekduck]

Shoeless anyone?

Oh nvm, Sal just posted.

I'm there tomorrow!

[Broadview]

atlanticTFCfan, I must say you make the nicest game threads with the purdy pictures and the relevant info

[twistedchinaman]

And now...Chinese poetry time:

失策一番無介意, 三番四次令君怒.
One slip does not matter, many slips create despair;
白問出錯在何方, 千句借口無改變.
Roiling in our errors is pointless, excuses aplenty but no changes.
舊過重犯, 無可奈何;
Past errors surface again, exasperation rears its head.
向天問恥何時滅, 美好時刻何抵達?
How do we quell our sorrow, and return to the times of good?
無能為力, 只好乞求;
We can only beg, as we have no way
在明晚夜, 還我威嚴.
That tomorrow night, we return to glory's way.

(Yes, I know the translation here and the one of Twitter is different. Length restrictions and all that jazz dontchaknow...)

[jloome]

And now...Chinese poetry time:

失策一番無介意, 三番四次令君怒.
One slip does not matter, many slips create despair;
白問出錯在何方, 千句借口無改變.
Roiling in our errors is pointless, excuses aplenty but no changes.
舊過重犯, 無可奈何;
Past errors surface again, exasperation rears its head.
向天問恥何時滅, 美好時刻何抵達?
How do we quell our sorrow, and return to the times of good?
無能為力, 只好乞求;
We can only beg, as we have no way
在明晚夜, 還我威嚴.
That tomorrow night, we return to glory's way.

(Yes, I know the translation here and the one of Twitter is different. Length restrictions and all that jazz dontchaknow...)

[UltraSuperMegaMo]

"some different faces" in the team as per Luke Wileman's tweet and Preki's TFC interview. Wonder what that means? A couple of academy players?

[El Diego]

Is there anywhere to download the game after it's been played? I have my own game to play which means I'll miss this one but I really want to see it.

[bgnewf]

anyone know who the ref is???

Considering how awful a lot of of the Central American/caribbean refs are i would even take Toledo.

[Yohan]

it would be hilarious if it was benito archundia. tfc might as well forfeit the game now(my contempt for that piece of crap ref knows no boundary)

[Technorgasm]

Thall shalt count to three POINTS, no more, no less.
Three shall be the number thou shalt count, and the number of the counting shall be three. Four shalt thou not count, neither count thou One, excepting that thou then proceed to three.

Once the number three, being the third number, be reached, then lobbest thou thy Holy Hand Grenade of MISTA towards thy foe, who, being naughty in my sight, shall snuff it.

[Carts]

That's a "GROOVY" 3-pts... I like!

Carts...

[ManUtd4ever]

I honestly have no idea what to expect tonight. While tonight's match in Panama is realistically TFC's best hope for a victory on the road in the CCL group stage, it will prove to be a very difficult task for the Reds. The biggest concern tonight will be up front as Santos is still recovering from his knee injury and Barrett tweaked his hamstring on Saturday. If Mista can regain his focus for tonight's match following Saturday's controversy it will benefit the club tremendously. White has been predominantly ineffective this season, especially against Latin American competition where the game is played at a faster pace. DeRo may have to move up front yet again unless Preki intends to employ a lone striker which might be a recipe for disaster. Given the circumstances, I will be content with a draw. Let's hope the boys bounce back tonight...

[Oldtimer]

I would hesitate to play Mista, and it has nothing to do with the alleged "blow up" with Preki, for three reasons:

(1) The turf. It's likely to be a problem for Mista.

(2) Arabe Unido plays very rough and violent (hence the 2 red cards). Mista is less effective against physical opponents,

(3) Arabe Unido plays a very direct style. Beating them will require more Prekiball then elegant play. You want someone physical in there (OBW comes to mind).

Maybe sub in Mista in the 60th minute if you need to spark some creativity.

[__wowza]

3
That's the magic number
Yes it is
It's the magic number

[atlanticTFCfan]

anyone know who the ref is???

Considering how awful a lot of of the Central American/caribbean refs are i would even take Toledo.

A tweet from Luke Wileman: Referee tonight is Marlon Mejia from El Salvador.

[manic.street.preacher]

not gonna lie, i'm more than a little worried about this match. we really need the points and if you believe what you read about how dirty these guys are (and i do, cos i really have less than zero knowledge about panamanian football), then i'm really concerned that we'll be picking up some injuries.

[ilikemusic]

Thall shalt count to three POINTS, no more, no less.
Three shall be the number thou shalt count, and the number of the counting shall be three. Four shalt thou not count, neither count thou One, excepting that thou then proceed to three.

Once the number three, being the third number, be reached, then lobbest thou thy Holy Hand Grenade of MISTA towards thy foe, who, being naughty in my sight, shall snuff it.

[SilverSamurai]

I'd be happy with a tie, but don't expect much to be honest.

Although if TFC wins, I'd be ecstatic!
If they do win, they'll lose on Sat. lol

[UltraSuperMegaMo]

^ I agree if they win tonight they will lose on Sat. TFC is like McDonald's breakfasts, they're good half the time.

[atlanticTFCfan]

Here's the 411 on tonight's referee, Marlon Mejia of El Salvador:

http://www.football-lineups.com/referee/2215/

[ArmenJBX]

We're better skillwise then these guys. We should win. However, football in nations like Panama can be very dirty. Players like De Rosario will suffer, because players won't try to out-skill him, they'll just give him a rough tackle and take him out.

That being said, I predict a 3-0 win, Mista, De Rosario and Dan mothatruckin' Gargan.

[atlanticTFCfan]

OK, never mind the bollocks, here's TFC's starting XI (better brace yourselves):

[LINEUP-4-4-2]White, Ibrahim, LaBrocca, de Guzman, Saric, Gala, Usanov, Harden, Attakora, Hscanovics, Kocic[/LINEUP-4-4-2]

[Darlofletch]

Are you just guessing or is that official? cos if so, where the hell are the goals coming from?

[pawlukj]

why cheese the roster s o much, isnt every CL game important?

[Greg]

It's from Luke Wileman's twitter

LukeWileman
#torontofc line up: Kocic, Usanov, Harden, Attakora, Hscanovics, LaBrocca, de Guzman, Saric, Gala, White, Ibrahim 23 minutes ago via txt
LukeWileman
#torontofc subs: Conway, Garcia, Gargan, Mista, De Rosario, Nane, Henry 2 minutes ago via txt

[atlanticTFCfan]

Are you just guessing or is that official? cos if so, where the hell are the goals coming from?

Nope, that is the official XI, dude.

[colman1860]

wtf...why don't we take this seriously? Has Gala ever done anything useful on a football field?