Today’s News, Wednesday , Jul.23
Morning!
TFC humbled by Impact
Tie earns Montreal side Canadian club title and berth in CONCACAF's Champions League
Morgan Campbell
Two minutes from full time Amado Guevara curved a free kick into a crowded penalty area, where it bounced off a teammate's head, then off the goalpost.
Jeff Cunningham managed a glancing shot off the rebound, but a Montreal defender cleared it off the goal line.
Near the TFC bench head coach John Carver looked skyward and ran his hands through his hair, frustrated at another opportunity lost.
A tournament, too.
Toronto FC had several scoring chances late in yesterday's Canadian Championship final against the Montreal Impact, but couldn't break a 1-1 tie in a game they needed to win.
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Like losing to kid brother in arm wrestling
There's no shame in losing. But this was a little like your kid brother beating you at arm wrestling. You'll never hear the end of it.
In the aftermath of last night's tie with the Montreal Impact and their sudden demotion to Canada's second-best soccer team, Toronto FC were left reeling with disappointment.
The veterans, who've known defeat and worse, were left slumped in their lockers.
"There's a lot of soul searching we need to start doing," Canadian goalkeeper Greg Sutton said afterward, a few weeks later than we needed to hear it.
In the run-up to the game, both sides were calling it the biggest in Canadian pro-soccer history. Toronto coach John Carver wisely talked up the Impact. In the aftermath, everyone on board the sinking ship TFC graciously praised the no-hopers from a league below who'd just handed them their collective hats.
"I have to give them credit," Carver said later. "The best team's won."
The fans? They didn't show their manager's foresight.
"Who the f--- is the Impact?" they chanted last night. Your betters, for this year at least. How do you say that in French?
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Championing the Uderdog
LARRY MILLSON
TORONTO — This could be the beginning of something good: another Montreal-Toronto rivalry in sports.
And it could be that one day they will meet in Major League Soccer, where Toronto FC already resides and the United Soccer Leagues' Montreal Impact would some day like to be.
For now, the Impact can savour the fact they have won the first Nutrilite Canadian Championship in a three-team tournament between the country's top professional teams.
The Impact earned a 1-1 draw with Toronto last night before a crowd of 20,107 at BMO Field, winning the right to go on to the new CONCACAF Champions League this summer.
Montreal went into last night's game needing only the tie to finish first with two victories and a tie in its three previous games.
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Impact claim Canadian Champions League
All hail the Montreal Impact, the undisputed kings of Canadian soccer.
In the biggest game in either franchise's history, the Impact claimed the Canadian Champions League title by earning a 1-1 tie with Toronto FC Tuesday night at BMO Field in the finale of the three-team tournament.
Roberto Brown's goal in the 26th minute was all the offence Montreal needed, as it allowed the Impact to win the Canadian club championship.
By virtue of winning the tournament, the Impact also clinched a berth in the inaugural CONCACAF Champions League, where it will face Nicaraguan champions Real Esteli in the preliminary round next month.
"My players are warriors, well done to all of them," Montreal coach John Limniatis told reporters after the game.
Impact goalkeeper Matt Jordan, who was named the tournament's most valuable player, said it was a "total team effort" that helped Montreal win the competition.
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Impact send TFC packing
THE CANADIAN PRESS
TORONTO -- The next time Montreal Impact executives sit down with Major League Soccer officials to discuss the possibility of entering North America's top league, they should bring the Nutrilite Canadian Championship trophy to the boardroom.
The long-time member of the second-tier United Soccer Leagues claimed the inaugural Canadian title with a 1-1 tie against Toronto FC -- the country's lone MLS team -- in the final game of the three-team, round-robin tournament before a disappointed crowd of 20,107 on Tuesday at BMO Field.
"The platform (for entering MLS) was already set," said Impact head coach John Limniatis, whose team (2-1-1) needed only a tie against TFC (1-1-2) to win the tournament against Toronto and the USL's Vancouver Whitecaps (1-2-1).
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Carver calls out Cunningham after tie
By Ryan Johnston
TORONTO -- Striker Jeff Cunningham was nowhere to be found for comment after Toronto FC was eliminated from the Nutrilite Canadian Championship on Tuesday night. So instead, head coach John Carver answered the question everyone was poised to ask.
"You want my honest opinion on that? I am thinking, ‘How did he score 99 goals?’ That’s what I thought.’"
Carver was referring to Cunningham’s inability to tap a loose ball into an empty net in the 89th minute of Toronto’s 1-1 draw with Montreal. The goal would have given TFC their first major trophy in team history, and for Cunningham it would have given him goal No. 100 in storybook fashion.
"If you’re a poacher and you have got desire, no matter how you put the ball over the line you put it over the line," Carver concluded, rubbing his temples in frustration.
But instead of a dramatic win, Carver, Cunningham, his teammates and the capacity crowd in attendance took home the consolation prize of disappointment.
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Impact advance to CONCACAF Champions League
Eric Koreen , Canwest News Service
Published: Tuesday, July 22, 2008
TORONTO - The players on Toronto FC like to refer to their home stadium, BMO Field, as a fortress.
During the Nutrilite Canadian Championship, however, the venue was more of a house of horrors for the Major League Soccer team.
Needing a win over the Montreal Impact to secure the tournament title, TFC instead came up short once again against a team that is 10th in the 11-team United Soccer Leagues First Division.
The 1-1 draw gives Montreal the tournament title and Canada's lone berth in the CONCACAF Champions League.
Montreal will play Nicaraguan champion Real Esteli in a home-and-home series that starts on Aug. 27.
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Impact hits hardEliminates 'superior' MLS club
By DEAN MCNULTY, SUN MEDIA
Toronto FC deserved better.
But 1-1 tie at BMO Field last night against the Montreal Impact put an end the Reds' hopes of advancing to the CONCACAF Champions League Cup this season.
It also left many wondering how a Major League Soccer franchise with a payroll approaching $2.5 million could not beat a United Soccer Leagues side with less than half that payroll.
The Impacts play in the USL first division, which is considered a league below the MSL.
Don't tell that to TFC coach John Carver, however, as he praised the Montreal side for coming into Toronto and playing as well as any MLS team.
"I give Montreal all the credit in the world," Carver said. "They came in here needing just a point and they got it.
"I heard some of my players talking about them being in a lower league and I told them it wasn't so."
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Reds draw, but fall short of qualifying
Tie means Montreal advances to CONCACAF Champions League
By Mark Polishuk / MLSnet.com Staff
TORONTO -- Toronto FC came up just short in their bid to qualify for the CONCACAF Champions League after a 1-1 draw with the Montreal Impact on Tuesday at BMO Field in the final game of the Nutrilite Canadian Championship. TFC entered the game needing nothing less than a win to capture the Voyageurs Cup, as they trailed Montreal six points to four in the tournament table. The Reds jumped out to an early lead after a Rohan Ricketts header in the 15th minute, but the Impact tied the game 11 minutes later. Toronto outshot Montreal 11-8 and poured on the pressure in the second half, but couldn't get the tie-breaking goal against the USL First Division team.
In a reflection of the game's importance, both sides fielded close to their first-choice lineups. Sixteen-year-old Abdus Ibrahim started at forward for TFC ahead of struggling veteran Jeff Cunningham and scoring leader Danny Dichio, who has been sidelined with a concussion. For the Impact, Roberto Brown started at striker over Severino Jefferson, who had played at forward in the first three Canadian Championship games.
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SUNSHINE
Great love does not exist without joy and without great suffering ,that's why One club is worth only as much as its fans !
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Originally Posted by DOMIN8R
this morning. This broad is hot! Another fine contribution from McMaster University.
sad day indeed
