They won't sell the place out, btw they reduced capacity during recent renos and it seats 87,000 now. I was there last June for the Bradley goal in the MEX/USA World Cup qualifier. That was quite the atmosphere, but i will say that as crazy and intense as it was you don't get the bags of piss being thrown that we all like to talk about.
Its intimidating yes, its such a massive and impressive stadium even when empty. I'd guess 40,000-50,000 for next weeks game. I'd also guess we are ready to not let the atmosphere intimidate, Tigres was/is a better, louder and more intense atmosphere. If we can somehow score first, like Bradley did in that USA game then it would be absolutely massive.
The last time I heard something similar to this happening was way back in 1993 when CONCACAF brought in a UEFA German referee to officiate the Canada-Mexico WCQ at Varsity. The winner would win the qualifying group and advance directly to USA '94, and CONCACAF felt that there was no referee available within the confederation with the experience to handle such an important match.
The key is to go to Mexico City and not park the bus. We need to be aggressive with our counter attacks and try to get a goal. If that happens they'll have to score 4 to win the game, and that's going to be hard with us playing just as fast as them and we know how dangerous we can be on the counter. It's going to be a BIG night for Vanney with tactics being the dominating factor.
Last edited by C.Ronaldo; 04-05-2018 at 10:46 AM.
I like that the team is already headed to Mexico today. Get a few days of training + rest while CA plays on the weekend
Check out this tweet at https://twitter.com/torontofc/status/981980755248238598
Mavinga & Morrow sighting. Not seen Vasquez in social media yet.
He’s was at practice tonight. Can see him in the TFC Insta feed
Interesting that they are not in Mexico city. They are training in Pachuca at Universidad del Futbol y Ciencias del Deporte, an hour and half away, and at 8000 feet, about 700 ft higher elevation then Mexico city.
Last edited by oldtraffordPEI; 04-05-2018 at 11:39 PM.
It's Vazquez (two zeds). Vasquez (one s) is a player for Tigres. Get it right folks!
Remember The Man, The Legend, The Goal 5-12-07 and All That #9 Left On The Pitch, Thanks For The Memories !!!
I'm not sure if I want to watch...
I didn't watch the 2nd leg against Tigres until the very end, and when I turned it on Gignac got the PK.
Although Jozy scored against Columbus in the East final second leg the moment I got to the bar where I met Techno, and Jozy did it again 10 minutes after I arrived at the Cup watch party at Home & Away (here in Calgary).
Decisions, decisions...
Still possibly the only known RPB to appear on Masterchef Canada.
(I think?)
Also, Ravshan Irmatov reffed in 4 AFC Champions League finals, including the two years that my Chinese team (Guangzhou Evergrande) won...Asian club teams are usually filled with Brazilians, so I expect Irmatov to know how to deal with Club America's histrionics.
I hope...
Still possibly the only known RPB to appear on Masterchef Canada.
(I think?)
I was there two years ago for a game. It's a huge and intimidating place with a great atmosphere. But, to me the altitude will be a much bigger factor than the stadium. I run marathons. I was there for two weeks, and a normal easy run that I would just be cruising through here had huffing and puffing in Mexico City. It's a really big difference. I don't think being there since yesterday will make much difference to acclimation, at least in terms of physiological adaptations, and certainly any benefit of the earlier training will be long gone. A really important factor will be how well we can conserve.
I'm really not too sure what to make of the Azteca itself. Most of what we think of it is from the Mexican NT playing there. Who knows how it is with Club America playing there. By this I mean that when you look at Mexico's dominant record there, if they played those same teams in other Mexican stadiums I think Mexico would have a similar record because they are just a strong team. CA honestly did not seem super strong to me (relative to my expectations and Tigres, who are noticeably better). On a neutral pitch I think TFC wins 4, 4 draws, and CA wins 2.
Now, I do believe that the conditions are a real worry that can equalize things, and I'm not saying CA are a bad team by any means. But I think it is very doable for TFC.
Pachuca is a little over an hour drive to Mexico City. I’m sure the CA faithful can make the drive to pester the club if they wanted to. That said I’m interested to know what kind of security (if any) we’ve hired to curb these distractions leading up to Tuesday. Another thing I’ve been looking at are the ticket prices for this match. Current “cheap seats” are priced at 80 pesos ($5.60CAD). Seeing reports (unconfirmed) they will be dropped further to fill the building. As reference CA’s highest attended match this year is ~55,000
Looks like we were training in a 4-4-2 recently.
Bono; Morgan, Moor, VDW, Morrow; Bradley, Oso, Delgado, Hasler; Giovinco, Altidore
Two things here.
1. Auro has a small injury
2. Hasler is above Aketxe in the depth chart now
double post.
Last edited by woolly; 04-08-2018 at 02:24 PM.
Still no Vazquez? Has there been any news on his status at all?
https://www.wakingthered.com/platfor...-2018-concacafThat preparation for both altitude and opponent has not stopped since the season began. In recent weeks, Toronto FC has been training with masks that simulate the altitude they will face on Tuesday. They also apparently have an outstanding amount of video on Club América, something that they’ve already likely taken advantage of in their home victory.
Ok, I'll admit, I'm totally impressed with Vanney and Co's preparation for this match.