AP Photo/Eduardo Verdugo
MEXICO CITY -- Three takes as Toronto FC and Club America drew 1-1 in Estadio Azteca to reach the CONCACAF Champions League final 4-2 on aggregate.
1. Toronto deserves the final
Whatever happens in the CONCACAF Champions League final between Toronto FC and Chivas, nobody will be able to look back and say that the Canadian champions didn't deserve to make it this far. This has been an authoritative advertisement for both Toronto and Major League Soccer.
After slaying reigning Liga MX champion Tigres in the quarterfinal, Toronto got past Club America with relative ease over the 180 minutes, deservedly winning the first leg 3-1 at BMO Field and then drawing the second.
If there is one defining feature from the Toronto side during its CCL run, it is the way the team refuses to be rattled. There is a calm authority and steel about it -- not much seems to bother Greg Vanney's squad.
The acid test of that theory came in the Estadio Azteca on Tuesday. With rain pelting down, fans backing America and Miguel Herrera's side attacking from the start, this was Toronto's biggest challenge in this season's CCL.
When key striker Jozy Altidore was taken off in the seventh minute, perhaps other teams would start to wilt, perhaps doubts would creep in.
But Toronto scored five minutes later. Sebastian Giovinco flicked the ball through to Altidore's replacement, Tosaint Ricketts, who steered it to Jonathan Osorio -- who is gaining quite the reputation this tournament -- for a tap-in.
The early Club America storm had been weathered and Toronto had struck. Clinical.
Las Aguilas pushed but lacked a conductor for its orchestra, a player to speed up and slow down play when required. Playing two strikers like Oribe Peralta and Henry Martin made it easier for Toronto's back three. Club America lacked a player who could move between the lines to unsettle Toronto.
In essence, America lacked a Giovinco, although Coach Herrera can't be blamed for injuries to his two most creative players, Cecilio Dominguez and Jeremy Menez.
America's attacking was haphazard and sporadic, but Paul Aguilar forced a fine save from Alex Bono on a diving header in the 28th minute. Peralta went close one minute later and after the break piled on the pressure.
Las Aguilas should've had a penalty early in the second half, but there was never a sense that the game was theirs for the taking -- and it didn't have to do with extreme luck or an amazing performance from the goalkeeper. Club America's late penalty goal through Mateus Uribe turned out to be a mere consolation.
Make no mistake about it, this Toronto side showed Liga MX's best that it is the real deal.
Eduardo Verdugo/AP
2. Vanney outshines Herrera
The Toronto FC coach is inevitably in the conversation for the U.S. men's national team job and this performance in the Estadio Azteca -- the spiritual home of Mexican football and El Tri -- won't do any harm at all.
Nor will the fact that passage to the final came at the expense of two former Mexico managers -- Ricardo Ferretti and Herrera -- who are considered among the best in Liga MX.
Herrera's outbursts after the first leg in Toronto and in the days leading up to game painted him in a bad light. His chances of returning to the Mexico national job any time soon couldn't have been helped.
Vanney had the aces up his sleeve on the field, as well. Granted, having a player like Giovinco makes planning easier, but Toronto withstood America's first line in the press and picked holes in midfield and up front. At least, that's what happened in first leg and in the early stages in the Azteca. The second half Tuesday was more a case of holding on.
The preparation of Toronto FC also turned heads, with the squad arriving in Mexico five days ahead of the game to acclimate to the altitude. They even took some time in the preseason to play in Mexico, though it wasn't much of a factor, as Toronto was 4-1 up on aggregate for most of the second leg.
Herrera's performance and behavior shouldn't be surprising. He has done it before and he'll do it again. But it was jarring in comparison to Vanney, who looked very competent at this level in a difficult atmosphere.
3. Toronto can't take Chivas for granted
When the quarterfinals were set, Chivas were the least likely Mexican team to make the final and Toronto faced the daunting task of getting past both Tigres and America. Now they'll face off in the final.
Chivas might have struggled to get over the line against New York Red Bulls, but when the Guadalajara team and its fans smell a trophy, the momentum and support rapidly crescendos. And the fact Chivas haven't won a CONCACAF trophy since 1962 increases the importance.
On the other side, Toronto famously has space in its trophy cabinet ready for when the club lifts the CCL title.
The Vanney against Matias Almeyda clash on the bench promises to be fascinating, and a Liga MX vs. MLS final is exactly what this tournament needed.
Club America vs. Toronto FC: TV channel, live stream, squad news & preview
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The reigning MLS champions look to finish the job and advance to the CCL final, but must overcome a daunting trip to the Estadio Azteca
Toronto FC has one foot in the CONCACAF Champions League final, but there is still a major hurdle left for Greg Vanney's side to overcome.
After winning the first leg 3-1 in Toronto last week, the defending MLS Cup champions face Club America at the Azteca Stadium in Tuesday's semifinal second leg.
The Reds do have a two-goal advantage, but there's plenty left to be decided with America heading home to one of the region's most intimidating venues with an away goal from the first leg.
The winner will face either the New York Red Bulls or Chivas in the CCL final.
Game Club America vs. Toronto FC Date Tuesday, April 10 Time 10 p.m. ET Stream (U.S. only) fubo TV (7-day free trial)
TV Channel, Live Stream & How To Watch
In the United States (U.S.), the game can be watched live and on-demand with fuboTV (7-day free trial).
New users can sign up for a free seven-day trial of the live sports streaming service, which can be accessed via iOS, Android, Chromecast, Amazon Fire TV, Roku and Apple TV as well as on a web browser.
U.S. TV channel Online stream Univision Deportes fubo TV (7-day free trial)
In the United Kingdom (UK), the game will not be televised or streamed.
UK TV channel Online stream None None
Squads & Team News
Position America players Goalkeepers Jimenez, Leon, Marchesin, Pineda Defenders Aguilar, Aguilera, Alvarez, Cedillo, Orrantia, Valdez, Vargas Midfielders Arce, Corona, Cordova, Cruz, Da Silva, Ibarra, Rodríguez, Uribe, Zamora Forwards Diaz, Dominguez, Ibarguen, Lainez, Marin, Martin, Menez, Peralta
Jeremy Menez missed the first leg with a hamstring issue and will still be sidelined for the second leg. Attacking midfielder Cecilio Domínguez has been ruled out for 2-3 weeks with a hamstring injury picked up in Saturday's league game against Necaxa.
Potential America starting XI: Marchesin; Aguilar, Valdez, Aguilera, Vargas; Ibarra, Uribe, Rodriguez, Ibarguen; Peralta, Martin
Position Toronto FC players Goalkeepers Bono, Irwin, Patterson-Sewell Defenders Hagglund, Hasler, Mavinga, Moor, Morgan, Morrow, Van der Wiel, Zavaleta, Auro Midfielders Aketxe, Bradley, Chapman, Delgado, Fraser, Osorio, Vazquez Forwards Akinola, Altidore, Giovinco, Hamilton, Ricketts, Spencer
Nick Hagglund is out with a hamstring injury while Justin Morrow is questionable with a calf strain.
Potential Toronto starting XI: Bono; Van der Wiel, Moor, Mavinga, Auro; Delgado, Bradley, Osorio, Vazquez; Giovinco, Altidore.
Betting & Match Odds
Club America is favored to win the match with dabblebet pricing the Mexican side at 2/5. TFC is priced at 5/1 to get an away victory and the draw is available at 7/2.
Click here to see all of dabblebet's offers for the game, including goalscoring markets, correct score predictions and more.
Match Preview
Toronto FC appears to be Major League Soccer's best hope yet of finally winning the CONCACAF Champions League.
The defending MLS champions got past fellow MLS side Colorado in the CCL round of 16 before impressively dispatching Liga MX champion Tigres in the quarterfinal.
Now Greg Vanney's men are 90 minutes from the final after taking care of Club America 3-1 in the semifinal first leg.
Reaching the final, though, is no foregone conclusion.
TFC has never played at the Estadio Azteca and the team's first trip will present no shortage of challenges.
Article continues below
Major League Soccer did give TFC a break last weekend, ensuring Vanney's side had a full week off between the first and second legs.
Club America had no such luxury and it ended up costing the Aguilas. Key midfielder Cecilio Domínguez will miss the second leg after suffering a hamstring injury in Saturday's league match against Necaxa.
Dominguez's absence, along with that of Jeremy Menez, will be tough to overcome but America will hope a boisterous crowd at the Azteca will help propel them to a famous comeback.
Despite losing a key player to injury in the opening moments of the match, Toronto FC got an early goal, then kept Club América off the scoreboard until second-half stoppage time, to earn a 1-1 draw at Estadio Azteca on Tuesday night. The resulting 4-2 aggregate win means the Reds will face CD Guadalajara in the Concacaf Champions League final starting next week.
Drama arrived early in the first half. Just five minutes in, Jozy Altidore went down and stayed down in a collision, and had to be subbed off several minutes later for Tosaint Ricketts. In the 12th minute, Sebastian Giovinco delivered a perfectly-weighted pass into the box, where Ricketts and an Aguilas defender collaborated to sidefoot the ball to Jonathan Osorio for the opening goal.
Drama stuck around for the rest of the rain-drenched first half — a 19th-minute Eriq Zavaleta headed own goal was taken off the board via a late offside flag, and the Aguilas continued pressuring for an equalizer, forcing Alex Bono into five excellent first-half saves. America finished the half with 12 shots to TFC's four and more than 60 percent possession.
The second half included just a few chances for the Reds to expand their lead. In the 50th minute, Giovinco fired a free kick in to force a tip save, and then on his subsequent corner kick, he nearly bent it around the near post for the game's second goal. TFC was, however, content to sit back and absorb America's attack for much of the final 45. Only a stoppage-time penalty kick, awarded when Michael Bradley collided with Oribe Peralta in the box, allowed the home team to get on the board.
Goals
12' – TOR – Jonathan Osorio
90'+2 – CA – Andres Uribe (PK)
Three Things
THE BIG PICTURE: Toronto FC closed out a solid two-leg series against a traditional Liga MX powerhouse in a notoriously challenging stadium. They now get the chance to bring MLS glory in the series finale — a feat last attempted by the Montreal Impact, TFC's implacable rivals, against America in the '14-'15 finals.
Toronto FC closed out a solid two-leg series against a traditional Liga MX powerhouse in a notoriously challenging stadium. They now get the chance to bring MLS glory in the series finale — a feat last attempted by the Montreal Impact, TFC's implacable rivals, against America in the '14-'15 finals. MOMENT OF THE MATCH: The goal was a moment of as-good-as-it-gets TFC soccer, with a Canadian connection, enabled by Giovinco's vision, making the Aguilas' mountain that much harder to climb.
The goal was a moment of as-good-as-it-gets TFC soccer, with a Canadian connection, enabled by Giovinco's vision, making the Aguilas' mountain that much harder to climb. MAN OF THE MATCH: Bono faced a barrage of shots — 29, to be exact — and was unshakable throughout the match, credited with six saves, and even weathering an end-of-first-half elbow to the head on one of those saves.
Next Up
THAT'S IT! The referee blows his whistle, and the game is over. What an incredibly gutsy performance from Toronto FC to hold off wave after wave of vicious Club América attackers. The last-minute penalty was kind of ridiculous, taking away the win TFC really wanted in Mexico, but nonetheless they're on to the Concacaf Champions League final to play Chivas Guadalajara.
This is insane. Absolutely crazy. The Reds just stifled a team with a 101-year history at one of the most historic stadiums in the world. They stopped them from scoring a single open play goal.
TFC will open the final next week against Chivas, we'll try to confirm when exactly as soon as we can.
We can lament the injuries in the coming days. But in the meantime, drink it up TFC fans. We're going to the final.
91' Club América 1-1 Toronto FC — Penalty to América as Michael Bradley comes through the back of an attacking player. Andres Uribe puts it into the bottom right corner to equalize the game, but his side has hardly any time to score two goals. This one is over.
87' — How did he miss that?! Nico Hasler had one on a plate pretty much unmarked, but he put it over the bar with the keeper Marchesin rushing him fast. We remain at 1-1.
81' — Greg Vanney uses his last substitution of the game, bringing Jordan Hamilton on for Tosaint Ricketts. Also, Drew Moor picks up a yellow card for a rough standing challenge on Bruno Valdez.
60' — We're at the hour mark now, and the second half has been pretty uneventful so far. Referee Ravshan Irmatov has a strong grip on this game.
Also, Auro had a green laser pointer shined in his eye during a throw-in. Tick that one off.
46' — A flurry of substitutions at the half. Nicolas Hasler comes on for Gregory van der Wiel, which is fairly concerning. Looks like the Reds might be moving to four at the back, as well. SAmérica bring on youngsters Alex Díaz and Diego Lainez for Henry Martin and William Da Silva.
HT — The Reds make it into halftime unscathed, despite a few very nervy moments. Alex Bono is surely the hero of that first half, despite Jonathan Osorio's goal. The keeper has truly kept TFC in it.
Also, shoutout to the referee from Uzbekistan. He's done a phenomenal job so far, especially as the América players begin to up the antics a little bit. He may have missed a Valdez elbow on Bono, but other than that zero complaints.
28' — Alex Bono makes one of the best reaction saves I've ever seen a Toronto FC keeper make to keep it at 1-0.
20’ — HUGE break for the Reds as Eriq Zavaleta heads one into his own goal, but the assistant referee rules it offside. Zavaleta gets a reprieve, and it'll stay 1-0.
12’ Toronto FC 1-0 Club América — GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL! Jonathan Osorio has given the Reds an away goal, it is 4-1 on aggregate! Holy crap! Tosaint Ricketts lays off a beautiful chipped pass from Seba and Oso smashes it home.
It's not the prettiest but it could prove to be one of the biggest goals in TFC's history. pic.twitter.com/bpxBQsip2q — Mitchell Tierney (@mitchelltierney) April 11, 2018
6’ — Nightmare here as Jozy Altidore goes down with what looks like a muscular injury. Referee immediately signaled for a substitute, doesn’t look like he’ll be continuing. Tosaint Ricketts comes in to replace him.
0’ — We’re off! It’s rainy, it’s miserable, but we are kicking off on time.
JUST KIDDING!
Looks like we’re going off without a hitch. https://t.co/k0vvqf8rOc — Ben Baer (@BenBaer89) April 11, 2018
Oh no...
Lightning at Azteca. Looking at a delay. #CCLFever — Ben Baer (@BenBaer89) April 11, 2018
I was unable to sleep last night, and not because I drank a pot of coffee at 8 p.m. in order to power through an essay (okay maybe because of that actually). Still, the anticipation before Toronto FC’s first ever appearance at the Estadio freakin’ Azteca is palpable.
As has been drilled into everyone’s heads, TFC’s 3-1 aggregate lead does not necessarily make them safe in this Concacaf Champions League semifinal against Club América. If they want to advance to the final, they’ll probably need an away goal, especially because it’s very hard to imagine any scenario in which América don’t score.
Just for clarity’s sake, here’s a visual representation of all the most plausible scenarios, and who would advance from each.
As you can see, TFC would advance with any win or draw, and any one-goal loss. It gets a little hairier if they lose by two; a 2-0 América win would put the home side through, a 3-1 win for América would give us penalties, and any other two-goal win would put TFC into the final.
It seems the past four games in this competition have all been the biggest in TFC history. This is no exception; a result at the Azteca would leave an impact that Mexican soccer fans wouldn’t soon forget. América are an extremely historic club, founded all the way back in 1916; that gives them a 91-year age gap over Toronto FC.
It will be incredibly difficult for TFC to slay this particular dragon. Both teams are dealing with some heavy injuries; TFC could be without such important pieces as Victor Vazquez, Chris Mavinga and Justin Morrow. América will be missing key midfielder Cecilio Domínguez after he came off injuring during their 1-1 draw against Necaxa on the weekend.
The altitude and the atmosphere will also be brutal. The Azteca sits 7,280 feet above sea level, quite a bit higher than Toronto’s 249. To compare with TFC’s last two away dates in the CCL, Monterrey’s elevation is 1,770 feet, and Denver is 5,280 above sea level (a full 2,000 lower than Mexico City).
The Reds have been training in Pachuca for a few days though, which is even higher than Mexico City, and they’ve been working out with oxygen masks for weeks. They know the altitude is a factor, and they’re probably as well-prepared for it as they possibly could be.
I’m not sure just how full the Azteca will be tonight, but it sounds like the home side are trying to fill as many seats as they can by slashing ticket prices. The cheapest seats on Ticketmaster right now are going for just under $7 CAD. From playing around with it a little bit, the only place I was able to find five tickets (the maximum allowed) in a row was in the sixth level. There are over 100 left on Stubhub, though.
I’d expect a pretty decent crowd, likely more than there would’ve been if TFC hadn’t won (and hurt their pride a little bit) last week. The media storm around Miguel Herrera has certainly helped drum up interest as well. The Reds also have quite a bit more star power than the 2015 Montreal Impact.
TFC have made it pretty clear over the past few days that they plan to take the game to América, and not just sit back. I’d expect to see the 3-5-2 again, even though they were seen training in a 4-4-2 the other day. That’s because they probably don’t expect to have the majority of possession, and so will need to be solid defensively with a counter-attacking threat in their back pockets.
Refereeing may also be a factor; this game is going to be staffed by Ravshan Irmatov, an Asian Football Confederation referee from Uzbekistan. He has a strong pedigree, working at the 2010 and 2014 FIFA World Cups (he oversaw Gregory van der Wiel’s Netherlands side in their 2010 semifinal against Uruguay). He’s been AFC referee of the year five times since 2006.
So, it may be just a little less Concacafy than usual.
How are you feeling? TFC have shown time and again how capable they are of bringing their best into the biggest games. Hopefully this time is no different, although they will never have faced a threat quite like this.
If they lose, well, it’s still been an incredible run, and they’ll have given Mexico something to think about. But if they win? Then they’re history, and América won’t forget it.
Team news: injuries & suspensions
Toronto FC: Justin Morrow and Victor Vazquez remain questionable with their injuries, although of the two I’d say Vazquez might be the more likely to be involved. Chris Mavinga and Nick Hagglund have been pretty much ruled out, though, as it seems both have long-term injuries that need to be addressed.
The Reds have some big names at risk of suspension. Michael Bradley, Jozy Altidore, Sebastian Giovinco, and Jonathan Osorio would all miss the first leg of the final if TFC were to advance and if they were to get booked again.
Club América: The home team will still face the major injuries they had last week, with Frenchman Jérémy Ménez still out. They’re also going to be missing Cecilio Domínguez, which is a huge loss for them.
They went into last game with a ton of yellow cards, and received a few more, but still nobody has been suspended. At risk of missing the next game: Emanuel Aguilera, Carlos Vargas, Paul Aguilar, Alejandro Diaz, Mateus Uribe, and Guido Rodríguez.
Pre-game reading
Predicting Toronto FC’s lineup against Club América (Leg 2) (Benedict Rhodes)
Toronto FC have been preparing for the Azteca all year (Mitchell Tierney)
Toronto FC have history against them at the Estadio Azteca (Charlie O’Connor-Clarke)
Gregory van der Wiel’s ability on full display against Club América (Charlie O’Connor-Clarke)
Also, don’t forget to get your picks in before kickoff for the Prediction League! Bonus points on the line this week!
How to watch
Match date/time: 10 p.m. EST, Tuesday, April 10
TV: TSN 1 & 4 (Canada), RDS 2 (en français), Fox Sports Cono Norte (Mexico), Univision Deportes (USA)
Live stream: TSN Go (Canada), go90.com
Radio: TSN 1050 (Toronto)
Lineups
Toronto FC:
Club América:
