November 15, 2024 • 18 mins
Fresh off a bitter disappointment in a shootout at the 2016 MLS Cup at the hands of the Seattle Sounders, Toronto FC set out on a mission to win everything in 2017. In Part One, we cover their dominant and record-setting regular season, and an exclamation mark win that added yet another dramatic chapter to the rivalry with the Montreal Impact.
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And as always, thank you for listening to another episode of Sportsfeld.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Have you googled yourself lately? Are there negative posts from
an ex employee or from a former client, maybe an
outdated news article. Search engines don't always get it right,
but right or wrong, it's your reputation on the line.
That's where Reputation Defender by Norton comes in. Take control.
With Reputation Defender, their cutting edge approaches help you to
wipe away unwanted information in your search results. They also
promote the good stuff. You can start by getting your
(00:22):
free reputation report card at ReputationDefender dot com or call
eight hundred eighty one one forty nine seventy five to
speak to an expert.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Professionals spend nearly half the workweek on written communication, so
focus is important. With Grammarly as your AI writing partner,
focus and quickly get through work with relevant, real time suggestions,
and it works across five hundred thousand apps and websites,
so you can sound more confident and persuasive wherever you write.
Ninety three percent of professionals report that Grammarly helps them
(00:51):
get more work done. Download Grammarly for free at grammarly
dot com. Slash podcast That's grammarly dot com slash podcast.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
Now you can get Cox Internet and one unlimited mobile
line for eighty dollars a month, all with Wi Fi
equipment included a no annual contract. If only getting it
all was always that easy, like having a night out
and getting a good night's sleep. Get it all with Cox.
Get Cox Internet and one unlimited mobile line for eighty
(01:20):
dollars a month. Visit Cox dot com Slash Value Limited
time offer for new customers only. No annual contract means
no minimum term agreement and no early termination via additional
restrictions apply.
Speaker 4 (01:31):
That goes on beat straight back to Vasquez. This is
Michael Bradley, Bradley, Adelgadog Space to the right side, X
at the.
Speaker 5 (01:39):
I'm jersey out to all close the storm after fifteen
minutes of fly and it's sub tuentious whenever remarkable season,
So charos who have to say that final home game
of the regular season.
Speaker 6 (02:15):
Sports It is Sports Fell storytime. We were taking you
back to the good old days, the mid teens, the
mid twenty teens. We are continuing this epic journey, the
hero's journey Toronto FC as they march towards the twenty
seventeen MLS Cup. We last spoke Toronto FC a scoreless, freezing, frigid, brutal, painful,
(02:39):
penalty shootout loss to the Seattle Sounders in Toronto at
the twenty sixteen MLS couple Jake Jans Jake and I
were both there for famously. I do remember this being
told is Toronto FC was extremely motivated by that loss
in the MLS Cup.
Speaker 7 (03:00):
Yeah, and you could see it even from a lot
of the off season moves that were made. It was
clearly one of those like you see it a lot
in professional sports, the team that almost reaches where they
need to be and they go, Okay, we're just a
little we're just a little bit not yet there. Let's
(03:20):
go make some ads. They bring in Clint Irwin in December,
they bring in Chris Mavinga. In January, they bring in
Raheema Edwards, who was promoted to the first team in March.
And then the big one, of course, that will make
the biggest difference come this year is Victor Vasquez signs
(03:41):
from Cruz Azul on February twentieth, twenty seventeen, who will
be a big addition for this team.
Speaker 6 (03:50):
I remember at this point it was enough to be
sucked in because they had been so good the year
before and they made that run and it felt like
they were a team really on the rites of Vasquez.
Similar to of course, getting Giovinco from me, who had
played in Juventus. You didn't need get anything more than
to know that Victor Vasquez was a product of the
(04:12):
Barcelona system FC Barcelona from age eleven. Uh. Is incredible
that I think that a player like that would go
through that you know, youth system end up in Toronto
UH twelve years later. It was like, holy shit, they
had a guy who played for fucking Barcelona on their team.
Speaker 7 (04:29):
It was one of those great moves where you have
Josie and seba as like the big the big names,
the goal scorers, et cetera, and then you just get
the guy that sort of makes it all work. And
that's exactly what he was.
Speaker 6 (04:43):
Yeah, I think, I think I'm gonna go down as
one of the most appreciated and maybe underrated UH Toronto
FC players. Obviously fans knew him and loved him quite
a bit, but that exact observation you sort of nail
it is you you end up, you end up with
that big four is you have of you know, you
have Bradley, who is that great link between the midfield
and the defense to turn you know, he turns defensive
(05:06):
positions into going the other way. And and the year
before it was like he was getting it up and
moving it to Javinko, who would maybe make a miraculous
play on his own, or he would set up Josie
on a tee. But you didn't have that in between.
You didn't have somebody that made it easier for Bradley
to get it to those guys and made it easier
for those guys to have a little bit more space.
And boy Fasquez was just a revelation like he fit in.
(05:32):
He fit in so perfectly well, uh, really a smooth
and as I said, I think I think is a
really underrated guy in the Toronto sports scene. That the
planning and ability and the link up with Juvenko and
Altador really really cool.
Speaker 7 (05:49):
Yeah, and I think it was perfect timing to to like,
as you said, the city. We'll talk about this sort
of at the end of this story time in episode four,
but the city was like mad for TFC this year
in a way that they haven't been since. And I
truly don't know if they will be again, maybe post pandemic,
(06:10):
when everyone's just excited to be back and have sports
in general, maybe we'll see something like this. But like
people were all about TFC the summer of twenty seventeen.
Speaker 6 (06:24):
Yeah, absolutely, and I mean they give them plenty of
reason too, as well as the honest to goodness truth
an incredible regular season. We're gonna get through some of
the results in a bit of the journey here in
a minute, but just some of the overall numbers. They
play thirty four games, they go twenty wins, nine draws,
(06:46):
only five losses. They end up with a plus thirty
seven goal differential. And at home especially, they were thirteen
three and one just the one loss at home, with
a plus thirty goal differential at home. So when they
played at BEMO, Uh, first of all, they almost always won,
and they scored like nearly three goals the game, Like
(07:06):
like that's that's crazy, that's crazy.
Speaker 7 (07:09):
They were. So they won the Supporters Shield by like
twelve points. I think just like absolutely smoked the league. It.
You were kind of talking about how Vasque is a
sort of an underrated Toronto guy. I think because they're TFC,
they don't get talked about like the best Toronto seasons.
This is like one of the most wired to wire
(07:29):
dominant Toronto Supports seasons ever, Like and really we're ranking
them in our adult lives, no one who can pick
are the ones that actually won at the end of it,
And so it's like this one that, and like they
were regular season wise, they were better than the twenty
nineteen Raptors. So it's like we're talking like this in
the ninety three JS. I guess crazy as like just
(07:53):
a crazy team.
Speaker 6 (07:56):
I think it really is pretty incredible. They start out,
I mean they draw for their first five matches and
then get it win. They get their first loss in
Columbus against the Crew, and then from April twenty first
to May thirteenth, it's a six game winning streak, not
undefeated streak, winning streak. They win six straight three to one,
(08:17):
two nothing, two to one, one nothing, two to one,
and three to two against Minnesota. Then they tie New
York and they win again. So they go undefeated through
nine straight pardon me, eight straight. They would lose. They
lose two to the next four, and then don't lose
again until September. They went like man August, they go
undefeated in August. They win sixth straight between the end
(08:41):
of August and the beginning September, and then when they
basically have things locked up, they tail off a little bit,
but just huge winning streaks of six games multiple times
in this season, really really incredible, like five nothing wins
in here, four nothing wins in here all the time.
As I said, they would average two point six goals
per game at home. They were just like from the
(09:05):
moment this season started, they were just on an absolute warpath.
And I think I remember Michael Bradley mentioning that they
basically didn't take an off season this year because the
MLS Cup happened so late in the year and the
training season happened so early that they basically went straight
to training camp out of that loss, and like didn't
ever stop working together as a team.
Speaker 7 (09:34):
Again, I don't need to keep previewing, but we'll talk
of this when we get to the MLS Cup episode
in that I remember in the lead up to the
twenty seventeen MLS Cup in twenty sixteen, the lead up
was a lot of like excitement, nervousness, and twenty seventeen
was like business. Yes, this team was built to win
(09:56):
they were and that was their only purpose, and they
just destroyed everybody, and it was really fun fund root
for a team that just beats the crap out of everybody.
Speaker 6 (10:09):
Yeah, some of the numbers really really crazy. Javinko in
all categories, in all games, scores twenty goals. He scores
sixteen in Major League Soccer, Jorgie scores fifteen in the MLS,
eighteen in all events. And Victor Vasquez, as we mentioned
before I talk about underappreciated years, he scores ten goals
(10:33):
and assists on twenty, so like truly incredible. I mean,
Javinko had twenty goals and eight assists, but Basquez really showing.
I think a really evidence of the impact he made
is like how much fewer assists that Javenko had to
get is he liked he was able to really focus
(10:55):
on being a finisher and being absolutely lethal. I think
that ended up really like sort of pointing out is
what a crucial playmaker he was for those guys up front.
Speaker 7 (11:04):
Yeah, I think that's absolutely And also the emergence of
Alex Bono as a full time goalkeeper that I don't
think anyone saw coming because they went and got Irwin
back after losing him in the expansion draft, and he
was like, oh, okay, well they want Cleinerwen to be
the guy. Bono ends up taking over. I think he
played thirty four games in total and was really a
(11:25):
big difference maker for the team that whole.
Speaker 6 (11:26):
Year and fourteen clean sheets. To your point, that is
a huge. That is a huge. That's a huge season
from your keeper went a third of the time. No
one is scoring on you. That's that's pretty nice. And like, man,
not to hard back, but those those four guys, those
three guys, Jimmiko, Altador Basquez, really are just all over
(11:47):
these score sheets. It's crazy. Nobody else hits double figures
morel scores eight and Ricketts score seven, but the top
three guys between the three of them scoring forty eight goals.
That's pretty special in a thirty four game season or
forty three if you want to tack on the playoffs
and thinking game championship. One of those guys scored in
(12:10):
every single game. Basically, it's what you're it's what you
get down to. That's yeah, that's amazing.
Speaker 7 (12:15):
You have Justin Morrosvak's, Victor Vasquez and Javinko all in
the best eleven in the year Vanny wins coach, the
year Vanny went Conker calf coach the year just like
an utterly, disgustingly dominant season from Toronto.
Speaker 6 (12:32):
It is not just because we love the beautiful game.
It is not just the regular season. Because again last
month we talked about it, Montreal was this the new rival.
It's not a re neew everal, but a team that
had really gotten up there as a rival. And the
win over Montreal in the semi finals was sort of
(12:55):
the moment that Toronto se broke through. They would face
off again in the Canadian Championship, the ticket to the
Champions League. Toronto would beat the Ottawa Fury five to
an aggregate and then it was two legs against the
Montreal Impact in the Canadian Championship.
Speaker 7 (13:11):
Yeah, this is sort of when the second leg in
Toronto against Montreal was sort of my big like, oh,
the city cares moment. It was a middle of jew
end of June, June twenty seventh. You know, twenty six
thousand people shut up to be mood watch this game.
(13:31):
And it was loud. This was one of the loudest
you I think obviously like the fun of beating Montreal
is one thing, but also I think people were just
seeing how good this team was and it was a
team worth jumping on the bandwagon for, and then to
have this tournament to go to the championship game, and
then the game itself ends up being absolutely bananas. It
(13:58):
had kind of uh sounding like stefan at everything you have.
It's one one after the first leg. You have TFC
going down in the thirty sixth minute.
Speaker 4 (14:11):
Jamiley thirsting full of Lavena sliding in, but Jimmie picks
him back up again into the path of Blue Tabla.
Speaker 5 (14:17):
You want to finish from Blue Tabla. Montreal take the
lay that Bebo first.
Speaker 7 (14:22):
Javinco ties into fifty third.
Speaker 5 (14:25):
Fascus charge down there by Jimiley and Delcado with a
first time go through for Michael Broadley probably picks up
Sebastian Javinko. It's Jive Co fisht Jama Coo to tie up.
On the nights, jeffe Co sets Beevo field.
Speaker 7 (14:49):
Hets all the time.
Speaker 5 (14:52):
It's old squabbles again.
Speaker 6 (14:55):
You just kind of keep him though for long.
Speaker 7 (14:57):
Then the last like nine minutes of this game are amazing.
I think in like the eighty six. Javinko pretty clearly
gets foul in the box.
Speaker 5 (15:08):
J you thinko, but out at all that did you think
kaut past year Javako comes down, You don't paddle together
out at all. Pasquets probably crowding the referee. That's Montreal
come back down the other one of the peace there
with comedy Katoro from the two front.
Speaker 6 (15:24):
Man so God.
Speaker 5 (15:25):
Then the Javinko love the little one too gets a
bike he had all in, pulls to toush three Fisher's legs.
Speaker 6 (15:32):
It goes sliding in. I think he takes javinkol hell through.
Speaker 7 (15:38):
These legs no ques and it's getting contentious. The crowd's pissed.
It turns into sort of a fight on the field,
which leads to a I would say, probably not fully deserved,
straight red card to patrese Bernier from Montreal in the
ninetieth minutes again.
Speaker 5 (15:56):
And probably not all drowning.
Speaker 1 (15:57):
You have the referee.
Speaker 5 (15:58):
It is paddling over here, female fields. The heated rivalry
turned up even further to RUN'SFC, already incensed about a
no call on the penalty.
Speaker 7 (16:10):
Put them down to ten men, and then it could
be nobody else but Sebastian Javinko in the ninety.
Speaker 5 (16:19):
Fasquez with a ball in towards Jose Altador, still josey Atidal,
the faith sweating and gets at the time. Very well
done by Lafe. And now Davinko picked up one last
chos for TFC to try and win it a normal time.
Let's guest through to Edwards. Edwards put it back to.
Speaker 6 (16:40):
Sebastian Java col.
Speaker 5 (16:42):
Who's all those the last kick of the games looks
like he's won the Canadian Championship.
Speaker 7 (16:48):
Patrons if say and bemo, Field absolutely.
Speaker 5 (16:54):
Explodes, female Field sent into a frenzy by the Italian.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
Second of that.
Speaker 7 (17:05):
Once again, it's one of the loudest other than probably
a Cup final this year. I think it's the loudest
the building that I've heard.
Speaker 6 (17:17):
It was awesome, Uh, Jaminko, what a sense of the moment,
What an ability to to always be the guy. Uh
in this run, it's it's it's wild. He was so good,
he's he was so head and shoulders. Uh, like the
best player on the field every time he was on
the field. Uh, it's so cool. It's so awesome, and
and and something I liked about Jiavinko's run here was
(17:40):
he was never underappreciated by the Toronto FC fans like
it pretty much immediately everyone was like, oh yeah, this
guy's unbelievable and we love him.
Speaker 3 (17:48):
Like it was.
Speaker 6 (17:49):
There was a lot of athletes in this that he
have to sort of go through that period of like
earning their stripes. I feel like the second he arrived,
TFC fans were like, holy shit, this is amazing.
Speaker 7 (17:59):
Yeah. And I think you just see it more and
more every day with every Now everyone that every DP
that Tournavious you bring in is compared to him, Right,
it's who's going to be the next guy to be Javinko?
Speaker 6 (18:17):
Yeah, which is I mean unfair, That's impossible.
Speaker 7 (18:19):
Yeah, And that's the thing. The back matter is probably
won't be one.
Speaker 6 (18:23):
So Toronto wins the Canadian Championship, they end up with
the best regular season record, leading you into the MLS
Cup playoffs and in the distance a date, a rematch,
a chance for revenge, hoping to get all the way
back to the MLS Cup Final. One last stat for you.
The Toronto and Trank seventeen played a total of forty
(18:43):
three games across the regular season the playoffs and the
Canadian Championship. They ended up with a plus forty four
goal differential, so on average, Tona won every single game
by one goal.
Speaker 7 (18:58):
I mean that's pretty close.
Speaker 6 (19:00):
That's pretty awesome.
Speaker 3 (19:01):
Uh.
Speaker 6 (19:02):
Anyway, we will look forward next week. We'll talk about
the playoffs and that meeting with the Seattle Sounders, a
rematch at Pimo Field. Next time. That sports Fault story
Time Sports the.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
Have you googled yourself lately? Are there negative posts from
an ex employee or from a former client, maybe an
outdated news article. Search engines don't always get it right,
but right or wrong, it's your reputation on the line.
That's where Reputation Defender by Norton comes in. Take control.
With Reputation Defender, their cutting edge approaches help you to
wipe away unwanted information in your search results. They also
promote the good stuff. You can start by getting your
(20:22):
free reputation report card at ReputationDefender dot com or call
eight hundred eighty one one forty nine seventy five to
speak to an expert
Have you googled yourself lately? Are there negative posts from
an ex employee or from a former client, maybe an
outdated news article. Search engines don't always get it right,
but right or wrong, it's your reputation on the line.
That's where Reputation Defender by Norton comes in. Take control.
With Reputation Defender, their cutting edge approaches help you to
wipe away unwanted information in your search results. They also
promote the good stuff. You can start by getting your
(00:22):
free reputation report card at ReputationDefender dot com or call
eight hundred eighty one one forty nine seventy five to
speak to an expert.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
Professionals spend nearly half the workweek on written communication, so
focus is important. With Grammarly as your AI writing partner,
focus and quickly get through work with relevant, real time suggestions,
and it works across five hundred thousand apps and websites,
so you can sound more confident and persuasive wherever you write.
Ninety three percent of professionals report that Grammarly helps them
(00:51):
get more work done. Download Grammarly for free at grammarly
dot com. Slash podcast That's grammarly dot com slash podcast.
Speaker 3 (01:00):
Now you can get Cox Internet and one unlimited mobile
line for eighty dollars a month, all with Wi Fi
equipment included a no annual contract. If only getting it
all was always that easy, like having a night out
and getting a good night's sleep. Get it all with Cox.
Get Cox Internet and one unlimited mobile line for eighty
(01:20):
dollars a month. Visit Cox dot com Slash Value Limited
time offer for new customers only. No annual contract means
no minimum term agreement and no early termination via additional
restrictions apply.
Speaker 4 (01:31):
That goes on beat straight back to Vasquez. This is
Michael Bradley, Bradley, Adelgadog Space to the right side, X
at the.
Speaker 5 (01:39):
I'm jersey out to all close the storm after fifteen
minutes of fly and it's sub tuentious whenever remarkable season,
So charos who have to say that final home game
of the regular season.
Speaker 6 (02:15):
Sports It is Sports Fell storytime. We were taking you
back to the good old days, the mid teens, the
mid twenty teens. We are continuing this epic journey, the
hero's journey Toronto FC as they march towards the twenty
seventeen MLS Cup. We last spoke Toronto FC a scoreless, freezing, frigid, brutal, painful,
(02:39):
penalty shootout loss to the Seattle Sounders in Toronto at
the twenty sixteen MLS couple Jake Jans Jake and I
were both there for famously. I do remember this being
told is Toronto FC was extremely motivated by that loss
in the MLS Cup.
Speaker 7 (03:00):
Yeah, and you could see it even from a lot
of the off season moves that were made. It was
clearly one of those like you see it a lot
in professional sports, the team that almost reaches where they
need to be and they go, Okay, we're just a
little we're just a little bit not yet there. Let's
(03:20):
go make some ads. They bring in Clint Irwin in December,
they bring in Chris Mavinga. In January, they bring in
Raheema Edwards, who was promoted to the first team in March.
And then the big one, of course, that will make
the biggest difference come this year is Victor Vasquez signs
(03:41):
from Cruz Azul on February twentieth, twenty seventeen, who will
be a big addition for this team.
Speaker 6 (03:50):
I remember at this point it was enough to be
sucked in because they had been so good the year
before and they made that run and it felt like
they were a team really on the rites of Vasquez.
Similar to of course, getting Giovinco from me, who had
played in Juventus. You didn't need get anything more than
to know that Victor Vasquez was a product of the
(04:12):
Barcelona system FC Barcelona from age eleven. Uh. Is incredible
that I think that a player like that would go
through that you know, youth system end up in Toronto
UH twelve years later. It was like, holy shit, they
had a guy who played for fucking Barcelona on their team.
Speaker 7 (04:29):
It was one of those great moves where you have
Josie and seba as like the big the big names,
the goal scorers, et cetera, and then you just get
the guy that sort of makes it all work. And
that's exactly what he was.
Speaker 6 (04:43):
Yeah, I think, I think I'm gonna go down as
one of the most appreciated and maybe underrated UH Toronto
FC players. Obviously fans knew him and loved him quite
a bit, but that exact observation you sort of nail
it is you you end up, you end up with
that big four is you have of you know, you
have Bradley, who is that great link between the midfield
and the defense to turn you know, he turns defensive
(05:06):
positions into going the other way. And and the year
before it was like he was getting it up and
moving it to Javinko, who would maybe make a miraculous
play on his own, or he would set up Josie
on a tee. But you didn't have that in between.
You didn't have somebody that made it easier for Bradley
to get it to those guys and made it easier
for those guys to have a little bit more space.
And boy Fasquez was just a revelation like he fit in.
(05:32):
He fit in so perfectly well, uh, really a smooth
and as I said, I think I think is a
really underrated guy in the Toronto sports scene. That the
planning and ability and the link up with Juvenko and
Altador really really cool.
Speaker 7 (05:49):
Yeah, and I think it was perfect timing to to like,
as you said, the city. We'll talk about this sort
of at the end of this story time in episode four,
but the city was like mad for TFC this year
in a way that they haven't been since. And I
truly don't know if they will be again, maybe post pandemic,
(06:10):
when everyone's just excited to be back and have sports
in general, maybe we'll see something like this. But like
people were all about TFC the summer of twenty seventeen.
Speaker 6 (06:24):
Yeah, absolutely, and I mean they give them plenty of
reason too, as well as the honest to goodness truth
an incredible regular season. We're gonna get through some of
the results in a bit of the journey here in
a minute, but just some of the overall numbers. They
play thirty four games, they go twenty wins, nine draws,
(06:46):
only five losses. They end up with a plus thirty
seven goal differential. And at home especially, they were thirteen
three and one just the one loss at home, with
a plus thirty goal differential at home. So when they
played at BEMO, Uh, first of all, they almost always won,
and they scored like nearly three goals the game, Like
(07:06):
like that's that's crazy, that's crazy.
Speaker 7 (07:09):
They were. So they won the Supporters Shield by like
twelve points. I think just like absolutely smoked the league. It.
You were kind of talking about how Vasque is a
sort of an underrated Toronto guy. I think because they're TFC,
they don't get talked about like the best Toronto seasons.
This is like one of the most wired to wire
(07:29):
dominant Toronto Supports seasons ever, Like and really we're ranking
them in our adult lives, no one who can pick
are the ones that actually won at the end of it,
And so it's like this one that, and like they
were regular season wise, they were better than the twenty
nineteen Raptors. So it's like we're talking like this in
the ninety three JS. I guess crazy as like just
(07:53):
a crazy team.
Speaker 6 (07:56):
I think it really is pretty incredible. They start out,
I mean they draw for their first five matches and
then get it win. They get their first loss in
Columbus against the Crew, and then from April twenty first
to May thirteenth, it's a six game winning streak, not
undefeated streak, winning streak. They win six straight three to one,
(08:17):
two nothing, two to one, one nothing, two to one,
and three to two against Minnesota. Then they tie New
York and they win again. So they go undefeated through
nine straight pardon me, eight straight. They would lose. They
lose two to the next four, and then don't lose
again until September. They went like man August, they go
undefeated in August. They win sixth straight between the end
(08:41):
of August and the beginning September, and then when they
basically have things locked up, they tail off a little bit,
but just huge winning streaks of six games multiple times
in this season, really really incredible, like five nothing wins
in here, four nothing wins in here all the time.
As I said, they would average two point six goals
per game at home. They were just like from the
(09:05):
moment this season started, they were just on an absolute warpath.
And I think I remember Michael Bradley mentioning that they
basically didn't take an off season this year because the
MLS Cup happened so late in the year and the
training season happened so early that they basically went straight
to training camp out of that loss, and like didn't
ever stop working together as a team.
Speaker 7 (09:34):
Again, I don't need to keep previewing, but we'll talk
of this when we get to the MLS Cup episode
in that I remember in the lead up to the
twenty seventeen MLS Cup in twenty sixteen, the lead up
was a lot of like excitement, nervousness, and twenty seventeen
was like business. Yes, this team was built to win
(09:56):
they were and that was their only purpose, and they
just destroyed everybody, and it was really fun fund root
for a team that just beats the crap out of everybody.
Speaker 6 (10:09):
Yeah, some of the numbers really really crazy. Javinko in
all categories, in all games, scores twenty goals. He scores
sixteen in Major League Soccer, Jorgie scores fifteen in the MLS,
eighteen in all events. And Victor Vasquez, as we mentioned
before I talk about underappreciated years, he scores ten goals
(10:33):
and assists on twenty, so like truly incredible. I mean,
Javinko had twenty goals and eight assists, but Basquez really showing.
I think a really evidence of the impact he made
is like how much fewer assists that Javenko had to
get is he liked he was able to really focus
(10:55):
on being a finisher and being absolutely lethal. I think
that ended up really like sort of pointing out is
what a crucial playmaker he was for those guys up front.
Speaker 7 (11:04):
Yeah, I think that's absolutely And also the emergence of
Alex Bono as a full time goalkeeper that I don't
think anyone saw coming because they went and got Irwin
back after losing him in the expansion draft, and he
was like, oh, okay, well they want Cleinerwen to be
the guy. Bono ends up taking over. I think he
played thirty four games in total and was really a
(11:25):
big difference maker for the team that whole.
Speaker 6 (11:26):
Year and fourteen clean sheets. To your point, that is
a huge. That is a huge. That's a huge season
from your keeper went a third of the time. No
one is scoring on you. That's that's pretty nice. And like, man,
not to hard back, but those those four guys, those
three guys, Jimmiko, Altador Basquez, really are just all over
(11:47):
these score sheets. It's crazy. Nobody else hits double figures
morel scores eight and Ricketts score seven, but the top
three guys between the three of them scoring forty eight goals.
That's pretty special in a thirty four game season or
forty three if you want to tack on the playoffs
and thinking game championship. One of those guys scored in
(12:10):
every single game. Basically, it's what you're it's what you
get down to. That's yeah, that's amazing.
Speaker 7 (12:15):
You have Justin Morrosvak's, Victor Vasquez and Javinko all in
the best eleven in the year Vanny wins coach, the
year Vanny went Conker calf coach the year just like
an utterly, disgustingly dominant season from Toronto.
Speaker 6 (12:32):
It is not just because we love the beautiful game.
It is not just the regular season. Because again last
month we talked about it, Montreal was this the new rival.
It's not a re neew everal, but a team that
had really gotten up there as a rival. And the
win over Montreal in the semi finals was sort of
(12:55):
the moment that Toronto se broke through. They would face
off again in the Canadian Championship, the ticket to the
Champions League. Toronto would beat the Ottawa Fury five to
an aggregate and then it was two legs against the
Montreal Impact in the Canadian Championship.
Speaker 7 (13:11):
Yeah, this is sort of when the second leg in
Toronto against Montreal was sort of my big like, oh,
the city cares moment. It was a middle of jew
end of June, June twenty seventh. You know, twenty six
thousand people shut up to be mood watch this game.
(13:31):
And it was loud. This was one of the loudest
you I think obviously like the fun of beating Montreal
is one thing, but also I think people were just
seeing how good this team was and it was a
team worth jumping on the bandwagon for, and then to
have this tournament to go to the championship game, and
then the game itself ends up being absolutely bananas. It
(13:58):
had kind of uh sounding like stefan at everything you have.
It's one one after the first leg. You have TFC
going down in the thirty sixth minute.
Speaker 4 (14:11):
Jamiley thirsting full of Lavena sliding in, but Jimmie picks
him back up again into the path of Blue Tabla.
Speaker 5 (14:17):
You want to finish from Blue Tabla. Montreal take the
lay that Bebo first.
Speaker 7 (14:22):
Javinco ties into fifty third.
Speaker 5 (14:25):
Fascus charge down there by Jimiley and Delcado with a
first time go through for Michael Broadley probably picks up
Sebastian Javinko. It's Jive Co fisht Jama Coo to tie up.
On the nights, jeffe Co sets Beevo field.
Speaker 7 (14:49):
Hets all the time.
Speaker 5 (14:52):
It's old squabbles again.
Speaker 6 (14:55):
You just kind of keep him though for long.
Speaker 7 (14:57):
Then the last like nine minutes of this game are amazing.
I think in like the eighty six. Javinko pretty clearly
gets foul in the box.
Speaker 5 (15:08):
J you thinko, but out at all that did you think
kaut past year Javako comes down, You don't paddle together
out at all. Pasquets probably crowding the referee. That's Montreal
come back down the other one of the peace there
with comedy Katoro from the two front.
Speaker 6 (15:24):
Man so God.
Speaker 5 (15:25):
Then the Javinko love the little one too gets a
bike he had all in, pulls to toush three Fisher's legs.
Speaker 6 (15:32):
It goes sliding in. I think he takes javinkol hell through.
Speaker 7 (15:38):
These legs no ques and it's getting contentious. The crowd's pissed.
It turns into sort of a fight on the field,
which leads to a I would say, probably not fully deserved,
straight red card to patrese Bernier from Montreal in the
ninetieth minutes again.
Speaker 5 (15:56):
And probably not all drowning.
Speaker 1 (15:57):
You have the referee.
Speaker 5 (15:58):
It is paddling over here, female fields. The heated rivalry
turned up even further to RUN'SFC, already incensed about a
no call on the penalty.
Speaker 7 (16:10):
Put them down to ten men, and then it could
be nobody else but Sebastian Javinko in the ninety.
Speaker 5 (16:19):
Fasquez with a ball in towards Jose Altador, still josey Atidal,
the faith sweating and gets at the time. Very well
done by Lafe. And now Davinko picked up one last
chos for TFC to try and win it a normal time.
Let's guest through to Edwards. Edwards put it back to.
Speaker 6 (16:40):
Sebastian Java col.
Speaker 5 (16:42):
Who's all those the last kick of the games looks
like he's won the Canadian Championship.
Speaker 7 (16:48):
Patrons if say and bemo, Field absolutely.
Speaker 5 (16:54):
Explodes, female Field sent into a frenzy by the Italian.
Speaker 1 (17:04):
Second of that.
Speaker 7 (17:05):
Once again, it's one of the loudest other than probably
a Cup final this year. I think it's the loudest
the building that I've heard.
Speaker 6 (17:17):
It was awesome, Uh, Jaminko, what a sense of the moment,
What an ability to to always be the guy. Uh
in this run, it's it's it's wild. He was so good,
he's he was so head and shoulders. Uh, like the
best player on the field every time he was on
the field. Uh, it's so cool. It's so awesome, and
and and something I liked about Jiavinko's run here was
(17:40):
he was never underappreciated by the Toronto FC fans like
it pretty much immediately everyone was like, oh yeah, this
guy's unbelievable and we love him.
Speaker 3 (17:48):
Like it was.
Speaker 6 (17:49):
There was a lot of athletes in this that he
have to sort of go through that period of like
earning their stripes. I feel like the second he arrived,
TFC fans were like, holy shit, this is amazing.
Speaker 7 (17:59):
Yeah. And I think you just see it more and
more every day with every Now everyone that every DP
that Tournavious you bring in is compared to him, Right,
it's who's going to be the next guy to be Javinko?
Speaker 6 (18:17):
Yeah, which is I mean unfair, That's impossible.
Speaker 7 (18:19):
Yeah, And that's the thing. The back matter is probably
won't be one.
Speaker 6 (18:23):
So Toronto wins the Canadian Championship, they end up with
the best regular season record, leading you into the MLS
Cup playoffs and in the distance a date, a rematch,
a chance for revenge, hoping to get all the way
back to the MLS Cup Final. One last stat for you.
The Toronto and Trank seventeen played a total of forty
(18:43):
three games across the regular season the playoffs and the
Canadian Championship. They ended up with a plus forty four
goal differential, so on average, Tona won every single game
by one goal.
Speaker 7 (18:58):
I mean that's pretty close.
Speaker 6 (19:00):
That's pretty awesome.
Speaker 3 (19:01):
Uh.
Speaker 6 (19:02):
Anyway, we will look forward next week. We'll talk about
the playoffs and that meeting with the Seattle Sounders, a
rematch at Pimo Field. Next time. That sports Fault story
Time Sports the.
Speaker 1 (20:00):
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