vs.

CONCACAF Champions League: Semifinal, match #1
Wednesday, March 28, 2012. 8:00pm ET.
BMO Field. Toronto, ON.

TV: Rogers Sportsnet (One & Ontario/East)
Radio: N/A
Video Webcast: Sportsnet.ca, CONCACAF.com
Audio Webcast: FAN590.com

U-Sector Pre Game: Maro (135 Liberty St.), starting at 5:00pm

Pre-Match Thread is here.

lets go boys!!

Pretty damn windy. Turn those Mexicans into Mexicants!


:crazy: :crazy: :crazy:

to Maro!! :campione:

Starters for TFC: Kocic; Eckersley, Harden, Aceval, Morgan; Lambe, de Guzman, Dunfield; Soolsma, Koevermans, Johnson

Subs: Rowe; Cann, Maund, Silva, Burgos, Plata

I think I would rather see Frings in a wheelchair than harden...

Best game ever!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Great game, showed we can play with them, I hope that this builds some confidence for next week, they have some key suspensions, and maybe Gomez is out. Though DeGuzman played one of his best games as a part of TFC, wish Plata was on more (I guarantee we will with Koevermans suspended next game), and hope Aceval isn't injured. Morgan looked comfortable, Lambe still can't cross a ball, and Dunfield even looked good today, too bad he can't hit the net from 3 feet out.

Looking forward to seeing The Game in Six Minutes. So much action going on away from the ball. So many near misses that I'd like to see again.

Excellent job by the officiating crew. Can't say enough about how impressed I was by the Ref and the linesmen.

Regardless of weather or outcome, it was a great day. 113 was nice and vocal, and it was a treat to be back at Maro again :)

I'll have to watch my recording to make any comments about the game itself, but from my perch, it looked like the reds kept up the pace :)

what the frig kicked off after the ninety minutes?


any possible supplemental discipline for the Santos players perhaps?


And was it just me or did it really feel like the Santos players had a real sense of entitlement when it came to the officials? Arrogance really pisses me off

Salazar from the US I heard from Soldeed. I too was impressed.

Very entertaining match full stop.

If Gomez is out they are missing their #1 and #2 players + a starter, we can make the mofo finals!! OMFG! Don't know how long it will be b4 I can sleep!

Yes, postin irrelevant garbage but holy shit am I stoked!

What I did catch of that match was excellent. Great day to be a Red, the boys really did us proud.

And that scrap at the end- that was something to behold

hopefully someone got some vid footage of that :)

Plssssss! if their is post, I would love to see some 113 action in the stands, the game sounde great, chants were brought up at the right moments, props to you Brizz, that of course know how to handle the crowd very well, good job guys, my boys here in Brazil are impressed.

The match was fucking exciting, we could of won, still not a bad result, can't wait for next weeks game.

What I want to say though that hasnt been mentioned yet is the support. We were on point.. The Bounce was insane, Just Can't Get Enough was loud, it spread to 111, 110 and 114. Honestly the support was one of the better ones if not the best I ever expierenced in the South. Only few minutes that were a little off was after their goal but it didn't last long. Capos worked good together, got the crowd going. Good Job... :crazy:

that was fun. oh man was that great, and tense, and we looked good.

that ball in the 2nd half that De Guz put across that RJ put that lovely touch on and Sanchez juuuuuust pushed past the post broke my heart...what a honey that would've been!!

while i agree that the crew was good (hearing USA refs in a match like this is as good of news as can be), that yellow to Koevermans is fairly deadly and unnecessary.

i like that they got two reds and are going to be missing those guys next week - as bgnewf says, it'd be great if we could appeal for some extra suspensions for the end of match fracas.



is it next Wed yet?!! :crazy:

DeGuzman was superb. Was so impressed with his control of the game, distribution, and ball winning. Excellent captaincy for the match.

CHI CHI CHI
LE LE LE
ACEVAL DE CHILE!!!

Ive been telling Peeps this guy can gwan wit MLS.
In all, great effort by all, im proud of our boys. Lets get a 1 nil away and
were golden!!

Quintero is a prick, and so's the asshole that might have broken Plata's leg had he connected with that deliberate attempt to injure 30 seconds or so before the big brawl broke out.

Great job by TFC though, even if I don't know what they see in Aaron Maund.

Everything about today was great. How we played, the crowd (entire stadium was on their feet after 80 min mark), and 113 was jumping all the way to the back. Not going to single out players, because they were all amazing (ok, special mention to Maund since he greatly exceeded my expectations. He played WB, and Ecks moved to CD. Good idea). How great were we tonight, eh? Fuck #MLS4TFC, I want #TFCinPrimeraDiv.

I know that many people don't like this, but, I kinda liked our gamesmanship too. I really think that they've been given a training session on this. Koevermans and Soolsma both had an awesome flop each, which led to us getting the ball.

Morgan too, gotta like the balls on that kid – he was tweaking and getting in Santos Laguna player's faces the entire game. I just finished watching the replay on TV. It looks like Morgan accidentally got his hand on Quintero. Quintero reacted, and they pushed each other. Then I'm not sure what happened, but the linesman clearly saw something which is why Salazar instantly brandished his red card (edit: reading elsewhere that Morgan was punched out elbowed in the face). Morgan was writhing on the grass one second then gets up and squeezes out of there when he notices the melee around him (otherwise he would have been trampled). Then a couple of seconds later, you see him running around and getting into the melee after Quintero pushed one of our physios. Quintero was roving around looking for Morgan. Also, I think it was fair for the security to get involved (one of them was even pushed around by an SL person) because they get involved if there's a streaker or a pitch invasion, and, there was a pitch invasion by everyone on SL's bench.

It looks like Hercules Gomez really was hurt. He got a boot on the knee on the inner side of the leg. I think we got lucky with the Eckersley call. Even Kocic thought this since he was preparing a wall. The return leg is going to be serious. Fuck the Columbus game – play the reserves in that for all I care.

Yup. should be up on TFCpics later. Havent checked footage yet but got most of the brawl and aftermath ... just didnt get the incident (headbutt?) that started it.

Total agreement with your post.

"Everything about today was great....", and the smile on my face this morning is beaming, from ear to ear.

Every player on that Toronto team played with their heart.

I could not ask for more as a long suffering Season Seat Holder. Very proud of our team. I usually respect the teams that we have always played and lost to and find it normally awkward to hate the opposition to degrees sometimes expressed on these boards, but finally I have a team to despise. Santos Laguna goes into my books as the team that makes me spit on the ground every time someone mentions their name.

Take it to them with the same passion and beat them in their decaying country.

Molinaro reported from Morgan that it was a headbutt.

http://www.sportsnet.ca/soccer/2012/03/28/...guna_first_leg/

^+1

Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit!!

I am still buzzing after 5hrs sleep!!!!!!

Note though, the way those fuckers were acting they deserved every nasty ass shit I compiled for them!

I think next match should be no ball and just a cage match where we get to beat on them for 90mins! Pinche putos!!!!

yeah, The LJS saw a headbutt (and they both fell funny).
after the fracas, and Morgan's moving around that SSK described, he did fall back to the ground with our trainers around him - i *hope* it's not any kind of concussion/head injury. (is Jeremy Hall healthy yet? anyone notice if/they listed that we didn't even have a full bench yesterday??? and one of the guys on it was Adrian Cann, who very likely wouldn't've really been counted on to come in)

^This. What a turnaround from the heartless embarrassment of Saturday. Either DeKlerk got stuck in to some lads (I'm lookin at you Dunfield and Deguzeman) or maybe Frings stood outside the showers with some jackboots and a Wehrmacht on after the game but something scared our midfield straight.

Best game I've seen D&D play yet in TFC colours.

Reggie was working hard.

Ecks was having Greatest American Hero flashbacks of Lenhart (for the better).

Maund looked waaaayy more confident. Obviously Winter has plans for him.

Frei who?

RJ was bossing our team like a dad for the last 10 mins or so. Good to see someone be vocal out there.

Oh, and fuck those jarito drinking grocery store clerks. Especially that Mexi-Messi wannabe in his moms orange hookershoes. I'd like to throw him in a carry on bag and toss him in the lake. Fuckin Bimbo munchers.

Havent added it to TFCpics yet, but I have now loaded it up on my YouTube channel

http://www.youtube.com/user/highlanderict

As a tangent....do you know how hard it is to get decent boots for kids these days?? Almost everything is all multi-coloured neon shit. Try and find a simple pair of black boots.

I was impressed when they didn't give what looked like a stone cold penalty for Santos. :ph43r:

One of the great nights at BMO all time; I'm just pleased that the second leg is meaningful and not a coronation.

I've got a pair for him in concrete grey.

Watch Dunfield on the replay of our goal. He is standing beside their wall, he starts nudging them over to the side and Aceval plays the ball inches beside Dunfield in the space he just cleared. Nice play.

All the time I have spent arguing Nick Soolsmas case on this team since opening day last season was justified by yesterdays performance. The man is a footballing God.

Two other highlights:

The Linesman waiving the Santos diver to get up off the grass.

Ty Harden's bicycle kick clearance on the edge of our 18 with a Santos Lagina player ripping off his jersey.

So disappointed to have missed this with everybody, but I was with my other family at home... Thanks to Jack for helping me with his sister – as a reward he'll come to the game Saturday with me :)

Not much to say other than this was proof of what we can accomplish. We'll still have disasters with or without guys like Frings, but we can still have brilliant team efforts on any given night that equal more than the sum of our parts.

I was surprised to not see Silva at all, but most certainly he'll be there next week, with Danny K. out. Certainly that Aceval substitution was not according to plan, so it would have changed Winter's mind on a couple of things. I never thought it in the cards to see Cann last night, but it's likely he'll get a bit of time vs. Columbus.

Finally, this was a good chance for me to really see how the broadcasts are working – I was impressed, Sportsnet is doing a much better job than the other options we're handed at times, and much better than they've done in the past. Glad they're on deck for the Canada games.

YES!


Also, no more beers for me at any matches this year. Every time I hit the pisser there is a goal or in the case of yesterday, a dust up. I miss everything, every time. All because I have a peanut bladder when I drink.

Have you considered just Man-ing up?

I was thinking Cann was just on the bench as an extra body. With Emory cup tied, Henry at Olympic Qualifiers, and I'm fairly certain Hall is also cup tied, we didn't have many options of who we could put on the bench. I was also wondering how it worked that we had the MLS pool keeper on the bench last night. Technically we had a roster that included a player that isn't even ours. So I don't know how TFC got around that one with CONCACAF. I also wonder if we'll see Roberts or Bush signed and put on the bench, or if we'll have Rowe on the bench until Frei is healthy.

I don't know about you guys, but to me, our goal celebration in stands was epic, everyone just went mental... :crazy: :crazy: :crazy: Good times :)

Btw, my speak hurts today.. :ike: