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TFC claims 4th straight Canadian title

Toronto (Reuters)

 

Toronto FC may be the "worst team in the world," in the words of striker Danny Koevermans, but the embattled club is headed to the CONCACAF Champions League for the fourth straight year nonetheless.

After earning a 1-1 draw at Vancouver last week in the first leg of the Canadian Championship final, Toronto finished off the Whitecaps on Wednesday at BMO Field, riding Reggie Lambe's 83rd-minute tally to a 1-0 win and 2-1 aggregate triumph.

The match was marred by a 56th-minute skirmish that saw Vancouver's Sebastien Le Toux and Toronto's Julian de Guzman sent off. While Toronto was poised to claim the title on the away-goals tiebreaker before Lambe found net, the strike set up by Nick Soolsma and Ryan Johnson clinched the series for the Reds.

With the win, Toronto will advance to the group stage of the Champions League after making an unlikely run to the tournament semifinal in the 2011-12 version.

Here are highlights of the Canadian Championship second leg:

 

Were you surprised to see Toronto defeat the Whitecaps? What kind of run do you think Toronto can make in the Champions League? Is this win enough to keep Aron Winter off the hot seat?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. MLS teams have to win 5 games to win the U.S. Open Cup. They enter in the 3rd round, then there’s the 4th round, quarters, semis, and final. As many as 4 of those games are against MLS competition (4th, quarters, semis, final).

    The Canadian winner plays 4 games but doesn’t have to win 4 games. They play 2 rounds of 2-legged ties. They only need to win 2 games to win the tournament (ex: lose 1st leg 1-0, win 2nd leg 2-0, advance, repeat).

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  2. The little league champions Toronto FC that went farther than the LA Galaxy, Seattle Sounders, Colorado Rapids and FC Dallas!!
    If we are little league; what does that make of US Open Cup ???

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  3. Just like having a 6th place team in their domestic league can win and won the most hyped prestigious tournament in the world. You could also be a Tottenham fan and be pissed that you are now in Europa league next year because a team that finished 2 spots behind them in the table won their way into the Hotspurs spot. I get what you are saying and agree that is it weird but it is what I love about sports. You have to prove it on the field and for whatever reason TFC has grabbed a stranglehold on the psyche of Canadian soccer the past few seasons in their domestic cup at least. They had no business winning this tourney but beat a better Vancouver team on the night.

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  4. Not sure why you’re hating on TFC and MLS so much. I’m sure you’re a laughingstock to many, too, but I wouldn’t think of hating on you.

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  5. According to TFCMan: “It’s pretty obvious TFC is fully investing in CCL and pulling stock out of MLS play”

    I guess that’s the reason they advanced farther? Borderline forfeiting in league play?

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  6. Everyone slaggin on the Canadian Cup has to realize that to win the US Open Cup a MLS team has to win exactly 4 games.

    They come in this round versus a lower level team and then they have the Quarters, Semi’s and Finals.
    A total of 3 games vs MLS opposition. (One LESS than Toronto)

    Win those 3 and you are the champion.

    The US Open Cup is great and has history but please stop making it out that the US Open Cup is this mythical tournament where only the strongest and best teams play and a team has to go through a zillion obstacles to get to the top.

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  7. Maybe have the Canadian mls team with the highest points at the end of the season play a home and away against the highest point usl pro or nasl or whatever for a birth in the ccl

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  8. This is the same team that was on the brink of making it to the CCL Final a few months ago… so stop being a bunch of babies.

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  9. If LA won the Open Cup out of 64 teams, they deserve to be in the CCL.

    Since Toronto tripped and fell their way in to the CCL after winning a 4 team tournament, it definitely qualifies as a joke.

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  10. The difference is that 64 teams will participate in the 2012 U.S. Open Cup compared to 4 teams in the Canadian version.

    Which format is more likely to produce a deserving winner? 64 teams in 7 rounds of single-elimination, or 4 teams in 2 rounds of two-legged ties?

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  11. You do realize this can happen to us in the US as well, right?

    For example, the worst team in the West, LA (ha!), could win the US Open Cup and make it to the Champions League.

    Do you also think it’s a joke when second division teams in Europe win their domestic cup and make it to the Europa League?

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  12. This is a complete joke to me. So this team doesn’t make it to the playoffs but they qualify for CCL? This is why we as a league are a joke to so many even our own MLS fans. Why not have the Canadian team with the most points at the end of the season qualify?

    Anyone giving props to this joke of a franchise is an embarrassment. Hopefully someone will come to there senses and figure out a better system for these Canadian teams to qualify.

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  13. They won the games they had to win vs Montreal and Vs Vancouver.

    Shouldn’t be slagging on Toronto..should be asking Montreal and Vancouver what happened. (And LA..And Santos for 1 1/2 games)

    Not sure why they step up for Cup games..but I am glad they take them seriously.

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  14. The “Amway” Canadian Championship? Is “Amway” short for “American way”? It is an unfortunate choice of sponsor to begin with, more so given it is an exclusively Canadian competition.

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  15. I hope TFC can put it together. Seeing them on the bottom brings me no joy. Seeing LA on the bottom is Christmas in May to an RSL fan.

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  16. TFC won a match? How adorable. I’m sure that trophy will make everything better despite them being the laughingstock of a league that is already a laughingstock to many.

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