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Gomez punishes TFC yet again, eliminates Canadians from CCL

Herculez Gomez has made a habit of burning Toronto FC for goals, and Wednesday night was no different as the U.S. national team striker delivered the winning strike against a TFC side that tried and failed to score a major upset in Mexico.

Toronto FC needed a big win against the Mexican champions to beat them out for a place in the CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinals, but after wasting some quality early chances, TFC was left without a goal to show for their early work.

A draw would have eliminated TFC just the same, but Gomez did what he does best these days. Score against Toronto. He belted a hard shot from outside the penalty area in the 73rd minute for the game’s only goal. The strike marked his fourth goal scored against TFC in four matches in 2012.

The victory propels Santos Laguna into the CONCACAF Champions League quarterfinals for the third straight year, as they look to return to the final and take care of unfinished business. They lost in the 2012 Champions League final to Monterrey.

For TFC, the loss ended their hopes of finding a silver lining in a truly dismal season. They close out their MLS campaign on Saturday against the Columbus Crew.

Comments

  1. What a strike from Herc!! It was an absolute rocket into the back of the net! I haven’t seen such a great goal from a USMNT player in a while.

    Reply
  2. Why does a Canadian team get an auto entry to the CCL? It should be league based, Toronto just took a spot away from a more deserving MLS team. Last time I checked a team from Wales just doesn’t get an auto entry into the UEFA Champions League.

    Reply
    • The US already gets 4 entries into the CCL, same as Mexico.

      Toronto simply took a spot from a more deserving Canadian team, but you could also argue that a Canadian team (by virtue of the ridiculously easy pathway to the CCL) took a berth from a more deserving Caribbean or Central American team.

      Reply
    • The US already gets 4 entries into the CCL, same as Mexico.

      Toronto simply took a spot from a more deserving Canadian team, but you could also argue that a Canadian team (by virtue of the ridiculously easy pathway to the CCL) took a berth from a more deserving Caribbean or Central American team.

      Reply
    • A few things to point out.

      1. Every country gets the chance to send a team to the tournament. That is why it is called Champions league. US/Canada are unique in that they share a league. So Canada defines its champion as Canadian Open Cup winner. This last year that happened to be TFC.

      2. MLS already gets 4 places in CCL, which is the same as Liga MX (Mexico). Both US and Mexico get the max of any CONCACAF country. So it isn’t as if TFC took a spot from a US based team. We only get 4 regardless.

      3. This means that MLS can send up to five teams (unless a non MLS Canadian club win the Canadian Open Cup) more than Liga MX.

      Reply

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