Funny things those best laid plans; in hindsight they often resemble the exact opposite.
Since crashing out of the inaugural Nutrilite Canadian Championship (NCC) last summer, Toronto FC has made no bones over its mandate from the front office to the FieldTurf that the franchise-first silverware needed to be a Voyageur Cup in 2009.
Working the months of March, April and May like marionettes, the schedule was front-loaded to accommodate winning the NCC and further participation in the CONCACAF Champions League. The plan looked like a work of genius as TFC won its first two home games, setting up a return leg in Vancouver where only a draw was needed to advance.
But someone snipped the strings.
Toronto FC arrived on the West Coast on the heels of an exhaustive defeat in the Deep South and without two pieces of the puzzle. The unfriendly FIFA calendar robbed TFC of its midfield MVP in Amado Guevara (more on AG later) and a player with the speed to keep any defender honest in Marvell Wynne. An awful oversight. Going forward, big red circles should be drawn around FIFA dates on every calendar within the walls of BMO Field.
Completing the ol' bad news comes in threes adage, a foot infection to No. 1 goalkeeper Stefan Frei left a rusty Greg Sutton as the only option in net.
But the bottom falling out on the preconceived CONCACAF plan doesn't rest entirely on TFC, the Whitecaps played a flawless game in recognizing the soft spots in the Reds' lineup. The Vancouver forwards were an instant handful for a back four that featured a player with a handful of games to his credit (Nana Attakora-Gyan) and another (Kevin Harmes) who did nothing but pick up a yellow for his efforts.
Up front, it can be argued that the Whitecaps just let the Reds be the Reds in allowing a bunch of open chances that in the back of their minds, each defender knew would not be converted due to a growing lack of confidence.
Voila, it worked.
The misfiring Chad Barrett was served cross-after-cross on a platter by Dwayne De Rosario, who ironically was forced to deliver those set pieces due to the absence of Guevara. If the Honduran is on the field, he takes the free kicks and corner kicks, and Toronto's deadliest finisher is in front of the net.
Now winning 4-0 in Montreal is not out of the realm of possibility; but you have to imagine that the Impact understand its role as spoiler. Passing the Voyageur Cup to a fellow USL team will undoubtedly be easier to swallow than watching it drive away in Canadian soccer's version of the shiny red corvette.
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