It was reminiscent of the scene in Rocky IV when Russian pugilist Ivan Drago and his promoters sat stoic at the head table while Rocky Balboa looked like a deer in the headlights at the opposite end.
Except on Thursday night at BMO Field the Russian ensemble were Spanish giants Real Madrid while Balboa was played by the Toronto FC pairing of coach Chris Cummins and captain Jim Brennan.
After a few opening words from a wide-eyed Cummins, who is used to the comfort of a six-pack of post-game reporters, the flashbulbs hammered the head table as question after question was directed at goalkeeper Iker Casillas, acting captain Guti and Madrid coach Manuel Luis Pellegrini.
Many questions were lollipops, but the first one delivered was what many came to hear: What, if anything, do you know about a MLS franchise with a payroll fit for a reserve team centre back in Madrid?
"The coaches, they have a little bit of information about Toronto FC and have followed the results of the past couple of games," Pellegrini answered through a translator. "Unfortunately they are also aware that the team lost a home-to-home match with Puerto Rico in the CONCACAF Champions League."
Who told them that? Those tapes were ordered to be burned!
Madrid captain for the game, Guti, was a little more diplomatic in assessing the game:
“There is no difference,” Madrid's Spanish midfielder Guti said. “In the end, it's 11 players playing against 11 players on the field. We can only expect for the result to come after a game that is played with a lot of attacking mentality, a lot of goals and to have the fans that have been expecting for this game to happen for so long to go back happy about the performance of both teams on the field.”
After a barrage of will Kaka play or will new signing Xabi Alonso make his Galactico debut on Friday the respective captains exchanged jerseys, ending with a cordial wink of the eye by Guti to Brennan, who had earlier mustered up a "I wish" when someone half-jokingly asked if he was playing for a Spanish transfer when the window re-opens in January.
With the press-conference pomp and circumstance over, the media were herded out to the newly-sodded BMO Field to witness Ronaldo, Kaka, et al running laps as the announced crowd of 16,000 screamed, stomped and openly wept as Spain's most-decorated club breezed by their seats.
Video: Click to see video of Real Madrid training
A full lap later the training staff cut the field in half before dividing it in two to play a full squad scrimmage in a space no bigger than a suburban backyard. It was then that the class of Friday night's opponent was seen. The pace was frenetic; with the human lens struggling to anticipate where or to whom the one-touch pass might find.
The crowd ooohed and aaahhhed at every move, often putting hands to head when whatever member of Madrid team decided that 20 yards out was within range and let loose a harbinger of things to come for Reds goalkeeper Stefan Frei.
Video: Click to see video of Real Madrid scoring in scrimmage
Then, it was over. The players filed into the tunnel, pausing one last time to punt a few souvenir soccer balls in to the raucous crowd. At $125 a ticket the fanfare will likely be gone on Friday night when the teams kick-off, but it is safe to say that after what was seen in the 45 minutes of training, those who shelled out the cash will be in for a treat.
NOTES: Ronaldo drew a smattering of boos when he was fouled on the edge of the box and looked around for a foul call. It was a scrimmage … Iker Casillas pulled up a chuck of turf during his drills in front of the north-end net … One fan tried to get close to the team by jumping the side boards. The video above shows the aftermath … Sportsnet.ca will blog live from the game on Friday night and cover the post-game conferences from both teams.
Follow TFC with Twitter. I will be updating from training, on match days and whenever news breaks from the team.
