THE CANADIAN PRESS
TORONTO — With nothing left to play for, Toronto FC took the opportunity to showcase some of its youth in its last game at BMO Field this season.
The prospects held their own in a CONCACAF Champions League win, providing Toronto with a small amount of consolation in what has been a largely disappointing season.
Defender Nana Attakora’s first-half goal stood up as TFC won its sixth and final Champions League game, 1-0 over Panama’s Arabe Unido on Tuesday.
The win capped the home portion of TFC’s mediocre campaign, which saw them miss the Major League Soccer playoffs for a fourth consecutive year and fail to advance out of the Champions League group stage. A sparse crowd of 10,385 took in Toronto’s final home game of the year.
With nothing on the line, TFC called up two prospects from its academy squad and gave them a chance to play with the senior club. Defender Ashtone Morgan, 19, played the complete match and midfielder Oscar Cordon, 17, came in for Julian de Guzman in the 66th minute.
Defender Doneil Henry, who was signed from the academy this summer, played the full 90 minutes while rookie forward Nicholas Lindsay played 80 minutes.
"It was great to see that," TFC interim coach Nick Dasovic said. "As a staff we didn’t feel worried at all putting them in there. We felt confident. They proved themselves. They worked hard. It’s a tough grind against that team, they’re quite feisty."
Morgan has been converted to a defender from a midfielder, and showed he still has attacking instincts. He took a dangerous shot in the 71st minute that forced Arabe Unido goalkeeper Jose Calderon to make a save.
"I see myself more as an attacking fullback, which gives me an opportunity to go up and just take guys on 1-on-1, get crosses in the box and take a shot," Morgan said.
Toronto (2-2-2) finished with eight points in Group A, behind Real Salt Lake and Mexican side Cruz Azul. Only the top two teams in the four-team group advance to the next round.
Arabe Unido finished with three points, which came from previous win over Toronto.
TFC took the lead in the 30th minute when Toronto native Attakora headed Nick LaBrocca’s free kick into the top-right corner of the Arabe Unido goal.
"That set piece was something we worked on in practice," Attakora said. "The ball was delivered perfectly to me and I just kept my head up. I knew where the net was and I just had to keep it on target."
LaBrocca almost made it 2-0 in the 44th minute as he curled a ball past Calderon, but it went wide of the right side of the goal.
Arabe Unido came close when Oscar Londono drilled a long free kick that just went over the top of the TFC goal in the 50th minute. Toronto came right back with a chance as LaBrocca tested Calderon, who was up to the task.
TFC ‘keeper Jon Conway had to punch a ball away in the 87th minute during a scramble around his goal to keep the lead intact.
"In the first half, we played very well," Arabe Unido head coach Richard Parra said through an interpreter. "We dominated the ball. In the second half the Toronto team came out with a different disposition, more aggressive. We tried to defend by trying to keep the ball. At times we managed to do it."
Notes: Dwayne De Rosario returned to the Toronto lineup after missing Saturday’s 2-2 draw with Columbus because of a suspension for an accumulation of yellow cards. … TFC ends its season Saturday against D.C. United in Washington in an MLS game. … Arabe Unido won its home match in the competition 1-0 over Toronto on Aug. 24. TFC complained about the officiating of that game. … Arabe Unido are six-time champions in Panama.