What a sight to see: the Rogers Centre full of vocal passionate fans who were treated to a thrilling sporting experience for a change.
Were the Blue Jays in town? The Argos? A truck and tractor pull?
No. Would you believe Toronto FC?
The beautiful game was front and centre in Canada’s largest city Wednesday night, as TFC settled for a 2-2 draw with the Los Angeles Galaxy and David Beckham in the first leg of their CONCACAF Champions League quarter-final before 47,658 spectators.
The two road goals give the Galaxy, the reigning Major League Soccer champions, a distinct advantage going into the return match next week in LA. TFC needs to win or earn at least a 3-3 draw in order to advance.
Ryan Johnson and rookie Luis Silva scored first-half goals to give the Reds a lead they just couldn’t hold. It was Silva’s first goal as a pro, but the real hero on the night was Torsten Frings, TFC’s German captain, who dropped back into defence to expertly anchor the back line and provided exquisite service on both goals.
Toronto appeared to have the game sewn up before LA captain Landon Donovan knotted the score in the 89th minute.
“It is a shame they tied in the last minute, but we showed today that if everything works out next week we can beat them. You never know. It’s not that we can play with them, we can play against these guys. We can be competitive with them,” TFC forward Danny Koevermans said.
Rogers Centre staged this historic match with TFC’s regular home stadium, the outdoor BMO Field, still winterized. The setting proved fitting for Toronto’s first competitive game of the year — with the help of the crowd, a TFC side still showing signs of pre-season rust played over their heads and nearly pulled off the upset.
“It was an absolutely great atmosphere, which fired the team up and helped us play well,” Frings said.
The result was special enough, but this was also one of those rare nights where the European soccer experience was transported to Canada. Rogers Centre could have easily been mistaken as San Siro or Old Tafford or the Camp Nou, such was the atmosphere inside the stadium.
It started right when the players walked onto the field, with the ravenous crowd showering TFC with a thunderous ovation, unfurling giant banners and waving flags, and setting off fireworks.
The fans were at it again when LA earned an early corner kick, as Beckham was pelted with streamers from as high as the 500 level. To the Englishman’s great credit, he patiently pushed aside the debris without complaining to the official before calmly taking the kick.
The home side gave the supporters more to cheer about in the 12th minute. Joao Plata did well to earn a corner, and Fring’s delivery fell to the feet of Johnson who hammered it by Josh Saunders into in the roof of the net.
LA barely had time to collect itself before the Reds struck again six minutes later. TFC built a smart counter-attack down the right, and Frings whipped a perfect ball into the box for Silva to head home.
Caught flat-footed, the Galaxy aggressively pushed defender Sean Franklin forward in attack, and the tactic paid dividends. Franklin fired a cross from the flank that goalkeeper Stefan Frei flapped at before finding a wide open Mike Magee at the far-post, and the midfielder side-footed it home.
Tempers boiled over early in the second half when Saunders and Koevermans got into a shoving match after they clattered into each other on the edge of the box.
The game opened up over the final half hour, with both sides squandering scoring chances inside the 18-yard box.
LA pressed late and was rewarded when Donovan scored on a goal-mouth scramble off a Beckham corner kick. It was a cruel goal from a TFC perspective, but truth be told it was a long time coming, and the very least the Galaxy deserved after dominating the second half.
Beckham was nearly hit with a beer can thrown from the crowd before the corner kick. After Donovan’s goal, the Englishman ran back to the same corner and gave the taunting fans some friendly stick.
NOTES: The second leg is next Wednesday in Los Angeles… Midfielders Julian de Guzman and Nick Soolsma, who were suspended for this game, will be eligible to play in the return match… The winner of this series plays the winner of the quarter-final between the Seattle Sounders and Mexico’s Santos Laguna in the next round… No Canadian team has ever progressed to the final four of this tournament — the Montreal Impact reached the quarter-finals in 2009… Toronto begins the MLS regular season in Seattle on March 17.