TORONTO – For a game that wasn’t supposed to matter, this one offered plenty of entertainment.
Toronto FC lost 4-1 to Italian club AS Roma Wednesday night in an international friendly that saw both teams display a competitive and fiery spirit before 18,274 spectators at BMO Field.
Roma put on an exemplary technical display, with Miralem Pjanic and Alessandro Florenzi shining for the Italians, while Toronto gave a respectable accounting of itself despite the heavy loss.
The spectacle was somewhat spoiled by the fact that Roma legend and captain Francesco Totti did not come on as a substitute until the 71st minute, while Daniele De Rossi was out injured.
Totti, 36, is regarded as one of the biggest stars and best players of his generation, and De Rossi is held in very high regard by the soccer cognoscenti. So it was more than a little disappointing that Toronto fans only caught such a brief glimpse of Totti and that De Rossi did not feature at all.
Was Roma coach Rudi Garcia holding Totti back for this weekend’s friendly against Chelsea in Washington, D.C.?
“If you are in Washington on (Saturday) you will see,” Garcia said coyly in the post-match press conference.
Nelsen overseas
Toronto coach Ryan Nelsen was not on the bench, as he was away on business and trying to complete a player signing ahead of the MLS transfer window, which closes on Thursday. Assistant coach Fran O’Leary took charge of TFC and wouldn’t give details when pressed about Nelsen’s specific whereabouts (“he’s overseas” was all O’Leary offered) or who he was scouting.
“I think it was a good work out for us. … It was a valuable (experience),” O’Leary said of the contest. “We came out of it unscathed without any injuries.”
This isn’t the first time TFC has staged these mid-season international friendlies. Past opponents have included Portugal’s Benfica, English Premier League outfits Aston Villa, Bolton and Liverpool, Independiente and River Plate of Argentina, Mexico’s Pachuca and Spanish giant Real Madrid.
But it’s fair to say that no game has angered TFC supporters like this one. Many long-suffering fans decided to stay away, adopting the “playoffs, not friendlies” mantra, and viewed this match as little more than a cash grab by team owners MLSE.
Their displeasure is more than justified. With TFC languishing near the bottom of the MLS standings and poised to miss the post-season for a seventh straight year, you can hardly blame fans if the staging of this game during another ill-fated campaign put their noses out of joint.
At the same time, this fixture didn’t come in the middle of a heated league race, nor did it in any way jeopardize the club’s push for a playoff spot. So really, where’s the harm? If anything, this was beneficial for some rarely-used players to get some valuable playing time against one of the best teams in Italy.
One such player was Stefan Frei, TFC’s backup goalkeeper who hasn’t played a single minute of action in MLS this campaign after losing his starting job to Joe Bendik in pre-season. Swiss defender Jonas Elmer and Spanish Alvaro Rey, both recently signed by Toronto, earned their first starts for the club. Leading scorer Robert Earnshaw also started after missing the past few games with a hamstring injury.
“I think we saw some quality from Jonas Elmer, and Alvaro Rey is going to be an exciting player in this league once he gets his fitness up and his feet under him,” O’Leary said. “All in all it was a good outing and great to play against a quality side like (Roma).”
This game also proved helpful for Roma, who is coming off a convincing 3-1 win over the ML All-Star team last week in Kansas City.
Roma is using this North American tour as pre-season preparation for the upcoming Serie A campaign, which kicks off on Aug. 25. Known as the giallorossi (the yellow and reds), Roma are under the tutelage of new manager Garcia. Like his Toronto counterpart, the Frenchman experimented with his line-up, giving starts to fringe players Dodo, Tin Jedvaj and Rodrigo Taddei.
Strong start from Roma
Roma dominated the opening minutes, with American Michael Bradley pulling the strings in central midfield and Dodo forcing Frei to make a diving save on a long-range shot.
But it was TFC who opened the scoring courtesy of an own-goal in the 15th minute. Rey did well to fight off Dodo to get to the end-line and deliver a ball into the middle that deflected off the head of Roma defender Nicolas Burdisso and into the corner of the net.
Rey came out of the game just before halftime as a precaution following a collision near centre-field with Jedvaj.
Roma quickly answered back. Right back Maicon made a rampaging run down the flank and played a low pass into the box for an unmarked Florenzi to tap past a helpless Frei in the 25th minute.
The Italians doubled their advantage in the 33rd minute, as Marco Borriello out-jumped TFC defender Gale Agbossoumonde to nod home a cross from Florenzi from the left wing.
While Rome swapped goalkeepers to start the second half, TFC made wholesales changes, introducing the likes of Ashtone Morgan, Jeremy Brockie and Kyle Bekker. The teams traded scoring chances, with Pjanic’s free kick curling just past the post, and Bekker’s shot hitting the crossbar after taking a wicked deflection.
Pjanic found the back of the net in 67th minute, hitting a gorgeous free kick over TFC’s defensive wall and by Frei.
Restless fans started a loud “Totti, Totti” chant early in the second half. Roma finally obliged with 20 minutes left in the game, as the Italian legend entered to thunderous approval, but he made little impact on the proceedings.
Pjanic capped off the scoring in the 87th minute, intercepting an errant Toronto pass and scoring on a lovely back-heel after rounding third-string goalkeeper Quillan Roberts.
Toronto FC returns to MLS action on Saturday when it hosts the Seattle Sounders.
