TORONTO – There are many reasons to be awestruck by Toronto FC’s run in the 2018 CONCACAF Champions League.
TFC dispatched the Colorado Rapids, and then two of the best teams on the continent in Mexico’s Tigres UANL and Club America to become only the third non-Mexican side in the competition’s history to reach the final.
That accomplishment is even more impressive when you consider the Reds did it largely without the services Victor Vazquez. The influential playmaker started in both legs of the round of 16 series against Colorado. But a nagging nerve problem in his back has limited him to just one appearance in Major League Soccer – he played 53 minutes in the season opener, a 2-0 loss to the Columbus Crew on March 3.
After that, he came on as a substitute in both legs of the Champions League quarterfinals against Tigres, and he missed the entire semifinal series against Club America. He also sat out the first leg of the final against Chivas Guadalajara on Tuesday, a 2-1 loss at BMO Field.
Vazquez, 31, is on the mend, though. The Spaniard will travel with the team to Guadalajara for next Wednesday’s decisive second leg of the Champions League final. If all goes well between now and then, the Spaniard could feature against Chivas, although coach Greg Vanney warned it’s premature at this point to say if he’ll be available to play.
“He’s progressing and getting better. He’s doing more things, he’s more mobile than he has been. He’s going to go with us [to Mexico], and if he can get through training sessions and still feel loose, not have some of the sensations that he was having before from the nerve [problems], if he can continue to make progress, then he can play a role,” Vanney told reporters after Thursday’s training session.
A nerve issue in Vazquez’s back has affected other parts of his body. There’s nothing that can be done surgically to fix it. Time and rest are the only solutions, as the nerve needs to “calm down” so that he no longer feels sensations down his leg, and in is foot and hips, Vanney said.
“It was hard initially to pinpoint exactly what it was until we were able to do an MRI, see some specialists, and find out where the nerve issue was coming from. Once we did that then we had a better sense of what the timeline was going to be like,” TFC’s coach explained.
“We’re getting close. The window we were given was six to eight weeks. We’re slightly over six weeks now, so we’re hoping that the progress he can make will be significant enough that he can play a role somehow.”
He later added: “It’s not to say that he’s immobile, because he can move. The problem is, for example, his foot goes numb after a certain amount of repetitions, are those are things that you just can’t play through.”
The fact Vazquez will at least make the trip to Mexico is a positive sign. If Vazquez is fit to go, it would be a big boost for a Toronto team that more than likely needs to win by two goals in Guadalajara in order to win the two-legged, aggregate series following this week’s loss in the opener at home.
A product of Barcelona’s famous La Masia youth academy, Vazquez rose to fame in Belgium with Club Brugge, where he played from 2011 to 2016, and was named the league’s MVP of the 2014-15 season.
After a short stint with Cruz Azul in Mexico, he signed with Toronto in 2017 and took the league by storm. The Spanish playmaker finished second in the league in assists (16) last season, and he led MLS with six game-winning assists. He was also named to the league’s end-of-year all-star team, known as the Best XI, and played a pivotal role in helping TFC win its first MLS Cup, including scoring in the Reds’ 2-0 win over Seattle in the final.
Toronto managed without Vazquez in the semifinals against Club America, but there’s no denying Vanney would love to be able to call upon him in Guadalajara, and reunite him with forwards Jozy Altidore and Sebastian Giovinco, who together form the best attacking trio in MLS.
Individually, Vazquez can also be a difference maker, whether it’s on set pieces, the quality of his final pass, or the attention he draws from opposing defenders.
“He’s smart. Other teams know they have to keep an eye on him, so he doesn’t necessarily have to do quite as much defensive work because he can hurt teams so much [offensively] that they have to defend him,” Vanney said.
Fortunately for TFC, others have stepped up in Vazquez’s absence. Canadian Jonathan Osorio has scored in each round of the Champions League, and he leads the competition in scoring with four goals. Fellow midfielder Marky Delgado has also filled the void left by Vazquez, delivering a pin-point pass across the box for Osorio to tap in at the far post against Chivas in the first leg.
Still, the Spaniard is itching to return.
“He’s been extremely frustrated. He’s happier now, because he knows he’s getting closer and he’s able to do more things [physically]. But for sure, the team has been going through these big matches and he’s been unable to play a role,” Vanney said.
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