First came 66 minutes of frustration and the reliving of old, painful memories. It couldn’t happen the same way again, could it?Then, relief. A goal. A ball moved from a Spaniard to an Italian and then to an American. A left foot did the final damage, driving the ball one way while the seemingly unbeatable goalie dove the other way.No, it wasn’t going to happen again. At least not the same way.Finally, 27 minutes later, utter elation. History was not going to repeat itself at all. Instead, it was fireworks and confetti and players hugging one another on their home field.And so, 16 days before Christmas, a gorgeous soccer championship was delivered to the city of Toronto. On a frigid day barely suitable for the beautiful game, the youngest pro team in town, Toronto FC, came through with a title just two weeks after the GTA’s oldest team, the Toronto Argonauts, delivered a surprise Grey Cup win.Suddenly, a city not so long ago mocked for the ineptitude of all its teams is basking in back-to-back championships. Sweet.But it’s important to realize Toronto FC really delivered something spectacular here, folks.Was it the greatest season ever by a Toronto sports team? Maybe.Is this the best team in the 21-year history of Major League Soccer? Quite possibly.What we know for sure is that this record-setting soccer squad somehow, despite all it had accomplished over the past eight months, still managed to save the best for last.They didn’t just erase the heartbreaking memories of one year ago when, on the same pitch, the same Seattle Sounders squad didn’t get a single shot on the Toronto goal in 120 minutes of competition, but won the MLS Cup anyways on dispiriting penalty kicks.TFC made history in resounding fashion, with an utterly dominant and convincing 2-0 victory, a triumph for aggressive, positive soccer over a team that came to town planning to stall and sleepwalk its way to a second straight MLS title.But TFC was determined not ...
|