By: Michael Crampton
If attempted redemption has been a theme of Toronto FC’s season to date then maybe, for once, it’s actually better applied to their opponents in tonight’s Canadian Championship final first leg. As in incredible as it sounds, over a decade of its existence, the Vancouver Whitecaps have never lifted the Voyageurs Cup. Not in the days that it was a fan created challenge trophy nor since the formalization of the tournament as the gateway to the CONCACAF Champions League for Canadian clubs. For an organization that values history and styles itself a leading soccer organization on the continent that has to be frustrating.
There’s been some near misses, heartache, heartbreak, and more than one claim of conspiracy along the way, but the fact still remains that the only two names inscribed on the side of the trophy remain Montreal Impact and Toronto FC.
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What the Whitecaps have achieved over the past four years of direct competition with Toronto FC has been to be a nearly constant thorn in the side of the Reds. While Toronto supporters still curse the name of Jeff Cunningham and vividly remember his inability to turn the ball into net against Montreal during the final game of the 2008 Canadian Championship, what is often forgotten is that Vancouver were the ones responsible for leaving TFC needing a win in that game. Toronto fans expected a coronation in the original edition of the tournament but the wind was knocked out of those sales when Vancouver escaped BMO Field with a 1-0 victory on Canada Day. On that occasion it was Toronto supporters crying foul as, in a note of synchronicity, it was a suspect foul by the Reds’ newly appointed assistant coach Jim Brennan that conceded the penalty Martin Nash duly converted.
One year later, in the throes of a revolt by two major TFC supporters groups over the pricing and scheduling of the Real Madrid friendly, the Whitecaps again defeated TFC. That time it was in a resoundingly comfortable fashion that seemed to ensure it would be Vancouver instead of Toronto lifting the trophy for the first time in 2009. The Miracle in Montreal saved the day for TFC in the end but has left a sense of bitterness and injustice on the West coast ever since.
As recently as last season the ‘Caps again handed Toronto a humiliating 4-2 defeat in the clubs’ first ever meeting in league play and the first game of the Aron Winter era. Toronto FC ultimately took home the Voyageurs Cup in Canadian Championship play but the weather necessitated replay of the final’s second leg was, if not controversial per se, a second instance where Vancouverites felt cheated. While no one will ever know what would have happened had the second half of the original fixture been able to be continued (with Vancouver still leading 1-0 on the night and 2-1 on aggregate) Toronto was a much more stable side by the time of the replay and confidence was draining out of Vancouver as losses mounted during the season.
So, while it’s easy to overstate the impact of history on any given fixture – in the end the players play today and not against history – there’s certainly a lot of added context to tonight’s match.
For the Vancouver Whitecaps there really can’t be any excuses this time. Martin Rennie’s team, an evolution rather than complete rebuild of the expansion side of 2011, has been getting a steady stream of league results that sees them solidly in the mix for a Western Conference playoff spot. Prior to their defensive implosion on the weekend in New England they’d been one of the stingiest teams in the league and conceding less than a goal a game in league play.
Toronto on the other hand is just as much of a soap opera as they’ve ever been. Fan message boards, blogs, and Twitter accounts have been frantically engaging in the newest round of interpretive dancing about what the latest management shuffle at TFC implies. While fans are still on somewhat of a high from the dominating ten man performance that saw off Montreal a week ago the Reds face a tricky visit to DC on the weekend where it’s entirely possible they could stretch their record setting losing streak (to start a season) to an incredible nine games. While the chance at a fourth straight Canadian Championship certainly offers a glimmer of hope in an otherwise dire looking season Vancouver will have just as strong a motivation to finally see off Toronto and lift the cup themselves.
It has the makings of an interesting tie as long as TFC shows that last week wasn’t a last hurrah of the Aron Winter years and revert to their league form. Once again, in Toronto at least, the Canadian Championship is the place where the meaningful drama of the season will play out.