Toronto FC

John Carver will be replaced by Leo Percovich, who acted as a goal-keeper coach for Chivas USA. Carver decided not to renew his contract after getting an offer from Nike to work for them in Beaverton, Oregon. Percovich has worked with Preki before as the two were coaches for Chivas USA. The combination did well before and it is expected to do well for the Toronto FC as well.

Image: TSN.ca

Post from: The Footie

Toronto FC midfielder Carl Robinson (33). The New York Red Bulls defeated Toronto FC 2-0 during a Major League Soccer match at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ, on August 17, 2008.

The injury was so severe that he was advised to get reconstructive surgery from his physician. The surgery will keep him off of the pitch for at least 6 weeks. That’s more than enough time to miss out on the painful last three game his team will have to play to end the season.

Image: Newscom

Post from: The Footie

Brian McBride of the Chicago Fire

President Barack Obama will be flying to Europe to meet with the Olympic Committee to help petition Chicago’s bit for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games. Personally having so many games held in North America in recent years might play against their bid. Other cities in the final petitioning phase are Madrid, Tokyo and Rio de Janeiro

Well as far as Toronto goes, there’s always next year.

Image: Newscom

Post from: The Footie

Toronto FC players celebrate O'Brian White's goal during MLS action at BMO Field Toronto in a game between Colorado Rapids and Toronto FC. September 12, 2009

Dwayne De Rosario made the first goal of the game in the 19th minute giving Toronto the first lead. After two more points followed Toronto coach Chris Cummins jumped for joy and told reporters that he believes that the team now has the confidence to play in the playoffs. The last time Toronto faced Colorado it ended in a defeat 1-0.

Image: Newscom

Post from: The Footie

Toronto's Danny Dichio #9 and Redbulls Kevin Goldthwaite #2 get set for positioning during a Major League Soccer game at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, NJ.

They played in the 2007 season and Dichio was lucky enough to make the teams first ever goal. That’s not something everyone can claim. since then he has made an additional 14 goals making him the teams all time top scorer.

With Dichio gone many are expecting Julian de Guzman to take over as first striker but managers are being quiet about the matter.

Dichio may be off of the playing field but he has assured fans that he has no plans on leaving Toronto. He will be helping out by scouting jr soccer players and building up a better team for the Toronto FC.

Image: Newscom

Post from: The Footie

Real Madrid's Portuguese star Cristiano Ronaldo (L) vies with DC United's Chris Pontius (2nd L), Christian Gomez (2nd R) and Ben Olsen (R) during a friendly match on August 9, 2009 at FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland, as part of Real's pre-season tour of Canada and the US.

72,368 fans made it to the FedEx Fields in Washington DC Sunday night to catch a glimpse at Real Madrid’s MLS tour. They played Toronto FC which ended in a 5-1 attack. After realizing what the typical MLS teams were up against it wasn’t surprising that they won last nights game with Washington. What was surprising was that they were able to fend them off for the first half of the game.

Though last nights game ended in a 3-0 shutout (excuse my hockey lingo) it was still great to see a great MLS player like Josh Wicks find out what he’s made of. And at the end of the day that’s what this friendly Real Madrid tour is all about. Playing against the best to see what you are capable of.

Image: Newscom

Post from: The Footie

Real Madrid's Cristiano Ronaldo slips the ball past Toronto FC's Marvell Wynne at BMO Fields, Toronto - August 8th, 2009

Toronto FC new they were in trouble but they did the best they could to fend off the waves of attacks. The game ended 5-1 with goal being made by the heavy strikers.

Tourism Toronto have announced that the game has added a significant boost to their local economy. $10 million is added revenue to be exact. The money is welcome news after organizers had to bend over backwards to have the two team play in Toronto. They had to add temporary sod over top of the false turf Real Madrid refused to play on. The sod ended up costing the club $250,000 but it will be put to good use by donating it to local schools to build soccer fields.

Watch all the goal highlights below.

Image: Newscom

Post from: The Footie

Real Madrid player Cristiano Ronaldo pictured during the team's practice in Toronto, August 6, 2009. Real Madrid will play a friendly soccer match against Toronto FC August 7.

In preparation for the game Toronto’s home, the BMO Fields are covered their false turf with sod. The turf is always criticized by international players as being hard to play on and was a requirement for Real Madrid’s visit.

18,000 Torontonians showed up at the BMO Fields last night to watch Ronaldo and team practice. The show of support must have been exciting for a team who did not expect much out of their Canadian visit.

After the two play their friendly match tonight the sod will be removed and donated to help construct more soccer field in Ontario.

Check your local sports networks to watch the game live which kicks-off at 7:30pm ET. Or you can check it out via live streaming at LiveBallLive.webs.com

You can get up to date information on the game at MLSnet.com

Image: Newscom

Post from: The Footie

At the beginning of the game they were hoping to at least secure a second place victory, but when things seemed to be going their way they pushed for the Championship title and winners of the 2009 Voyageurs Cup.

The Nutrilite Canadian Championship is the most prestigious soccer cup in Canada. Though many only see it as a stepping stone for the bigger CONCACAF Champions League where they get to play other country winners throughout North America. The first CONCACAF Champions game for the Toronto FC will be played against the Puerto Rico Islanders.

Image: Newscom

Post from: The Footie

They will be playing at the humble BMO fields located in Toronto. A small stadium compared to the giant one’s they are used to playing at in Milan. It will definitely be a different kind of atmosphere than what AC Milan are used to.

The BMO Fields need to have a little makeover though before they agreed to play there. Most soccer clubs and players for that matter hate the new fake turf that was installed in Toronto. So they will be covering the pitch with temporary grass to appeal to AC Milan. In Toronto’s defense the turf was installed because it promised to be more durable and be the same as playing on real grass. Despite the hype, professional players still seems to prefer the real thing.

Image: Toronto FC

Post from: The Footie