Other than a player suffering a major injury, Tuesday night’s Canadian Championship final at BC Place had the worst possible outcome for Toronto FC and coach…
Losing the game on penalty kicks to the host Vancouver Whitecaps was tough, as was, undoubtedly, watching ‘Caps manager Vanni Sartini strip off his shirt, roll on the ground and dance on the field when the game ended.
But the misery was exacerbated for Bradley, who took a gamble on the club’s new Italian internationals — Lorenzo Insigne and Federico Bernardeschi — and rolled snake eyes. Bradley had a very difficult decision to make during the game and now he is getting killed on social media for it. .Article content
The Reds flew home to Toronto overnight on Wednesday and had the day off. On Thursday the team will get together at the BMO Training Ground to prepare for this Saturday’s game at Gillette Stadium, another venue with an artificial turf field. Two games on turf, on each side of the continent. A headache scenario for Bradley. Earlier in the week, the coach went on a rant about artificial turf.
The two sides fought to a 1-1 draw after regulation time on goals by Brian White for Vancouver and Lukas MacNaughton for Toronto. MacNaughton’s header came as a result of a great pass into the box by Bernardeschi. In penalty kicks, the Whitecaps scored in all five of their attempts while Jonathan Osorio hit the goal-post in his attempt, ultimately allowing Vancouver to win its second Canadian Championship. The Reds were without midfielder Mark-Anthony Kaye, and his absence was felt.