February 13, 2007 Toronto FC start South Florida camp (from TorontoFC.ca)
02/13/2007 6:42PM
Toronto FC start South Florida camp
TorontoFC.ca
Toronto FC were victorious in their first preseason scrimmage.
After arriving under grey, and rainy skies, the sun came out for Toronto FC's first day of training in South Florida. Head Coach Mo Johnston began putting the team through the dreaded two a day practices that started Tuesday morning at 9am. No easy first day either...the team trained in the morning and then met their first pre-season opponents in the afternoon session, Florida International University.
The first half saw the veterans take to the pitch, Greg Sutton starting in goal for Toronto. Midway through the first half, Ronnie O'Brien set up Edson Buddle nicely in front, but it was called off-side. Shortly after that, Toronto tallied. Invited Colombian International Hector Hurtado put in a long cross to make the score 1-0 at the half.
Second half, Tomer Chencinski replaced Sutton in goal, and the reserves hit the pitch, producing not much in the way of chances. The match finished 1-0 to Toronto.
"The game took its toll on us", said Johnston, "there were some heavy legs out there after the training in the morning."
15 minutes after the match, the majority of the players hit the pool for a scheduled 45 minute session. However, Day 1 proved to be too much for some, and the players were given a reprieve after 25 minutes in the water.
The players are back on the pitch at 10am for the remainder of the week, their next scheduled matches will be Friday, with games in the morning and the afternoon. It's the Canadian U-20's in the morning, while Lynn University or SoccerMax will provide the opponents for the afternoon.
TFC Notes from Day 1:
Rumor Mill: Coach Johnston has seen the rumors surrounding Alecko Eskandarian moving out of Toronto...and was quoted as saying "Eskandarian's going nowhere."
No Love For Dessert: The staff at Las Palmas really knows how to bake cookies! In fact, they are so good, so decadent, that the coach has politely asked the staff to not bring them out any more. (Word is Adam Braz ate around 5 his first day). But since they're a hit with the coaching staff too...I think we may not have seen the last of them!
.
.