April 4, 2011 MLS--Five First Timers Saturday (from TorontoFC.ca)

Five First Timers Saturday
Asif Hossain
TorontoFC.ca
April 4, 2011

The three newest Toronto FC players – Tony Tchani, Danleigh Borman and Dicoy Williams – made their debuts for the Reds during Saturday’s 1-1 draw against Chivas USA at BMO Field.

Tony Tchani

The 21-year old central midfielder played the full 90 minutes shortly after arriving from New York in the Dwayne De Rosario trade hours earlier. Tchani was heavily involved in the middle of the park with five tackles. He committed three but won four fouls and enjoyed an 80% successful passing rate.

Danleigh Borman

The 26-year old South African native – also acquired in the De Rosario trade – played at left back and made several runs forward. Consequently, Borman needed to track back to make a game-high six clearances. He made two crosses during the match and completed 78.7% of his passes over 90 minutes.

Dicoy Williams

The Jamaican international entered the match at the 65th minute replacing Nana Attakora, who made his return to the pitch after missing the previous game with an injury. Williams, a strong 24-year old central defender, blocked a shot and made a single clearance in his abbreviated involvement.

Julian de Guzman and Joao Plata made their 2011 Toronto FC debuts on Saturday as well.

A halftime substitution for Jacob Peterson brought de Guzman into the match to complement Tchani as a second holding midfielder. The Canadian international received a yellow card when cutting off a Chivas counter-attack at the 89th minute. The midfielder had offseason knee surgery but as he works to regain match fitness, head coach Aron Winter has made it clear that de Guzman will feature prominently in the new TFC system.

19-year old Plata came on for Alen Stevanovic and played 20 minutes in a limited engagement as an attacker. The Ecuador U20 player was selected by the Reds in the 2011 MLS SuperDraft.

Toronto's next match will be on Saturday, April 9 at 10:30 p.m. ET against San Jose Earthquakes live on GOL TV Canada.

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