June 20, 2015 Dwayne De Rosario testimonial game (by Rocket Robin)

Result of the Saturday June 20, 2015 Dwayne De Rosario testimonial game played at BMO Field in Toronto at 3:00pm.

The teams are DeRo's All Canadians composed of Canadian players and DeRo's All Stars who are mostly internationals.

I counted 11 starters and 5 players on the bench for each team.

1st Half:...game starts 3:12pm on this hot afternoon with a bright sun in the west.
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7 min...All Stars Danny Dichio GOAL...Dichio is fed a short pass through three defenders from right and shoots 7 yarder forward just inside left post beyond diving goalie Kenny Stamatopoulos.
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23 min...All Canadians Dwayne De Rosario GOAL...AC #4 chipped a 10 yard shot on the right over the goalie Jon Conway and De Rosario taps in a 1 yarder on the left post. The ball may have bounced in without his redirection.
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half ends at 30 minute mark.

2nd Half:...starts 3:55pm.
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48 min...All Stars Dwayne De Rosario GOAL...AS Danny Koevermanns is touched back a pass and his 22 yard shot has goalie Kenny Stamatopoulis fly over to left side and palm the ball at 5 yards which hits the cross bar and the ball deflects out to 8 yards where De Rosario slides and shoots into center of net over fallen goalie.
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58 min...All Stars Dwayne De Rosario GOAL...AS #20 on run stops with defender at 20 yards on right and rolls centering pass to open De Rosario who rolls 10 yarder to short side of sprawling goalie.
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game ends at 60 minute mark...3:25pm.

Final Score:.....DeRo's All Stars.......3..........DeRo's All Canadians...........1........

Attendance was not announced although I'd say measured in the hundreds spread out throughout the stadium. This game was played before the MLS game between Toronto FC and New York City FC at 7:00pm.

There were a few stipulations for this game. The game was played in two 30 minute halfs. There were unlimited substitutions allowed and players could come back into the match multiple times. The first substitution took place at just 10 minutes when the All Canadians switched goalies with Paul Dolan leaving in favour of Kenny Stamatopoulos. This was the only player sub announced the entire game as player swaps sometimes happened three at a time. There were no programs to keep track of the players although some I figured out by watching them over the years or as recently as last week. Still I'm not going to do a play-by-play of this game.

The team roster I put together from the YouTube video, pregame twitter messages, and just watching the game:

DeRo's All Canadians: Kenny Stamatopoulos, Paul Dolan, David Edgar, Adrian Serioux, Paul Stalteri, Julian de Guzman, Robbie Aristodemo, Simeon Jackson, Tosaint Ricketts, Ali Gerba, Jordan Hamilton, Chris Mannella, and Lyndon Hooper.

DeRo's All Stars: Jon Conway, Danny Dichio, Danny Koevermans, Brian Ching, Juan Pablo Galavis (winner of the reality show 'The Bachelor'), Michael Petrasso, Manny Aparicio, Rick Titus, Leslie Fitzpatrick, Junior Hoilett, Darryl Gomez, Kei Kamara, Jaime Moreno, Amato Guevara, Danley Johnson, and Rohan Ricketts.

There were a few reasons that there seemed to be a perfect alignment to attract players in the middle of the season.
1. The Canadian national team was in town for the World Cup Qualifier against Dominica last Tuesday. That meant European placed players like Simeon Jackson, Tosaint Ricketts, and Kenny Stamatopoulos were already here and didn't have to return to Europe as it is their off season. Even Canadian based national Julian de Guzman had time to spare as his Ottawa Fury team is on the summer break of the NASL season. This is the hometown of Michael Petrasso who has completed his England season.
2. TFC coaches who played with De Rosario over the years included Jon Conway, Rick Titus, Jason Bent (who was the All Canadians coach), Danny Dichio, and broadcaster Adrian Serioux are always in town.
3. The TFC II players had the weekend off so they could fill the bench and sub in for the tired old guys. Jordan Hamilton, Chris Mannella, and Manny Aparicio were not in the main lineup of TFC with the injury bug ending and more regulars back on the team. TFC II head coach Jason Bent coached the All-Canadians.
4. Kei Kamara (the leading scorer this season in the MLS) played as his club Columbus Crew had the week off.

Danny Koevermans wore #41 as his usual number #14 was De Rosario's number and he needed it when he played the second half for the All Stars.

Referee Joe Fletcher said before the game that today would be the first time since 2010 that he's been in the center (ie referee) as he runs the line for MLS and FIFA. He actually gave out a Yellow card to the All-Canadians #4 for a horrible cross from the left that drifted far behind the net. Another official drew both laughs and groans for making an offside call.

Although De Rosario only played for Toronto Lynx for part of their inaugral year, 1997, I figured there were six others over the years; Ali Gerba, Paul Stalteri, Rick Titus, Darryl Gomez, Adrian Serioux, and Robbie Aristodemo. I went unrecognized all day wearing a Lynx t-shirt from fans who only know the red of TFC.

There was a long gap of time from the end of this game until the MLS game. In between though there was the 'KIA Toronto FC Academy Achievement Day' celebration that started at 4:50pm. I couldn't understand much because the microphones were directed at parents/families in the north end so I had trouble hearing. Players from age groups, U10, U11, U12, U13, U14, U15, Junior, and Senior teams were on the field. Technical Director Greg Vanney (he held this position before taking over as TFC head coach last season) gave a speech. Some of those young players gave speeches. Manny Aparicio who was introduced as being with TFC II said a few words about graduating from the Academy. Tim Bazbachenko (general manager of TFC) also spoke. This all ended before 5:30pm.

Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca

Rocket Robin with 1997 Toronto Lynx t-shirt with game officials Joe Fletcher, Geoff Gamble, and Mike Lambert.