July 28, 2015 USL Pro international friendly--Toronto FC II vs AS Roma Primavera (by Rocket Robin)

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Result and details of the Tuesday July 28, 2015 international friendly between Toronto FC II of the USL and AS Roma Primavera (Italy) played at The Ontario Soccer Centre in Vaughan at 8:00pm.

Toronto FC II (all red, white names and numbers)

............................30 Fillipo Di Bennardo
..........54 Gabriel Boakye...33 Skylar Thomas (cpt)...37 Adam Bouchard
31 Salvador Bernal...45 Luca Uccello...34 Manny Aparicio...43 Mark Serjeant...48 Raheem Edwards
.................41 Molham Babouli...56 Malik Johnson

Subs:...60 Brogen Engbers (gk)...22 Jordan Hamilton...35 Edwin Rivas (fwd)...36 Marcus Godinho...39 Marco Nunes (fwd)...42 Massimo Mirabelli (mid)
...44 Mark-Anthony Kaye...51 Robert Boskovic (fwd)...58 Anthony Osorio (mid)...59 Emeka Ononye (def)...63 Liam Fraser (mid)
team officials:...head coach Jason Bent

AS Roma Primavera (all white, red numbers)

..........................12 Lorenzo Crisanto
19 Niccolo Tofanari...15 Andrea Paolelli...13 Riccardo Marchizza...6 Eros De Santis
9 Christian D'Urso...22 Lorenzo Vasco...14 Emanuele Ndoj...7 Francesco Di Mariano
...............8 Francesco Di Nolfo...17 Edoardo Soleri

Subs:...1 Andrea Romagnoli (gk)...3 Alessandro Bordin (mid)...5 Antonio D'Alena (mid)...4 Conor Borg (mid)...18 Emanuele Spinozzi (mid)
...10 Filippo Franchi (fwd)
team officials:...head coach Alberto De Rossi

1st Half:...game starts 7:12pm...TFC defends north end on this warm and humid evening with the sun setting in the north west.
35 sec...TFC Babouli has shot blocked on edge of box.
2 min...Roma Di Nolfo taps pass back from 10 yards on left and Roma Vasco bends 20 yard shot wide right of net.
2 min...TFC Bernal low shot from 22 yards has goalie dive and push wide right of post.
3 min...TFC Uccello low 25 yard shot through crowd of players up middle has goalie dive to smother.
6 min...TFC players have two shots blocked on edge of box.
7 min...TFC Babouli receives cross from TFC Bernal on right and turns of 20 yards and shoots ball down middle just wide left of post.
8 min...Roma Di Mariano rush on 2 on 1 passes to Roma Soleri at 15 yards but defender intercepts and deflects ball back for goalie to smother.
8 min...Roma Vasco 45 yard freekick from left bounces between players wide right of net.
9 min...TFC Edwards blasts 25 yard shot from left over net.
11 min...Roma goalie dives to make save on shot from left.
12 min...Roma D'Urso cross from left has defender dive on right to head ball away.
14 min...TFC Bernal shot along right end line deflects off defender and goalie catches.
15 min...TFC player's 35 yard freekick up middle and TFC Babouli rushes in and has shot deflected by sliding defender for cornerkick.
16 min...TFC player's cornerkick from left is whistled down in box.
18 min...TFC defender break up Roma rush on right side of box.
19 min...TFC Edwards rush on left and has ball knocked away at 15 yard line.
19 min...TFC Serjeant cross from 28 yards on left has goalie catch.
21 min...TFC Serjeant rush down left and rolls cross from 20 yards that has Roma Marchizza concede cornerkick at 12 yards on left.
23 min...Roma player's 22 yard freekick from left end line has Roma Soleri shoot 8 yarder that deflects off defender.
23 min...Roma player's cornerkick from left wins another cornerkick on deflection.
24 min...Roma player's cornerkick from left has defenders clear ball from box.
25 min...Roma Di Nolfo jabs 22 yard shot up middle that's saved by goalie diving left of net to rescue deflection.
26 min...Roma Vanco 35 yard freekick from left has goalie catch on bounce.
28 min...TFC Serjeant cross from 30 yards on far left has Roma De Santis pop up 8 yard kick back to goalie.
29 min...TFC Bernal cross from 25 yards on right has defender head ball away from 7 yards.
30 min...referee calls water break.
33 min...Roma Vasco 35 yard freekick on far left has defender head ball away.
35 min...Roma Di Nolfo 22 yard freekick from right is over leaping players in box and wide left for goalkick.
37 min...Roma Vasnco cornerkick from left has defender head ball away. TFC goalie then charges forward into crowd of players to catch cross from the left.
38 min...Roma goalie charges to 22 yards to head ball away through ball.
38 min...Roma Ndoj cutting to middle shoots 25 yard roller wide left of net.
39 min...TFC Uccello has 8 yard shot from right is blocked by Roma Marchizza and tipped for cornerkick.
40 min...TFC Babouli cornerkick from right has Roma players start fast breakout.
42 min...TFC Aparicio cross from near right end line has Roma Marchizza head ball over net.
43 min...Roma Edoardo Soleri GOAL...Roma Lorenzo Vasco passes forward from 60 yards on left and it splits defenders and Soleri at 30 yards eludes goalie Filippo Di Bennardo at 25 yards down middle and rolls 15 yarder into center of open net.
45 min...TFC Aparicio can't win Penalty kick on tackle on rush into Roma box.
46 min...TFC Raheem Edwards GOAL... Edwards pass from 55 yards on left is blocked by sliding defender Lorenzo Vasco at 40 yard line but ball deflects to TFC Mark Serjeant on left sideline. He runs from 45 yard line and rolls ball forward for TFC Malik Johnson who is pushed over by Roma Andrea Paolelli but keeps on his feet and regains balance and runs 20 yards on wide left of net and rolls centering pass to TFC Molham Babouli at 18 yards on edge of box who chips ball forward for charging Edwards at 7 yards who jumps over sliding defender and around Roma Lorenzo Vasco at 5 yards and takes 3 yard shot from left of post that deflects over sliding goalie Lorenzo Crisanto on post and into left side of net.
47 min...half ends 8:59pm.

Halftime Entertainment: James and Jamie from the Freestylers did some more soccer tricks. They had done some pregame tricks earlier.

2nd Half:...starts 9:17pm.
halftime subs:...TFC Engbers replaces Di Bennardo in goal.
.................TFC Godinho replaces Boakye.
.................TFC Ononye replaces Thomas.
.................TFC Boskovic replaces Bouchard.
.................TFC Kaye replaces Serjeant.
.................TFC Osorio replaces Aparicio.
.................TFC Mirabelli replaces Johnson. Mirabelli takes over as captain from Thomas.
.................TFC Rivas replaces Edwards.
.................TFC Hamilton replaces Babouli.
.................TFC Fraser replaces Uccello.
47 min...TFC Bernal 30 yard blasts up middle is just wide left of net.
49 min...Roma player's cross from 30 yards on right finds Roma Soleri who heads 7 yarder from left over goalie but wide of short side of net.
50 min...Roma D'Urso cross from right has TFC defender fly to head ball away.
51 min...TFC Rivas rush on left and low cross is just a step ahead of TFC Hamilton at 20 yards down middle.
52 min...TFC Ononye makes sliding tackle to poke away ball at 7 yards on Roma rush on left conceding cornerkick on left.
54 min...Roma Di Nolfo is injured at TFC 35 yard line but play carries on for at least a minute.
56 min...Roma sub...Bordin replaces Di Nolfo.
58 min...Roma Tofanari rolls pass forward on right but defender clears before Roma Soleri can get to ball at 10 yards.
58 min...TFC player blasts 35 yarder over net and back fence.
61 min...TFC sub...Nunes replaces Bernal.
62 min...Roma Tofanari taps ball for cornerkick at 6 yards in own box.
63 min...TFC player's cornerkick has TFC Mirabelli head 10 yarder over net.
64 min...TFC Hamilton rolls 18 yarder from left that goalie dives to save on right post.
64 min...TFC Mirabelli rolls weak shot up middle from 25 yards that goalie picks up.
65 min...Roma sub...Borg replaces Vasco.
66 min...TFC Rivas slips on rusn into left side of box but wins cornerkick.
66 min...TFC Osorio cornerkick from left is cleared.
67 min...TFC Osorio cross from left has TFC Rivas head ball from 12 yards wide left of net.
68 min...TFC Hamilton 28 yard shot from right is caught by goalie.
70 min...Roma De Santis is injured at TFC 50 yard line.
.........referee calls for a water break.
72 min...TFC Rivas rolls cross from 15 yards on left through box which TFC Hamilton doesn't play and TFC Nunes crosses in from right that defender clears.
73 min...TFC Mirabelli is injured at Roma 45 yard line.
73 min...Roma sub...Franchi replaces D'Urso.
75 min...TFC Osorio 30 yard freekick from right has TFC Rivas head 10 yarder in crowd of players wide left of net.
77 min...TFC Nunes cross from 22 yards on right is cleared from box on left side.
78 min...TFC Osorio 35 yard freekick from right has defender on edge of box head ball away.
79 min...TFC sub...Babouli replaces Mirabelli (again!). Babouli becomes captain.
.........Roma sub...Spinozzi replaces Ndoj.
80 min...TFC Marcos Nunes GOAL...TFC Edwin Rivas at 20 yards in middle rolls ball forward and right to Nunes who shoots low 15 yarder into left side of net.
82 min...TFC goalie comes out to 20 yards to head ball away just outside box.
83 min...Roma Soleri receives cross from right and rolls 22 yard shot up middle that goalie smothers.
84 min...Roma sub...D'Alena replaces De Santis.
85 min...Roma Conor Borg GOAL...Roma Francesco Di Mariano crosses from 20 yards on left and Borg heads 6 yarder into center of net over goalie Brogen Engbers.
87 min...TFC Babouli 20 yard freekick down middle blasts is over net wide left and deflects over fence.
89 min...TFC goalie catches 25 yard cross.
90 min...TFC Kaye 12 yard shot from left is blocked by defender pops up for clearance.
90 min...TFC Hamilton is called offside because he played it but TFC Babouli would have been OK for 45 yard breakaway.
91 min...Roma Bordin 30 yard freekick from right bounces over to left and cleared.
92 min...TFC Babouli 15 yard shot has goalie block.
92 min...TFC Babouli 18 yard shot from left has goalie dive and push wide right of post.
93 min...Roma YELLOW card...Soleri earns it for bashing TFC Rivas at Roma 50 yard line.
93 min...TFC Babouli 55 yard freekick from left is over players on right and called offside.
94 min...regulation time ends 10:06pm.

Regulation time ends 2-2 but late in the second half it is announced that if the game was tied after 90 minutes, the teams would go straight to Penalty kicks.

Roma won the coin toss and elected to take the first shot.  (shots are at the north end).

1. Roma Riccardo Marchizza GOAL...Marchizza shoots low to left corner of net as goalie 
Brogen Engers dives to right.

1. TFC Molham Babouli shoots low and hits left post and ball deflects over to right post 
as goalie Lorenzo Crisanto dives to left.

2. Roma Francesco Di Mariano GOAL...Di Mariano shoots low to left as goalie dives right.

2. TFC Marcos Nunes GOAL...Nunes blasts shot to left side while goalie crumples in middle.

3. Roma Alessandro Bordin GOAL...Bordin blasts shot to top left corner as goalie flies 
to left but the ball is above him.

3. TFC Jordan Hamilton GOAL...Hamilton shoots low to left corner as goalie dives right.

4. Roma Antonkio D'Alena GOAL...D'Alena shoots low to left side under flying goalie.

4. TFC Liam Fraser GOAL...Fraser chips ball or right corner of net as goalie dives to left.

5. Roma Andrea Paolelli GOAL...Paolelli shoots to right side of net over flying goalie.

Final Score:.....Toronto FC II......2........AS Roma Primavera.........2....... .....AS Roma Primavera win 5-3 on Penalty kicks.

Attendance was announces as 1017 (which is a record for TFC II this season). Spooky in that I was saying about three minutes earlier to some old friends that based on other games I've seen that there were about 1000 fans here. A pregame question and answer session with AS Roma Primavera head coach Alberto De Rossi drew over 100 people in the stands over an hour before the game started. I couldn't hear what was being said and translated. The crowd was slightly more favourable to the visitors judged by the amount of gear I saw being worn by fans and the cheering of goals.

I wasn't able to find a listing of numbers or player names on the internet before the game of the Roma players. Listening carefully to the PA announcement introducing the players I heard the numbers read off and player names didn't always match. Thanks to Krista from the game day staff for letting me take pictures of the Roma game sheet after the game (although I found a clearer photo on a twitter post after I got home). It was certainly important because the game commentators were reading from the program and the PA announcer was using the game sheets so the Toronto FC Live site was reading the wrong name on Roma's first goal.

TFC II was certainly not outplayed at all in this game. I wouldn't put anything into believing that Canadian soccer is superior to Italian as this Primavera team is all under age 19 while TFC II has players that age but stretching into their early twenties and man sized!

The TFC II team was split into two squads I'd say of equal skill. They made ten changes at the start of the second half (poor PA guy was reading swap for swap and someone didn't restart the game clock on time). Only Sal Bernal survived the purge but he lasted until 61 minutes when Marcos Nunes replaced him. 79 minutes brought Molham Babouli back into the game (the only player who 'played twice') but probably a special exemption because Massimo Mirabelli had been injured six minutes earlier and hadn't fully recovered. Roma subbed five players at various times in the second half and that was their entire bench except an extra goalie. Coach De Rossi said they'd left five players home with their first team instead of making this trip.

In second half injury time a through ball was played to Roma's 45 yard line without an offside flag being held up. TFC Jordan Hamilton touched the ball and was immediately called offside but charging behind him and slightly to the left was TFC Molham Babouli who would have been fine if the ball had been allowed to roll to him.

Referee Yusri Rudolf only gave out one Yellow card the entire game and that was to Roma Edoardo Soleri in second half injury time. A few other cards could have been given to both teams earlier but players were just let off with warnings.

Raheem Edwards played last year in the first year of League 1 Ontario for International (the team that was folded just before the halfway point of the season) and Durham United FC. Of course a lot of the TFC II players played in that league while with the TFC Academy which has a team in that league but it is nice to think a player on another team may someday be able to cross over to TFC even though they didn't get their start there.

A pregame interview on the TFC website had midfielder Chris Mannella looking forward to playing his childhood favourite team but he wasn't even listed on the subs bench so maybe he'll be on the MLS team's squad for their Saturday game in New England.

Two easy reasons for a TFC II split squad is the chance for more players to have a tale for their grandchildren and the fact that they have a home game this Saturday against Louisville City FC.

Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca

Toronto FC II starters