Saturday March 23, 2019...USSDA U-18/19 Toronto FC vs Vardar (by Rocket Robin)

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Result and details of the USSDA U-18/19 game between Toronto FC and Vardar played at the BMO Training Ground
in Downsview at 5:00pm on Saturday March 23, 2019. All times converted from my wristwatch as there is no scoreboard.

Toronto FC (all red, black shoulders and sides, white numbers)

.................1 Nicholas Christoffersen
2 Kai Martin...4 Jaytin Pabla...5 Sal Mazzaferro...3 Themi Antonoglou
11 Ijah Halley...10 Ralph Priso...6 Alex Krakowiak-Castro...8 Mehdi Essoussi...7 Jordan Faria (cpt)
....................9 Jordan Perruzza

Subs:...12 Spencer King (gk)...14 Brayden Borutskie...15 Jacob Carlos...16 Ryan Robinson
...17 Javier George...18 Colin Gander...19 Jacen Russell Rowe
team officials:...head coach Danny Dichio...assistant coaches Anthony Capotosto and Phil Boerger
...trainer Kevin Halford

Vardar (all white, black numbers)

................1 Caleb Norris (cpt)
15 Kevin Payne...4 Zain Akeel...3 Ryan Gray...31 Colin Stoner
19 Grant Ellison...18 Wail Algahghim...6 Will Rabon...11 Mitchell Meldrum
...........13 Moshtaba Alhasnawi...9 Hammam Nasser

Subs:...none!
team officials:...assistant coaches Steven Arce, Morris Lupenec and Mike Lupenec...academy director Nathan Smith
...apprentice coach Demitri Vacratsis

Game officials:...referee Yusri Rudolf...referee's assistants unknown, no fourth official (yellow shirts, black shorts and socks)

1st Half:...game starts 5:14pm. TFC defend north end.
3 min...TFC player's cross from left is over charging players in V box and out for goalkick.
3 min...TFC Martin gets back to poke ball away from V Nasser on long run up middle.
4 min...V Alhasnawi rush on right pushes ball over end line on deke attempt.
5 min...TFC Priso low cross from right is through 6 yard box has retreating V Akeel kicks over own net.
6 min...TFC Antonoglou takes short cornerkick but ball is knocked away for throw-in.
7 min...V Algahim low freekick from 30 yards on left is cleared in traffic on edge of TFC box.
9 min...V Alhasnawi 25 yard roller is blasted up middle well wide right of net.
11 min...TFC Martin runs to end line on right and cross is easy catch for goalie on near post.
13 min...TFC Halley can't draw Penalty kick on run into right side of box.
14 min...TFC Martin cross deflects off V Gray for cornerkick along end line.
15 min...TFC Antonoglou cornerkick from right has defender flick ball through box. TFC Faria 20 yard shot from left has goalie
palm ball over net.
16 min...TFC Faria cornerkick from left has V Akeel leap to head ball away just inside box.
17 min...TFC Antonoglou cross from 25 yards on far left has V Gray head away.
18 min...TFC Faria rush on left and centering pass is cleared by retreating and sliding defender.
20 min...V goalie's poor clearance is directly to TFC Priso and V Payne slides to upend him resulting in freekick.
21 min...TFC Jordan Faria GOAL...Faria takes 18 yard freekick up the middle that bends low into left side of net
with goalie Caleb Norris frozen in middle of goal.
23 min...TFC Antonoglou quick pass forward to TFC Essoussi who blasts 20 yarder just wide right of top corner of net.
25 min...TFC Faria cross from 20 yards on far left is caught by flying goalie in 6 yard box.
26 min...TFC Martin high cross from 25 yards on right is well high left for goalkick.
29 min...V goalie 50 yard freekick from right has TFC defender in crowd of players leap to head away on edge of box.
30 min...V Nasser shoots 28 yarder down middle well wide left.
31 min...TFC high cross from 20 yards near right line has goalie punch ball away.
35 min...V Algahim upends TFC Priso on his run down middle.
36 min...TFC Faria 22 yard freekick down middle is caught by goalie high on left side of goal.
40 min...TFC Jordan Perruzza GOAL...TFC Jordan Faria crosses from 20 yards near left end line and Perruzza
in open heads in 5 yarder forward to open right side of net.
41 min...V player's cornerkick from right is low and TFC Antonoglou blocks ball and clears.
44 min...TFC Antonoglou 22 yard freekick from near right end line is low and over to charging TFC Faria who shoots low 18 yarder
forward that diving goalie stops on right corner of net.
46 min...TFC YELLOW card...Martin earns it for something I didn't notice.
46 min...half ends 6:00pm.

TFC returned to their dressing room at halftime while Vardar stayed at their bench.

2nd Half:...starts 5:17pm.
47 min...V Algahim 30 yard freekick from right has charging V Alhasnawi head 5 yarder over top left of net.
48 min...TFC Antonoglou rush on left but his cross is behind end line.
48 min...TFC goalie charges forward to punt ball on edge of box away from charging V Alhasnawi.
49 min...TFC Perruzza and Faria strip V Akeel of ball and cross into center of box that's cleared off face of V Payne.
50 min...V Algahim 30 yard freekick cross from right has TFC Perruzza pop up header in 6 yard box and goalie catches on way down.
53 min...TFC Faria on left centers ball to TFC Perruzza who wins cornerkick on deflection in box off defender.
55 min...TFC Essoussi cornerkick from left is cleared for another cornerkick.
56 min...TFC Essoussi cornerkick from left is sent through box unplayed.
57 min...TFC Antonoglou cross from left cornerflag is caught by goalie on near post.
58 min...V Algahim 33 yard freekick up middle is over head of leaping V Payne 33 yard freekick up middle is over head of leaping
V Payne on right end line.
59 min...TFC Halley long run up right and rolls cross that defender clears in 6 yard box.
63 min...TFC Essoussi can't win Penalty kick when knocked over in V box.
64 min...TFC Perruzza backheel pass to TFC Essoussi in V box but Essoussi's 15 yard shot up middle is blocked by defender.
67 min...TFC Jordan Perruzza GOAL...TFC Jordan Faria rushes up left wing and rolls pass to TFC Themi Antonoglou
who taps ball to Perruzza charging across box who chips 12 yard from left over sprawling goalie at 6 yards into
right side of open net.
69 min...TFC Faria 20 yard shot up middle is well over net.
70 min...TFC sub...Robinson replaces Halley.
..............TFC sub...Carlos replaces Priso.
72 min...TFC goalie grabs loose ball in box rushed in from right.
75 min...TFC Robinson charges on right and low 25 yard cross is through box just a step ahead of charging TFC Perruzza.
76 min...TFC sub...Russell Rowe replaces Perruzza.
77 min...TFC Essoussi long run down left and cross has charging TFC Russell Rowe head 6 yarder just over the bar.
80 min...TFC Faria cornerkick from left has defender clear ball in box.
81 min...V Meldrum cross from far right is high over players in box.
82 min...TFC sub...George replaces Krakowiak-Castro.
83 min...TFC Jacob Carlos GOAL...TFC Ryan Robinson makes short run on right and low cross has Carlos
blast 8 yarder up middle just under bar in center of net.
86 min...TFC Essoussi blasts 22 yarder up middle that goalie in center of net palms over bar.
87 min...TFC Faria cross from left has charging TFC Mazzaferro pop 8 yarder well over net.
88 min...TFC Essoussi cornerkick from right has charging TFC Mazzaferro on left head 10 yarder that goalie catches
by reaching to the right.
89 min...TFC Russell Rowe chips 20 yarder over net charging to loose ball just outside V box on right.
90 min...V Algahim 30 yard freekick from left bounces to goalie after tipping off head in player wall.
91 min...V goalie dives to left to smother TFC Mazzaferro through ball pass up left a step ahead of TFC Essoussi.
92 min...V Rabon is injured near player's bench. Even the TFC trainer comes over to help.
92 min...game ends 7:04pm.

Final Score:....Toronto FC......4.......Vardar.......0......

Attendance was about 70 family and friends and also visiting coaches from the TFC academies
in London, Windsor, and Ottawa. We were all on the west side sidelines inside the bubble.
This pitch is the turf field. The outdoor 'real grass' one is covered with clear tarps going
through another cold spell of weather in Toronto.

Best non-scoring chances were at 15 minutes when TFC Jordan Faria recovered a cornerkick
and blasted a 20 yard shot from the left that the goalie was able to palm over the bar.
Faria had a cross at 25 minutes from 20 yards on the far left that the goalie caught by flying
to catch it in the 6 yard box. 31 minutes had TFC Ijah Halley send in a high cross from near
the right end line from 20 yards that the goalie punched away in a crowd of players. 36 minutes
had Faria with another freekick from 22 yards down the middle that the goalie caught high on the
left side of goal. 44 minutes had Antonoglou take a 22 yard freekick from near the right
end line which was sent in low and over to a charging Faria who shot a low 18 yarder forward
that the diving goalie stopped on the right corner of the net.

Second half opened with Vardar playing better. Vardar Wail Algahim took a 30 yard freekick
from the right that a charging Vardar Moshtaba Alhasnawi headed from 5 yards just over the top
left of the net. 75 minutes had TFC Ryan Robinson charge up the right and send a low 25 yard
cross through the box just a step ahead of the charging Jordan Perruzza. 77 minutes had
TFC Mehdi Essoussi make a long run down the left and his cross had a charging
TFC Jacen Russell Rowe head a 6 yarder just over the bar. 86 minutes had Essoussi blast
a 22 yarder up the middle that the goalie in the center of the net was able to palm over
the bar. 88 minutes had Essoussi take a cornerkick from the right that a charging
TFC Sal Mazzaferro on the left headed a 10 yarder that the goalie caught by reaching
to the right.

Goalie Nicholas Christoffersen earned the shutout for TFC with almost nothing to do. He broke
up a through ball pass by charging outside the box to make a clearance.

Referee Yusri Rudolf gave out just one Yellow card and that was to TFC defender Kai Martin
in first half injury time. I have to thank him for e-mailing me the game sheets so I could
translate who made each play because the TFC roster listed on the USSDA website has half the
players listed without numbers and those that were listed were wrong! He answered me that
he will be one of the Canadian Premier League referees this opening season and said there's been
no announcement so far of who gets to officiate the opening game in Hamilton.

I had lost track of these TFC players since they finished their League 1 Ontario season back
in August; actually rushing up their games so their commitments were over and they could jump
right into the USSDA season that started the first weekend in September and took a break after
the first weekend in December. The league then restarted the beginning of March and finishes
the first weekend in June before a set of playoffs for the best teams.

The win keeps TFC in second place with a record of 11 wins, 4 losses and 1 tie for 34 points
with a +/- goal difference of +37. (51 goals for and 14 against). Vardar's record falls
to 7 wins, 4 losses, 2 ties for 23 points and a goal difference of +3 (19 for, 16 against).
They stay in fourth place pending other weekend results. There are 12 teams in the 'Central
Conference Mid-America Division'.

TFC was pressured into joining the U.S. Soccer Development Academy because all the other MLS
teams play in it (Vancouver Whitecaps and Montreal Impact have their teams in other Conferences
because of geography). TFC, have teams in the three age groups U-15s, & U16/17s and U-18/19s.
USSDA also has U-12s and U-13/14s. Many other teams also have women's teams in all those
age groups.

One of the reasons last year I heard that TFC was leaving L1O and the Ontario youth system
is because there would be a higher calibre of competition. Yes TFC youth teams were attracting
the best players in the province and had very good records I will admit. The USSDA league however
requires much further distances for road games. Vardar is by distance the closest team to TFC and
they are in Rochester Michigan (just north of Detroit). A Vardar player said they came in separate
cars last night and it only took him four hours to get here! Wow sometimes it takes me 90 minutes
to get across Toronto in rush hour!

Now Vardar is one of the division's better teams based on results but much of the play was
in their end. (It was worse the last 80 minutes of the U-16/17 game I saw with TFC winning 6-2).
Vardar began to tire out in the second half and I finally realized they had no bench! With L1O
if you don't have at least two reserves you'd be fined. Also the USSDA seems to be really age
sensitive with players not able to cross the strict 2000-2002 date of birth structure for U-18/19.
If it was more relaxed Vardar may have planned to hold back some of their younger players instead
of burning them off in the U-16/17 game when that game was out of hand by the middle of the
second half. L1O is more lenient with last year 15 year old Kobe Franklin scoring for TFC III
as the youngest ever player to score take the record from ANB Futbol Adonijah Reid by a few months.
Reid eventually went on to be drafted by MLS FC Dallas and was loaned to USL Ottawa Fury.
TFC youth teams in Ontario would often play 'up a year' ie their 13 year olds playing against
other teams 14 year olds for better competition.

USSDA gets worse. I was noticing TFC's last home game scheduled on March 2 conveniently was
marked as finishing 3-0 (so did their U-16/17 game) with a blank game report on their website.
The parent that I talked to didn't remember a game and a security guard assured me their was
no game. After the game Danny Dichio answered me that Minnesota Thunder has folded their team
and those games were forfeits. He said they are trying to find a friendly with another USSDA
team (maybe Montreal) to ensure a game. L1O called off a late season game maybe twice
if I remember right since their inaugural 2014 season and had only one team folding when
InterToronto was terminated. With my following of PDL teams over the years sometimes players
aren't able to cross the border into Canada so it's not the first time I've seen 'no bench
strength' opponents.

The TFC U-18/19 team now goes on an extended road trip (which sometimes means playing Saturday
and Sunday in two different cities). They return Saturday May 18 to play first place Sockers FC
(a Chicago area team) at 1:00pm (the younger teams will play in the morning). I expect the
bubble will be down by then.

One of the reasons I attended today was to check out TFC II USL arrangement. The team has
in effect voluntarily relegated themselves with the USL splitting to the lower League One
(only ten teams) with the other MLS owned teams NOT following their lead and their space
in the Championship Division soon filled by brand new franchises. Only Orlando City has joined
TFC at second tier level and that was probably because they were on hiatus last year. TFC II
has loaned three of their best players from last season to Ottawa Fury who remain in the
Championship Division. Coming down from the MLS roster, Ryan Telfer has been loaned for the
season to new CPL team York 9 FC and earlier this week seldom used forward Jon Bakero has been
loaned to Championship Division team Phoenix Rising FC so I'm not sure what role TFC II will
play for the MLS team. Perhaps some of these U-18/19s can get some minutes with TFC II.
TFC II has had many frustrating seasons playing against more mature players and USL indie
teams ready to impress and move up to MLS like FC Cincinnati did this year. League One has
such minor US cities as Greenville, Lansing, and Chattanooga. Perhaps this new level will
build confidence with TFC II players winning more than losing.

Putting together answers from various staff today, TFC II will play on this turf field
(with bubble off) that's why they start on a long road trip, there will have to be floodlights
installed because there will be night games, and there will be some temporary seating
brought in. Last year I remember there were about 100 seats on the east side about three
rows high where fans stared into the sun. I don't know why they can't be pulled out
of storage. Last year playing at downtown Lamport Stadium crowds were less than 200 with
'free admission*' (*for MLS season ticket holders) and hipsters won't travel outside the
downtown area.

On my way out I noticed that the TFC trophies have been moved to be enclosure above the
security desk in a glass portion of the wall. The CONCACAF trophy is empty, the MLS trophy
window is filled but I was assured it was just a replica and the real Canadian Championship
trophy is in another window. Aka The Voyageurs Cup...oh oh cornering Danny Dichio I said
to him “You know in 2002 I helped pay for that trophy!”

Rocket Robin
robing@eol.ca
twitter @RocketRobin01

Did you like this report? I've been writing this kind of stuff since 1993—starting on message
boards and migrating to the internet when that caught on. I usually have something like this
posted to my site by the next day and then by midweek add photos, lineups, and a play-by-play.
It looks like this year I'll once again be an independent as the website I wrote for two years
ago answered my offer this year by writing me back to say they were making a change in direction
and didn't want my game reports anymore. Now I see that they are holding a contest with
rounds of voting to decide on the best looking CPL scarf! Well that brought actually made
me shake my head imagining what one of my late grandfathers would have assessed the situation
if this was more than 40 years ago. “Vote for the prettiest scarf? Who are they? A bunch
of dainty boys? Best stay away from them”.

If you can suggest any site that would appreciate an indie perspective on soccer covering
York 9 FC, League 1 Ontario, and Toronto FC II please contact me at the e-mail above. I don't
expect payment and would prefer not to behind a pay wall. Also my expanded stories appear
on my own website.

TFC players huddle before the game.