SoccerIt's time to love Toronto FC

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I realize for many this will be a stretch, perhaps more so for those in Montreal and Vancouver. But it is time to put aside petty differences and come together for the sake of soccer. It is time to view Toronto FC not as just another money making arm of Maple Leaf Sport and Entertainment or as an underachieving MLS franchise which cares more about how much beer it sells to a captive audience than it does about success on the field.

It is time to follow the adventure of the Canadian Champions.

If it is too hard to stomach, think of it the same way you did about the Gold Cup. Are you still angry about the Honduras “penalty” just when you were getting over the 2007 “offside”? Of course you are and rightly so. You are angry because you cared and you cared because this was Canada being bullied out of a competition in which it had earned the right to play.

Toronto must pull its weight

Toronto FC has also earned the right to play in the CONCACAF Champions League and to represent Canada. Let’s forget about how it was achieved. Yes, Montreal put out a sub-standard team in the decider and yes, Vancouver had every reason to feel aggrieved, but it is time to move on, accept the outcome and rally around the flag.

It is vitally important Toronto FC upholds its end of the bargain. For the good of the game in this country, TFC must take the responsibility seriously and show well in the Champions League. The Impact set a gloriously high bar last season – an act which will be very tough to follow.

It is all too easy to remember the final agonizing 45 minutes in Torreon last March when Montreal inexplicably hit the self-destruct button – all too easy to forget the Impact had to win in Honduras and Trinidad and hold the eventual Mexicans champions just to reach the latter stages of the tournament.

Montreal’s impact on the inaugural Champions League was thoroughly unexpected and splendidly deserved. The baton has been passed to Toronto FC which must do everything possible to emulate the success of its fellow countrymen.

Why? Because this isn’t just about Toronto FC – it’s bigger than one team - much bigger.

Canadian soccer needs a boost

This is about making a bold statement across the CONCACAF region. This is about earning respect from organizers, opponents and fans. It is Canada’s opportunity to stand up for itself and demand recognition in an arena where, traditionally, there has been precious little.

If Toronto can follow Montreal’s lead and make an impression, it strengthens the bargaining hand of the Canadian Soccer Association. As it stands there is provision only for one Canadian team to take part in the Champions League and only then after qualifying through a preliminary round.

Consider this – even if Toronto FC wins the MLS Cup this year, and either Montreal or Vancouver wins the next Canadian Championship, the status quo remained unchanged. Toronto FC could not qualify as MLS Cup winners since it competes in an American-based League and the four Champions League berths are reserved, exclusively, for U.S. clubs.

As a result, for example, the Houston Dynamo is seeded into the group stages of the 2009/10 Champions League, not because it won the 2008 MLS Cup, or anything else for that matter, but due to the fact it was runner-up in the 2008 MLS regular season. Chris Cummins’ team, by contrast, must negotiate a tricky home and away eliminator against the Puerto Rico Islanders – last season’s beaten semifinalists – merely to remain on par with its MLS rivals.

Another strong showing by the Canadian representative would allow CSA General Secretary Peter Montopoli to lobby CONCACAF for a larger Canadian content, or at least a guaranteed passage to the group stages for the national champion. And let’s face it; the CSA needs all the ammunition it can get when negotiating with its continental peers.

So let’s embrace and be proud of our Canadian champions. Let’s not bear grudges or mutter to ourselves about how things should have been. Progress, of course, will not come overnight but the future will soon be here, and Canadian soccer needs to be right there in the thick of it.

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