TORONTO – Toronto FC will host the Seattle Sounders on Saturday to determine who will hoist the 2016 MLS Cup.
Let that sink in.
Each of the five Audi 2016 MLS Cup Playoff matches to this point have been the biggest game in club history. And now, the ultimate prize lays just 90 minutes away.
Perennial underachievers, the club only made their first postseason appearance last year, exiting humbled at the hands of the Montreal Impact.
As always, the goal back in January was the same.
“Every first day of preseason your objective is to be here at the end,” assistant coach Robin Fraser said Wednesday. 'It's nice to see how it has come to fruition.”
In the club's 10th season, there was something different about this TFC: a belief that ran deep.
Fraser never doubted: “I'm not surprised we're here. We felt pretty confident the whole way through.”
“During the summer we had a lot of injuries, national team call ups; we had to go deep into roster. We did very well,” Fraser said. “That really instilled confidence that this is a solid group, top to bottom. We went through a lot of different formations, ideas. And as the season wore on, we felt we were coming together.”
Head coach Greg Vanney had the same belief.
“I always look from week to week, things we need to get better at, tighten up, to go the long haul,” said Vanney on Tuesday. “I honestly thought if we got through the Knockout game against Philadelphia, that there was a very good chance we could get all the way. And that's what has happened.”
Belief, however, creates pressure.
“The pressures that come with that job, are greater than those that come with this job,” grinned Fraser as he nodded towards Vanney in the distance. “Having been [head coach], it's tough. You think about the expectations of everyone else, but it's really those of yourself that do you in. If you've been a successful player, a competitive athlete your whole life, you feel if you're in charge of this thing then it needs to go the way I need it to go. There is a lot of pressure. Greg's done a great job handling it.”
Vanney, though, downplayed the idea of pressure.
“[Pressure is] natural; there's always a bit of anxiety,'' he said. "As a former player, [I'm] still transitioning to not being able to go on the field and impact the game; (and instead) having to adjust the game, make my moves, from the outside looking in.”
“That gives me anxiety because I would like to go on the field and make things happen sometimes,” admitted Vanney. “Once the whistle blows, things start happening, then everybody falls into what they do naturally. [It's] no different for me. We've done what we need to do to prepare. I trust this group. Over the course of 90 minutes, we'll see what happens.”
