TORREÓN, Mexico – Toronto FC's hotel on the eve of the Canadian club's CONCACAF semifinal second leg against Santos Laguna was a scene of tranquility.
Only one state police car waited outside, watching on.
The legions of fans that Aron Winter was expecting to be chanting, banging drums and keeping the players awake throughout the night did not turn up and the Reds arrival was decidedly low key.
Not that it should lull the Canadian club into a false sense of security, as could be witnessed when I reported the above via Twitter last night.
“The hell will be tomorrow … we don't need to disturb them today,” responded Santos fan Braulio Rodríguez.
Fellow Guerrero Nick Simonis summed up the mood: “Don't you know … it's the calm before the storm.”
A sellout is likely at the Estadio Corona, with 25,000 tickets sold by yesterday afternoon, the Santos Laguna press office confirmed to MLSsoccer.com.
On-form US striker Herculez Gomez – fast becoming a legend in Torreón, according to locals – did his bit to promote the game yesterday, teaming up with Santos Laguna teammate Marc Crosas to buy and then give out 100 tickets to local fans.
Around town this morning, there are plenty of green-and-white Santos Laguna shirts and a sense of excitement is building, with los Guerreros and their fans determined to reach the Club World Cup.
Toronto FC, on the other hand, have already achieved more than most expected by reaching this stage of the competition.
Is a surprise in store? We'll find out a little later, but at least the Toronto boys go into the game after a good night's sleep.
Tom Marshall covers Americans playing in Latin America. E-mail him at tom.marshall.mex@gmail.com.
