TORONTO – Toronto FC’s losing streak has to end sometime, right?
Head coach Aron Winter is confident that moment will come on Wednesday, when the Reds hit the road to take on the Montreal Impact in the first game of the Amway Canadian Championship (8 pm ET, Rogers Sportsnet in Canada).
The Reds are 0-7 so far in the MLS regular season and winless in their last nine games overall, including a draw and a loss against Santos Laguna in the CONCACAF Champions League.
“When you get the first victory everything is going to change,” Winter said. “We deserve it also. Almost all the games we have played we were almost stronger than each opponent and that’s why it’s a little bit disillusioning and disappointing that, after seven games, you’ve got zero points.”
Asked if Toronto FC are the better team heading into the ACC matchup, Winter said candidly: “For sure, 100 percent.”
But Montreal already have the edge in 2012, thanks to a 2-1 win in league play at Montreal on April 7.
Still, that’s no deterrent for the Reds players, who head into the midweek matchup on the heels of a gut-wrenching 3-2 loss at Real Salt Lake in which TFC played even with the hosts for much of the match.
“If we stay together we’ll be fine,” midfielder Eric Avila said. “We outplayed a lot of teams but the results didn’t come off. Yeah, we do have a great team and we do have a better team than Montreal.”
Toronto FC won the tournament last year, topping the Vancouver Whitecaps in the finals. They then became the first Canadian team to reach the CCL semifinals earlier this year before losing to Santos Laguna.
“You can see what kind of attention that brings to TFC,” midfielder Julian de Guzman said. “That history we made is something we want to repeat. At the same time again, it’s another tournament that is useful for us to kind of boost our confidence going into the league.”
Nick Soolsma (hamstring) is not available for Wednesday’s game and Danny Koevermans (groin) is unlikely to play.
