Toronto FC looks to leave playoff mark, starting with the Philadelphia Union

“We come in here, we all glance at it. You want to see something in there, ” striker Jozy Altidore said Monday of the empty MLS Cup case. “Look, it’s not going to happen overnight. The club has come a long way. In two, three years we’re now full of ambition, full of hunger to do more. And that’s how you become better. We want to fill those two cases up with trophies, definitely.”

The first step comes Wednesday night as Toronto hosts the Philadelphia Union in its first ever home playoff game.

It’s a chance to erase memories of the franchise’s first foray into the playoffs, a humiliating 3-0 loss in Montreal at the same stage last season.

“That game we just didn’t show up,” Altidore said of the Montreal debacle. “Wednesday night, the one thing we have to do is show up — show up for our fans, show up for the city and the chips will fall where they may.”

Toronto (14-9-11) finished third in the Eastern Conference this season while Philadelphia (11-14-9) was sixth. D.C. United hosts the Montreal Impact in the other Eastern knockout game Thursday.

Team president Bill Manning says while it has been a good season to date, now is the time for TFC to step up and demonstrate its worth with a run deep into the playoffs.

“This is not a team that’s going to have a lot of turnover in the off-season. We have a good nucleus of players. We think this is a team that can be good, for many years. We’d all be disappointed if we were one and-out.”

“At our home place I like our chances and I think this is a team that can make a real run,” he added.

Altidore also believes this squad can do some damage in the post-season.

“We’re not by any means a finished product but I think we’re on the right track and we have a chance to do something special this year,” he said.

Captain Michael Bradley, whose desire to lead the team to the promised land burns like a propane torch, says his team is ready for the post-season.

“Ultimately what happens from here on in is what people are going to remember for the next few months … I think we have a group of guys that hopefully have another level, have another gear to still hit.”

Italian star striker Sebastian Giovinco is keen to do his part for his adopted home, knowing Toronto is hungry for soccer success.

“Yes it is my city and I want it to be my city,” he said through an interpreter.

There is little time to prepare. So coach Greg Vanney didn’t mind that his family was watching a rerun of Toronto’s 3-2 win over Chicago on Sunday when he returned home after the game. When the replay ended, he turned to his laptop to watch Philadelphia’s 2-0 loss to the New York Red Bulls.

The Red Bulls and New York City FC, which finished No. 1 and No. 2 in the East, have a bye until the two-legged conference semifinals starts Sunday. Should Toronto advance, it will open the semifinals at home before playing the return leg on the road.

How long has it taken Toronto to host a playoff game?

The club has played 324 regular-season matches getting here. It won 91 along the way, losing 144 and tying 89. TFC has scored 384 goals and conceded 498 times.

Coaches Mo Johnston, John Carver, Chris Cummins, Preki, Nick Dasovic, Aron Winter, Paul Mariner and Ryan Nelsen paved the way for Vanney.

Toronto missed the playoffs by finishing seventh, seventh, fifth, fifth, eighth, 10th, ninth and seventh in the Eastern Conference before placing sixth under a revamped format last season and losing in Montreal.

Philadelphia enters the playoffs on a three-game losing streak and hasn’t posted a win since Aug. 27 (0-5-2). It got the final post-season berth in the East via goal difference — the second tiebreaker — over the New England Revolution.

In contrast, Toronto has lost just twice in its last 15 games (8-2-5) but has dropped points a home recently. Prior to beating visiting Chicago 3-2 Sunday, Toronto had not won at BMO Field since Aug. 6, an 0-2-3 run.

The teams met twice this season, with Toronto winning 3-1 on Aug. 20 in Philadelphia and tying 1-1 Sept. 24 at BMO Field.

Despite the short turnaround between the end of the regular season and the opening of the playoffs, Manning said 18,000 to 19,000 tickets had been sold as of Monday.

“We still have a lot of tickets to move,” he said, predicting a good response from fans.

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Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press

by Canadian Press

Toronto FC looks to leave playoff mark, starting with the Philadelphia Union

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