MLS: Toronto FC at FC Dallas - Photos

by Ethan Johnson
September 9, 2007

Alrighty! This was a match I had been waiting for expectantly for some time. And now it is fading in my rear-view mirror. Toronto hasn't been having the time of their MLS lives lately, and if I recall the stat correctly, going into this game they were enjoying over 600 scoreless minutes. That's more than 10 hours! Either TFC was going to pile on 90 more minutes and endear themselves to their stalwart fans, or finally break the stalemate against FC Dallas. Let's go live to my hazy memories, being that the game wasn't televised locally:

Last week was practically a DC United home hame, relative to the zero TFC fans I saw around the stadium. They should have more recognizable with those bags over their heads, but then again, those could have been LA Galaxy fans.
This game was free soccer ball night for the kids. Flat soccer balls. I think that was probably a wise decision after the annoyance that was free car flag night.
No Danny Dichio or Greg Sutton for TFC. Hardly worth getting out of bed in the morning.
No Carlos Ruiz for FCD. Brilliant, what with the Page 3 article about him in the Saturday edition of the Dallas Morning News sports section. Doop!
FYI to teams like Chicago, where their front office doesn't seem to have hired a marketing department yet (at last glance): Front page ad in the DMN sports section promoting this game. Holy crap! The fans may give our front office grief here and there, but come on, give the FO props for promotion. Of course, there were scads of empty seats (yoink), so there's still room for improvement.
This match was heralded as Denilson's first start with FCD. He was subbed in last week. FYI only.
Not nearly enough streamering during this game, considering the barrage that TFC fans unleash every home game. ZERO streamer assaults during TFC penalty kicks. Am I the only student of the MLS game around here? I was sitting too far away from the corners to be of any help there. Step up, sideline people!
Sala was in at goal again. I was nonplussed, but he made it through the night. No scary collapsing or spectating as a ball sails in from 20 yards out. Big improvement. I saw some daylight open up for TFC here and there but they're that hapless, people. Oof. Not that I wanted any TFC scoring, mind you, but that was painful to watch from a purely empathetic point of view.
I snuck over to Sideline East for the second half, what with the empty seat patches and all. Plus the TFC goalie was moving to the far end, and I wanted prime photo position. I ended up sitting behind some smart-assed teens who amused me. Arturo Alvarez totally blew a cross from Ricardinho, and one of the bunch shouted "unacceptable!" Alvarez ended up getting subbed out late in the 2nd half. Not sure what his deal was.
2-0 FCD on penalty kicks. (1 per half.) I hoped to see some actual non-PK scoring by FCD but a win is a win is a win. Exeunt, see everyone next week, on TV.
Next up: New England, on the road. Possibly a preview of the October 3rd US Open Cup Final. Set DVRs for "keep until I delete".

Click on the thumbnails to see the full-sized image. Enjoy!

CBC Sports banner	Travis is here - start the pregame intros	O Canada	Here come the Hoops
When streamers and Sala bucks attack	Ricardinho on the move	Denilson (Caption contest)	Exciting Ricardinho in-game action
TFC lining up for red cards	Denilson preparing to take a penalty kick	Exciting Denilson PK mid-flight	Monitor affirms the goal
Endline banner	Ready guys? 'Shock the world' on three!	Pointy ball lines, oh pointy pointy	Pablo Ricchetti
Drew Moor	Free pizza on the line	FCD prepares for free kick	Hello, hello, hellooooo
FCD in-game action	O, I art slain!	Monitor affirms that TFC art slain	Tomorrow belongs to Yi