Toronto FC feeling the love at home, but not getting much respect elsewhere

TORONTO – Coach Greg Vanney says it will be Toronto FC against the world Sunday when his team takes on New York City FC at Yankee Stadium.

While Toronto holds a 2-0 lead going into Game 2 of the Eastern Conference semifinal, Vanney has had reason to feel disrespected this week. Toronto players were snubbed when it came to MLS award finalists and NYCFC star David Villa, one of three candidates for MVP honours, escaped punishment for kicking one of his players.

“All the trophies are irrelevant if we can lift the last trophy at the end of the year,” said the Toronto coach, taking the high road while referencing the MLS Cup.

But Vanney, helped by a string of questions on the topic, could not leave it there.

Not having star striker Sebastian Giovinco, the reigning league MVP, as one of the three finalists for this year’s award was “ridiculous,” he said.

Giovinco’s 32 points (17 goals and 15 assists) led the league this season and ranked No. 4 on the league’s all-time list behind his own record of 38 last season, Chris Wondolowski’s 34 (in 2012) and Jason Kreis’s 33 (1999). And the Italian managed it despite missing six games through injury this season.

Vanney also pointed to a defence that conceded 19 fewer goals this season.

“As I recall were we were the second-best defensive team in the league,” he added. “So that counts for something.”

If other players feel slighted — Drew Moor likely merited consideration for defender of the year — Vanney suggested it could serve as motivation going into New York.

Asked about his omission, a classy Moor praised finalists Matt Hedges of FC Dallas, Axel Sjoberg of the Colorado Rapids and Jelle Van Damme of the Los Angeles Galaxy as “very worthy” candidates.

“What I’m most proud of is our team performance defensively this season,” he added.

Toronto’s only mention on the list of award finalists for the team fair play award.

NYCFC has its work cut out to climb out of a 2-0 hole. At the least, it needs to blank Toronto and score twice to even the score. If TFC does get a goal, the New Yorkers will have to score four times given away goals count double in the event the aggregate score is tied after 180 minutes.

Knowing NYCFC led the league in scoring with 62 goals (35 of which came at home), Vanney is not taking the opposition lightly.

“It’s MLS. We’ve seen some crazy things over the years,” he said.

Perhaps nothing crazier than Villa not being punished for kicking Toronto midfielder Armando Cooper after the two tangled in the 20th minute of Game 1 Sunday. While the MLS Disciplinary Committee agreed Cooper should have been red-carded on the play, it could not come to unanimous agreement on the other tenet needed for a retroactive suspension — that “the play in question is of an egregious or reckless in nature, such that the Committee must act to protect player safety or the integrity of the game.”

That might have flown had the committee not suspended Cooper for one game and fined him an undisclosed amount for kicking out at Brazil’s Felipe in a game last month with the New York Red Bulls.

Toronto captain Michael Bradley, no fan of the Disciplinary Committee’s ability to retroactively referee a game, had no issues with Villa going scot-free.

“Obviously the thing that frustrates some people is that Armando Cooper got suspended a month ago for something that was far far less. But ultimately, I’ll be honest, I couldn’t care less — in terms of whether (Villa) plays, doesn’t play,” said Bradley. “It doesn’t change one thing for us.

“And ultimately it all gets filed under the category of things that are out of our control and things that we shouldn’t be spending one second or one ounce of energy worrying about.”

Bradley also was unfazed by the awards snub.

“If you asked me what I really think about those awards, it’s that they mean absolutely nothing and that I don’t care about them all,” he said.

His teammates feel the same, he added.

“What’s driving us at the moment and the goal for every guy here is that on Dec. 10, one team gets to stand on the podium and lift the trophy,” he said. “And we want that to be us.”

As for Sunday’s game, Moor expects NYCFC to throw everything at Toronto on the tight confines of the soccer pitch squeezed into Yankee Stadium.

“We have to expect the kitchen sink from the opening whistle and we’ll be ready for it.”

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