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Toronto FC qualified for the CONCACAF Champions League largely by default. Canada gets one berth, despite the fact that the vast country currently has only three full-time professional soccer clubs. Toronto defeated minor league Montreal and Vancouver for the right to represent the Great White North in a competition that's been absolutely brutal for Major League Soccer. Until Tuesday night.In a result far more significant than any worthless exhibition win over some touring European soccer power, Toronto defeated Mexico City's Cruz Azul, 2-1, in each team's group stage opener. Cruz Azul, for those who think the sport begins and ends across the Atlantic, is among the most decorated clubs on the continent. It's won five CONCACAF titles (tied for the most) and was runner-up each of the past two years. It also has eight Mexican championships (fourth most) and is one of only two Mexican clubs to reach the final of the Copa Libertadores.
Los Cementeros have feasted on MLS opposition since the Champions League format was put in place in 2008, winning four games by a combined 10-0. They won their two-game qualification playoff for this year's tournament over a Panamanian team on a 9-2 aggregate. And then they ran into the Reds, who took a third-minute lead on Tuesday and never looked back.
That first goal came on a header from Martin Saric, and the second in the 44th minute on a low 18-yard shot from Spanish designated player Mista that slipped just inside the right post. Cruz Azul pulled one back in the dying moments, but it was not enough to keep Toronto from recording an historic victory.
It represents just the third time in the past seven years that an MLS team has defeated a club from Mexico in continental championship play, and it's arguably the biggest win for Canadian soccer since the national team captured its shocking Gold Cup title in 2000.
Hoping to be inspired by Toronto's success will be Real Salt Lake, the Columbus Crew and the Seattle Sounders. Salt Lake, who was drawn into Group A alongside TFC and Cruz Azul, opens play on Wednesday against Panama's Árabe Unido, Columbus plays Wednesday against Guatemala's Municipal in Group B and Seattle starts Thursday at Marathón of Honduras in Group C.
Here are the goals from Toronto's triumph:
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