The Hawksport Team spent All-Star weekend in the vibrant city of Toronto, watching the MLS All-Stars seal their fifth consecutive victory over foreign opposition with a 3-2 win over West Ham United. Here are some of the brief highs and lows from the game.
Highs
1) BMO Field – A great facility in a superb location, just a few minutes ride away from Downtown Toronto on one of the many streetcars.
2) Toronto Fans – Much was made of their possible indifference towards the All-Star game given the absence of home team players from the starting line-up. While the atmosphere for much of the first half was far from festive, the locals wasted no time in turning up the noise when Jim Brennan and Dwayne De Rosario entered the fray on 59 minutes.
3) Christian Gomez – Impressive first half performance from the Colorado Rapids midfielder, capped by a fantastic finish for the first goal.
4) Cuauhtemoc Blanco – One advantage of never possessing pace is that there is nothing to lose. In any case, Blanco’s speed has always been inside his head. A typically audacious backheel set Gomez clear for the equaliser before he sealed the MVP award with a beautiful strike minutes before half time.
5) Dwayne De Rosario – So he may only have managed 90 minutes sleep between the conclusion of the D.C. United versus Houston match and his flight across the border, but nothing could deny De Ro from sealing the win in front of his hometown fans – not even the attempted gamesmanship of West Ham goalkeeper Robert Green. Almost returned the favour to Juan Pablo Angel by setting up the Colombian for a fourth goal, but the effort was debatably called offside.
Lows
1) Weather – Toronto has been the wettest city in Canada this summer with rainfall levels reaching double that of the 30-year average. So much for the pre-match festival area and beer tent – a washout!
2) National Anthems – MLS officials botched the opening ceremony by keeping the Maple Leaf flag under wraps until God Save The Queen and The Star Spangled Banner had been performed. Everyone in attendance was wondering if the organisation had forgotten where the match was being played. By the time the situation had been rectified with the appearance of some Mounties and a member of the Queen’s Own Rifles to lead a rendition of O Canada, the American anthem had already been booed out of the building.
3) Media Over-reaction – Okay, so the US anthem got drowned out. Big deal. It was obvious that the more vocal element of Torontonians were protesting against a perceived slight against them as opposed to engaging in widespread anti-American sentiment. Not that this prevented near blanket debate on the issue for the next 48 hours on the local television channels as coverage suggested an international incident had taken place.
Pictures from the game are available here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=28745&l=c7ada&id=577188900
Week 18 Results
D.C. United 0 Houston 2
San Jose 1 New York 1
Dallas 4 L.A. Galaxy 0
Kansas City 0 Chicago 0
Colorado 0 Columbus 2
Standings
Eastern Conference
1) New England 33 points (played 17)
2) Columbus 31 (18)
3) Chicago 26 (17)
4) D.C. United 22 (16)
5) Toronto 22 (16)
6) Kansas City 22 (17)
7) New York 22 (17)
Western Conference
1) Salt Lake 24 (18)
2) Houston 23 (17)
3) L.A. Galaxy 23 (18)
4) Dallas 22 (18)
5) Chivas 22 (16)
6) Colorado 21 (18)
7) San Jose 15 (18)
Highs
1) BMO Field – A great facility in a superb location, just a few minutes ride away from Downtown Toronto on one of the many streetcars.
2) Toronto Fans – Much was made of their possible indifference towards the All-Star game given the absence of home team players from the starting line-up. While the atmosphere for much of the first half was far from festive, the locals wasted no time in turning up the noise when Jim Brennan and Dwayne De Rosario entered the fray on 59 minutes.
3) Christian Gomez – Impressive first half performance from the Colorado Rapids midfielder, capped by a fantastic finish for the first goal.
4) Cuauhtemoc Blanco – One advantage of never possessing pace is that there is nothing to lose. In any case, Blanco’s speed has always been inside his head. A typically audacious backheel set Gomez clear for the equaliser before he sealed the MVP award with a beautiful strike minutes before half time.
5) Dwayne De Rosario – So he may only have managed 90 minutes sleep between the conclusion of the D.C. United versus Houston match and his flight across the border, but nothing could deny De Ro from sealing the win in front of his hometown fans – not even the attempted gamesmanship of West Ham goalkeeper Robert Green. Almost returned the favour to Juan Pablo Angel by setting up the Colombian for a fourth goal, but the effort was debatably called offside.
Lows
1) Weather – Toronto has been the wettest city in Canada this summer with rainfall levels reaching double that of the 30-year average. So much for the pre-match festival area and beer tent – a washout!
2) National Anthems – MLS officials botched the opening ceremony by keeping the Maple Leaf flag under wraps until God Save The Queen and The Star Spangled Banner had been performed. Everyone in attendance was wondering if the organisation had forgotten where the match was being played. By the time the situation had been rectified with the appearance of some Mounties and a member of the Queen’s Own Rifles to lead a rendition of O Canada, the American anthem had already been booed out of the building.
3) Media Over-reaction – Okay, so the US anthem got drowned out. Big deal. It was obvious that the more vocal element of Torontonians were protesting against a perceived slight against them as opposed to engaging in widespread anti-American sentiment. Not that this prevented near blanket debate on the issue for the next 48 hours on the local television channels as coverage suggested an international incident had taken place.
Pictures from the game are available here:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=28745&l=c7ada&id=577188900
Week 18 Results
D.C. United 0 Houston 2
San Jose 1 New York 1
Dallas 4 L.A. Galaxy 0
Kansas City 0 Chicago 0
Colorado 0 Columbus 2
Standings
Eastern Conference
1) New England 33 points (played 17)
2) Columbus 31 (18)
3) Chicago 26 (17)
4) D.C. United 22 (16)
5) Toronto 22 (16)
6) Kansas City 22 (17)
7) New York 22 (17)
Western Conference
1) Salt Lake 24 (18)
2) Houston 23 (17)
3) L.A. Galaxy 23 (18)
4) Dallas 22 (18)
5) Chivas 22 (16)
6) Colorado 21 (18)
7) San Jose 15 (18)
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