CHAPTER 1 CHAMPIONS AT LAST The ball bounced toward Jonathan Osorio at the top of the penalty area The Toronto Football Club FC midfielder swung his left leg to volley it toward the goal No problem for Seattle Sounders goalkeeper Stefan Frei He dove to his right and safely knocked the ball out of play One minute later it was Sebastian Giovinco’s turn A long pass zipped diagonally across the field The Toronto forward met it at the far corner of the box Then he raced toward the goal all by himself Frei again was there The 6-foot-3 keeper charged at Giovinco whose shot skidded harmlessly wide of the goal Toronto FC defender Justin Morrow center heads the ball over Seattle Sounders defender Kelvin Leerdam during the 2017 MLS Cup 4
The Reds had a tough time beating Seattle goalkeeper Stefan Frei all night The 2017 Major League Soccer MLS Cup had barely begun and Toronto FC fans were already anxious Would Frei and the Sounders have their number again BAD FORTUNES Toronto by then had a long history of disappointment The team nicknamed the Reds had debuted in 2007 From the start Toronto had one of the most passionate fan bases in the league Yet for much of the team’s history there was little for the fans to cheer for 6
The arrivals of some big-money players began to change that One of them was rock-solid central midfielder Michael Bradley who signed in 2014 Fellow US national team standout Jozy Altidore a hulking forward arrived the next year So did Giovinco a talented playmaker from Italy Toronto suddenly had one of the most star-studded teams in the league Those star players still couldn’t lead Toronto to an MLS championship though In the 2015 playoffs Toronto fell to its Canadian rival the Montreal Impact One year later Toronto took another step getting all the way to the 2016 MLS Cup But once again the season ended in disappointment Over the course of 120 minutes of play on its home field Toronto held Seattle without a shot But Seattle held Toronto off the scoreboard too And with the score 0 0 in extra time Frei had made a dramatic diving save to keep the game tied The Sounders went on to win their first MLS Cup soon after in a penalty shootout The Reds were even better in 2017 They won their second straight Canadian Championship a tournament for professional teams throughout Canada Then they not only won the Supporters Shield by posting the league’s best regular-season record but they did so by earning a record 69 points Now the Reds just had to close out the historic season by winning their 7
