Toronto FC lost 4-2 to Vancouver Whitecaps FC in a shootout following a scoreless draw on Wednesday night in the final of the 2024 TELUS Canadian Championship at BC Place.
Playing away from home, TFC were on the front foot from the opening whistle with Federico Bernardeschi testing Isaac Boehmer in the Whitecaps goal inside the first minute. In retrospect, it was a portent of things to come.
Toronto had the first gilt-edged chance of the night when Richie Laryea won a penalty kick in the 37th minute, but Boehmer denied Bernardeschi from the spot to ensure the teams remained level at halftime.
When play resumed a deflected effort from Laryea bounced wide of the right post and Lorenzo Insigne whisked a volley just wide of the other upright. Bernardeschi would test the keeper with one of his trademark left-footed attempts, having cut in from the right as the final whistle approached. Vancouver had their moments too – Kevin Long had to be alert to a move off a quick throw in and Sean Johnson was sharp off his line on several occasions to snuff out trouble before it materialized, but with neither finding the breakthrough after 90 minutes, spot kicks would determine the champion.
The first two takers scored before Stuart Armstrong was denied by Johnson. Matty Longstaff would rattle the bar with his attempt and the combination of Sebastian Berhalter converting and a save from Boehmer on Kosi Thompson gave the home side an advantage. The final three takers were perfect with Bjørn Inge Utvik striking the final blow.
“A little bit of feeling gutted the lads, but a little bit of pride as well,” explained John Herdman post-match of his emotions. “It's a tough place to come and get a result, but we performed well enough to get a result in 90 minutes. Unfortunately we weren't able to take the chances we had and put ourselves in that hole, which is penalties – that's going to be a lottery.”
“Proud of the lads, but at the same time, just gutted,” he continued. “I thought the trophy was close to Toronto tonight. Fair play to Vancouver, very resilient. Young Boehmer did a hell of a job tonight, took his moment, and congrats to Vanni [Sartini] and his team.”
At home, against the two-time defending champs, Toronto looked the more likely to score in the 90 minutes and were left ruing the chances not taken.
“We had a lot of control,” observed Herdman. “Probably had about a 15-minute period in the second half where the Caps built a bit of momentum, but outside of that it felt comfortable. We just aren’t clinical at the moment.”
“It's been a couple of games now where we've been right there knocking on the door, but just haven't been able to find that killer moment [and] we found a keeper that is standing on his head. That's the story of TFC at the moment,” he continued. “But we get up tomorrow, we've got a game in two days, we're in the playoff hunt, and, as I said in the dressing room, all I asked is that the team showed up tonight, they really showed up in this moment, and they did.”
“They have to show up again on Saturday, that's the next task,” Herdman added. “We’ve got until midnight tonight to suffer and then we're on to next things, Chicago.”
There is no better way to crown a winner than a shootout, still they are cruel. A team game whittled down to a duel between taker and keeper. Once a coach has said their piece and selected their five takers, they, like everyone else, can only watch.
“We’d been practising the penalties. The last thing we said to them was, ‘Just stick to your process. It'll get a bit noisy, but stick to your process, you’ve rehearsed,’” recounted Herdman. “Someone's always going to lose the penalty shootout. Keepers are going to save, somebody's going to miss.”
“Sean, credit to him, he made a great save, put us in a good position. A couple of brave lads stood up and tried to take their moment, they missed. As a coach again you suffer with your players,” he continued. “You just feel for them because that walk back to the halfway line is a tough one.”
Perhaps even tougher than watching the other team collect their winners' medals and lift the trophy.
“Respect for the lads,” credited Herdman. “There are no medals for the runners up, but the lads stayed out there to watch them collect the trophies, so big respect.”
“A lot of teams tend to walk off when you have to suffer through that, but for us it was an important moment,” he continued. “They're a good team Vancouver, we respect what they achieved tonight, that's the first thing.”
“The disappointment is obviously clear. At halftime we knew we should have been up; by the end of the game we felt we should have been in a better position, and we let it slip through our fingers,” Herdman lamented. “It’s going to sting now, for at least a day, but we haven't got time to wallow on this one.”
“We're sorry to our fans. They've been class all season, they've been starved of trophies, but we gave it our everything tonight,” he added. “That's why you'll see that disappointment. They left it out there.”
The road trip continues on Saturday with a stop off in Chicago to face the Fire before returning to BMO Field to host the New York Red Bulls on October 2 and Inter Miami CF on October 5.
Toronto will have to wait until next year for another shot at lifting their ninth Voyageurs Cup, but in defeat there were the seeds of something to build on heading into the final three MLS matches of the regular season.
“We've had good performances, 55, 60 minutes in games, especially at home. We've been able to control games, Columbus, two weeks ago, [for example, but] just not being able to finish in key moments,” outlined Herdman. “What we asked for tonight was a 90-minute performance, to really show up right to that final whistle.”
“There's no doubt in my mind, this team have got the quality. When we're ticking and guys are fully dialed in, locked in, we're a very good football team,” he closed. “We've shown that, but we haven't been able to put that together consistently enough game-to-game over 90 minutes. Tonight is a good foundation to carry into Chicago, but we've got to look at these gaps, the finishing and taking our moments.”
