It could well go down as one of the best public relations exercises of the year. And all it took to garner priceless world-wide headlines was a trip to a soccer game and a spot of lunch afterward.

As head of Toronto's Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment, CEO Richard Peddie comes in for all kinds of flak for the 41-year title drought his Toronto Maple Leafs have endured. The Leafs have long been one of North America's prime sports properties, a licence to print money with their fervent fan base and the cornerstone of a sports empire that includes the NBA's Toronto Raptors, the Toronto Rock of the National Lacrosse League and the 19,000+ capacity Air Canada Centre, where all three teams play out of.

They also are enjoying the wildly successful exploits of their newest franchise, Toronto FC, quickly becoming Major League Soccer's model franchise. Now in their second season, the team has played to sold out crowds since Day One at 20,000-seat BMO Field. The adoring hordes of singing, chanting, flag-waving fans are reminiscent of Europe or South America's most passionate supporters. 

And all this accomplished with a TFC club that won but six of it's 30 games in 2007. The potential for greater success with a better team and an expanded stadium is massive.

So it's understandable that Peddie and MLSE associate exec Ian Clarke would find themselves in England not long ago attending an annual British soccer industry trade show. The two were there to attend seminars, rub elbows and, as Peddie succinctly put it, "raise our soccer IQ." Naturally, with England's Premier League season still underway, the opportunity to visit a number of English clubs presented itself and the two made the rounds seeing life at the top of the soccer food chain for themselves.

With foreign ownership becoming a steady, even controversial, trend among top English clubs, somone obviously drew a conclusion from their visit to venture that they were in London to present a takeover bid and the resulting short works fiction set off further rounds of speculation and, finally, denial.

As Peddie told Canadian newspaper, The National Post: " I attended a game at White Hart Lane. I took the train, went to a game, watched Tottenham tie and had lunch there. That was the full extent."

No cocktails and ####-chat with Spurs chairman Daniel Levy? "I have never met the individual," said Peddie. 'Never contemplated an offer. Complete fiction."

The first report of Peddie's visit to England came out almost a week ago. It was a fairly balanced look at his trip and explained to readers unaware of the nuances of English soccer who were the hot commodities in the marketplace and who were the bargains.

But Spurs are a favorite target for certain British tabloid newspapers. The 11th richest team in the world and frequent underachievers, they've long been rumoured to be candidates for a takover bid. They've also never gone out of their way to curry favour with a British media they often felt let them down in earlier decades when Spurs fans were the subject of ant-Semitic taunts.

They banned writers from the London Evening Standard earlier this season for constantly writing speculative articles that did little more than stir up fan anxiety. The Standard's sister paper, The Daily Mail, was quick to fan the flames of speculation, implying that bargaining had already begun between the two sides.

For Spurs, the whole affair is business as usual. They're enjoying plenty of good publicity this week after the signing of coveted Croatian prospect, Luka Modric, a 22-year-old midfielder being sought by a number of top clubs.

For Toronto FC, the whole affair amounted to a public relations bonanza. A lot of mention was made of the club, at a time when the team is enjoying its first three-game winning streak and playing attractively. It's a good time to let the international spotlight flash briefly on the club.

If Richard Peddie was caught unaware by the mounting media speculation of his visit to London, he at least had the good sense to let the scenario linger on a little and wait until the week was over before issuing any denials.

You couldn't have asked for a better day for a home opener and Toronto FC took full advantage of it..

After three games on the road, the last one a dramatic 3-2 over the Galaxy in Los Angeles, Saturday was simply one of those days a sports marketer dreams of. Sunny, warm and eager fans filled with optimism from the away win.

The only people moving faster than the players were the beer and merchandise vendors. Most of the stadium ran out of beer, souvenir shirts were flying off the shelves. Patience would also prove to be a short commodity.

For my seatmate, Vanooch, and myself, patience was tested coping with our boys who wanted every new t-shirt, scarf or hat they set their eyes on. Last year's shirts that were put on with pride a few hours earlier were already diminished by updated styles.

Updated prices on beer also had us wondering about the wisdom of lining up for many minutes, missing most of the warm-up and a chance to get our first up-close look at three important newcomers, all midifielders.

On the way in to the game, Vanooch, a cultured Milanista, lectured on the merits of playing with one striker up front, backed up by attacking midfielders, or trequartistas, in support.

A week earlier, Toronto's dramatic win in L.A. was keyed by the playmaking skills of midfield newcomers Laurent Robert on left wing and Amado Guevara in the middle. On this day, they'd be supplemented down the right by the pace and daring of speedy Rohan Ricketts.

No one quite knew what to expect from the trio lined up behind lone striker Danny Dichio. We weren't expecting too much from Ricketts - he hadn't played a competitive game in about four months after being released by English club Barnsley. Media reports had told us about the temperamental nature of Robert and Guevara, but their play in L.A. had been crucial in achieving a rare road win.

Again, patience was what was called for and Vanooch and I were prepared to wait a couple of games before passing judgement.

If only the two guys seated behind us were so gracious. From the opening kickoff, every play produced negative comments. With a strong wind blowing crossfield from the east, not the normal direction, longer passes were drifting astray.

No matter. Our critics were ripping every last miscue. Comments flew on almost every play. It wasn't enough that Toronto were utterly dominating the first half, pegging Real Salt Lake back time and time again. Robert was showing his smarts getting into gaps out on the left that granted him time and space to float tempting crosses or roll well-weighted through balls. Guevara was quick and decisive in his ball handling.

Ricketts, though, could do nothing right in their eyes. He was terrorizing the RSL left side and getting into some great positions. The fact that these chances fizzled out didn't bother Vanooch and I. We were delighted to see someone beat his man one on one and start stretching the opposing backline. He was taking chances, paying a physical price for it and winning fans. The pair behind us, though, began unfavourably comparing MLS skill levels to those of the Premier League and Serie A.

Vanooch and I were exchanging quiet elbow nudges and shakes of the head. Both of us were getting close to losing it. When a daring run down the right produced an errant cross, the louder of the two hollered for Ricketts to go back to England. When I explained that the player involved was actually Maurice Edu, an American, the loud response was, "It doesn't matter. He's ####, too. He's been making mistakes all game long." If they could have seen the looks on the faces of the loyal TFC fans seated behind them.

About a half hour in, a nifty pass-and-run play produced a foul on Guevara at the top of the box, resulting in a free kick. From our view straight down the line of the RSL wall, we couldn't see all the details. But Robert slyly played the ball low, through a gap in the wall and into the net setting off bedlam in a packed BMO Field. It was the only goal of the game.

Our neighbours refused to grant Toronto any praise, claiming the goal was a lucky one, caused by deflection. When you see a breakdown of the goal, you see a very craftily arranged set piece, well executed.

By half time, I could take no more. I was determined not to let the day be spoiled by two antagonists. Heck, they weren't even Salt Lake fans. Vanooch and the boys chose to stay in the seats, I headed off to take advantage of the gorgeous light and use the camera and ultra-wide lens I'd brought to shoot some stadium views.

When the second half began, I found myself on the railing in the beer garden behind the Salt Lake net, hoping for a shot of Toronto's cliinching goal. The play stayed far away, as Salt Lake pressed for an equalizer. Beside me, though, a lesson in abusive Spanish was breaking out. Several young men of Argentinian descent began loudly questioning the family morals of Nick Rimando, the Salt Lake goalkeeper. A few English language chants went up, Rimando gave them a wave and everyone was enjoying themselves.

The second half was clearly going to be played at the other end, so I journeyed over and found a great spot on the deck that runs at the top of the south end stands, where Toronto's most fanatical supporters are found. With the sun behind me, and banners, streamers and raised arms in front of me, this was the place to shoot a great stadium shot.

But the floor kept moving under me. To my left, a gent in a grey beard and TFC jersey was bouncing and cheering on every play. He was like a big kid. His own kids had season tickets elsewhere, but the section was too quiet. He loved the noise and action of the supporters stands, so he bought single game tickets whenever he could and migrated over to join in the songs and chants. He said he loved everything about what was happening with the team. We got along great.

As he clock wound down, I was about to head back up and rejoin Vanooch and the boys. Rounding a corner, I found myself face to tace with them. We walked back along the deck and watched the final moments, twirling our scarves at the final whistle.

"So did you make some good pictures?" asked Vanooch. I showed him on the screen on the back of the camera and he made his requests for copies. 

"How was the second half?", I asked. "Did you have to put up with more of those comments from the two crazy guys?"

"No. It was beautiful," said Vanooch. "They left. They went downstairs at half time and those guys behind them spilled beer and peanut shells all over the floor under their seats and dropped cheese and nachos on the seats. The two guys came back up, saw the mess and just left."

"One of the guys behind them said he used his last beer to make the mess and couldn't buy another because they ran out. You owe him one at next week's game."

Whaddya know? Good things do come to those who wait. Consider that beer already bought.

"There is absolutely zero chance of natural grass being installed." Kevan Pipe, fired former head of the Canadian Soccer Association. 

                                               
       ----------------------------------------

"It [FieldTurf] kills the culture of the game." - Julian De Guzman, midfielder, Canadian national team and Deportivo La Coruna.

"The best salesman in the world couldn't sell me on it [FieldTurf]. I hope in my career I never have to play on it." - Paul Stalteri, defender, Canadian national team and Tottenham Hotspur.

"If they get grass in there instead of an artificial surface, it would be easier to draw better players and teams from Europe to play exhibition games."  - Dwayne De Rosario, midfielder, Canadian national team and Houston Dynamo.

"Every game, every team, should have grass -- without a doubt. You can't ask any soccer athlete to perform at a high level on FieldTurf." - David Beckham, midfielder, English national team and LA Galaxy.

                                               
      -----------------------------------------

Reality has set in for Toronto FC. With their playoff chances dropping as quickly as their players are to injuries, the focus has turned from their on-field play to the actual field they play on.

Here in Toronto, the synthetic playing surface of BMO Field has been subjected to an ongoing series of critical comments that started before the stadium was built, escalated by players and coaches who participated in the FIFA U-20 World Cup and hit new heights when it was a factor in keeping David Beckham from making his MLS playing debut on August 5.

The past week has seen articles appear in Toronto media where some of Toronto's many injured players, fearful of being openly critical, have taken gentle swipes at the playing surface.

A series of injuries that has stripped Toronto of it's best attacking players - Danny Dichio, Jeff Cunningham, Ronnie O'Brien and Marvell Wynne - has left the club starved for goals and losing sight of a playoff berth. Without a goal in 462 minutes of play, the club is in danger of setting a dubious record should they fail to score on Saturday against visiting Chivas.

Manager Mo Johnston raised eyebrows before season when he responded to criticism of the plastic pitch by saying: "Any player who doesn't want to play on FieldTurf is not someone who we would be interested in having on our team." Given the lack of depth and the glaring absence of a high-quality designated player, those words could come back to haunt him.

While no one can actually prove that the turf is responsible -  club and stadium officials have been almost strident in their defensive tone about the playing surface -  the players are beginning to hint around that playing on grass would be preferable.

Fans are also wondering if artificial turf is keeping the club from attracting a quality designated player. At first glance, you'd think not, since New York has been able to sign Juan Pablo Angel and Claudio Reyna despite playing on plastic. But the club will begin play next year in a new stadium that will have a grass pitch. There have been suggestions that certain European clubs will not loan out players to Toronto for fear the plastic pitch will take its toll physically. The summer visits of Aston Villa and Benfica have done nothing to allay that.

It's not like the club can act alone about changing the playing surface. The stadium is owned by the city of Toronto, its construction jointly funded by the provincial and federal governments, which gives the Canadian Soccer Association a say in its operation, but if Canadian national team players have anything to say about it, they want to see the pitch changed.

With funding supplied from three levels of government, one of the stadium's mandates was to allow community access. For $75 per hour, any bunch of weekend warriors can rent the place and act out their dreams. This wouldn't be possible on grass.

Nor would the installation of an inflatable dome in winter. The club plans to operate indoor winter soccer clinics on their home turf, giving some of their younger players a little off-season employment while helping to strengthen emotional ties with youngsters from Toronto's massive recreational soccer community.

On paper, this business plan involving the year-round use of the turf surface must have looked like a bureaucrat's dream. Too bad the core business of this great new stadium, the games that matter most, those of Toronto FC, aren't played on paper.

 The choice of turf over grass made some sense this year, given the amount of play it received from both MLS and FIFA's under-20 World Cup. But after watching this season's games so far, there is a certain sterility to the play.

The ball rolls well on it and generally rewards quick technical play. But neither TFC or Canada's national teams have ever played that style. Being hockey fans, we kind of enjoy a bit of biff and wallop. This current TFC squad would be much better rewarded playing all its games on a less pristine surface, something that maybe sees the odd rugby game.

You can see players shy away from making certain plays - slide tackles, cut backs in certain situations - because the turf simply has too much bite. When something has to give, instead of grass getting torn, it's a part of someone's body.

One solution that has been debated on fan forums is to install grass at BMO Field and have the FieldTurf surface transferred to nearby Lamport Stadium, where all the practicing and community access mandates can still take place. It's an older 10,000-capacity facility long past it's prime. Given that it sits in a lower-income area crying out for additional recreational facilities, it would be hard to imagine the city opposed to the move.

It's also hard to imagine the provincial or federal governments objecting if it proves to be a move that also benefits the national team and creates a new playing surface for local or regional youth competitions.

By selling out it's 20,000 seats for every game, fans in Toronto have made it clear that this will be one of MLS' best-supported teams. The two-years-and-growing waiting list for season's tickets has already prompted talk of expanding the stadium capacity.

That would have been hard to conceive of a year or two ago in this very discerning soccer market. There's an appetite for the game here that still has a long way to go before it's satisfied. Many fans want to see TFC take on the glamour clubs of Europe when they visit North America.

A grass pitch would remove the biggest obstacle to seeing those sort of lucrative, image-enhancing games take place. The sort of match-ups that would seal the deal on seat sales in an expanded stadium and possibly make the team look more interesting to a marquee player, which would only add to their already-massive merchandise sales.

Put down real grass and players and management alike will be rolling in the green stuff.

An amazing weekend of stylish play and well-struck goals left Canadian soccer fans looking foward to the week ahead.

Both Toronto FC and Team Canada scored emphatic wins in what was, arguably, the best weekend Canadian soccer fans have seen in many years. And that's taking into account the 0-1 home loss suffered by the Montreal Impact to the Charleston Battery in USL play.

Ahhh, that Montreal-Charleston rivalry. Those teams HATE each other. Don't they?

Well, that loss aside, Canadian fans had to be up on their hind legs and howling at the feast of goals served up in Saturday's 3-0 thrashing of Guatemala by Canada, followed by Sunday's 4-0 branding by Toronto FC on an FC Dallas squad that looked all too eager to mount up and ride home.

For those who viewed both matches, there was extra satisfaction in watching two days of misery for Guatemalan forward Carlos Ruiz. The serial dive artist is known to his fans as El Pescadito(The Little Fish) , perhaps because his flopping antics make him look like a well-hooked bass on a dock.

He was on the losing end for both games, earning a yellow card for a nasty elbow that split open Canadian defender Richard Hastings head, then 'showing up' for Dallas a day later and getting another yellow for chirping. Is their a Spanish word for 'schadenfreude"?

Toronto FC couldn't have found a better way to bid a temporary goodbye to the friendly confines of their BMO Field. They'll be on the road for their next six games as the U-20 World Cup tournament evicts them until late July.

They'll set off brimming with confidence, having raised their W-L-T record to 4-6-1, an impressive turnaround from an 0-4-0 start. And for a team that couldn't find the net through that initial four-game losing streak, Toronto has begun delivering goals that are pure eye candy.

It continued on Sunday, as defender Kevin Goldthwaite sold the Brooklyn Bridge on a cutback move that almost had his Dallas marker sliding into the beer garden behind the goal. His follow-up cross resulted in a first-ever goal for top rookie Maurice Edu.

Carl Robinson honored his daughter's Father's Day wishes to get a goal and planted a neat header in off the bar for his first goal in Toronto colours. Even the near misses are drawing oohs and ahhs.

Coming a day after Canada demolished Guatemala with three first-half goals, with Ali Gerba slicing home a sharp right footer to cap a dazzling, seven-pass masterpiece,  Canadian fans have to wonder what has happened to the stodgy punt-and-plod that was a hallmark of their game for decades.

Respected for defending well and breeding decent goalies, Canada has never been associated with eye-catching buildups or highlight-reel goals. It looks like it's all about to change.

This edition of the national team is full of atheticism, skill and quick minds, but most importantly, high-level playing experience .

No longer forced to rely on a conservative game plan based on defending well and making the most of set pieces, Canada can mix the power of sturdy veteran Dwayne De Rosario and the distribution and work rate of winger Martin Nash with the agile close control of Atiba Hutchinson and the playmaking and decisive touch of Julian De Guzman.

Thursday's Gold Cup semi-final with the United States in Chicago should provide an excellent examination of this blossoming soccer program. When you factor in these results with the promise of Canada's U-20 side, it's becoming clearer that the Canadian game has never been healthier.

And with a club side like Toronto FC giving Canadian youngsters an attractive  target to aim for in their future playing aspirations, the chances of this country experiencing another loss of talented players like Owen Hargreaves or Jonathan De Guzman become smaller all the time. 

"Toronto FC hasn't proven anything yet, We're still the best team in Canada and our goal is to continue to be the best team in Canada and, if we have the opportunity to play Toronto FC, our goal would be to prove it.”  

 Montreal Impact owner Joey Saputo, March 1, 2007

 Joey Saputo has every right to be proud of the accomplishments of his Montreal Impact soccer club. Now playing in the United Soccer Leagues Div. 1, they’ve been tier-two soccer’s ongoing, on-field success story and they’ve enjoyed a consistently growing level of support throughout their 15-year history, now averaging around 12,000 fans a game.

 So there was a time when a brash comment like that quoted above would have been appropriate. It’s fair to say that it was appropriate when he said it earlier this year. But not any more.

 The truth is, his beloved and well-supported Impact squad aren’t even Canada’s best team in tier-two soccer, let alone the nation’s best team period.

 A unique and enjoyable two weeks of far-flung business commitments provided your correspondent with a first-hand sampling of the best in professional Canadian club soccer, on both sides of the continental and competitive divide.

 A visit to Vancouver's delightful Swanguard Stadium to watch the Whitecaps entertain USL Div. 1 rivals from Carolina and two rollicking MLS games at Toronto FC's pulsating BMO Field were sandwiched around an intriguing night in Montreal, where a packed house topping 12,000 witnessed the Impact host the first-place Whitecaps in a battle of USL leaders.

 All four games were tense, entertaining battles but the chance to watch games from both leagues in close comparison showed the difference in skill levels to be quite obvious.

 For all the hard running and purposeful effort put in by USL players, their games are ultimately undone by a lack of polish around the net and by the number of unforced errors. Stray passes and errant clearances frequently create midfield turnovers that quickly become dangerous opportunities.

 But when three top USL clubs can only combine to turn those chances into just one goal in two games, it gives clear indication of why USL Div. 1 is just a developmental league. It's a big reason why a cultured audience like the one in the Toronto area failed to support the USL's Toronto Lynx.

 It seemed like half the Whitecaps’ squad, searching for an equalizer in a 1-0 loss, had a crack at the Carolina goal in a second-half shooting gallery, wasting some fine chances created by good runs and well-placed crosses, often the result of crisp deliveries from standout winger Martin Nash.

A week later, Montreal’s lively fans were holding heads in disbelief as striker Charles Gbeke found the woodwork or missed the net on clear-cut chances from in close as Montreal and Vancouver ground out a scoreless draw.

The contrast couldn't have been sharper watching Toronto FC play against Colorado and New York, where superior finishing skills delivered memorable goals – Jeff Cunningham’s first for Toronto, pounded into the roof of the goal after crafty Andy Welsh’s nifty pass, Andrew Boyen’s textbook header of####reat corner kick from dead ball artist Ronnie O’Brien or Danny Dichio’s clinical touch inside the six-yard box to cap off Marvell Wynne’s sensational set up. All of them, first class stuff.

 MLS delivers much more quick, skillful interplay, numerous one-touch passing sequences used to relieve pressure, establish control or create time and space to set up a smart through ball. You just don’t see that very often in USL soccer.

 To be fair to Joey Saputo, his comments were made almost three months ago and Toronto were still scuffing about in pre-season training, giving no one a clear picture of what they were capable of. Still, you’d like to think that Saputo might be willing to give MLS some praise for putting on a better show than he gives them credit for.

Given the permanent small-time status of USL soccer, MLS is a league he may well want to be a part of sooner rather than later and it’s not the first time he’s courted controversy in commenting on MLS. It’s an attitude that could cause him some short-term pain if MLS honchos choose to make him sweat out a franchise acquisition.

He’s been outspoken before, balking at paying an MLS expansion fee of $10 million and taking issue with the quality of play in MLS compared to that served in USL Div. 1. He’s always backed up his words with his wealth, paying competitive wages to bring decent players to Montreal and building a new stadium that will open next year. Judging by the size and enthusiasm of the crowd that came out to watch the Whitecaps visit, he may well need to start planning to expand it beyond its initial size in the 15,000 range. A lot of Montrealers think a place in MLS is Saputo’s for the asking. He might want to consider asking nicely.

 If Toronto FC has quickly established itself as the best professional team in Canada, Vancouver is about to become the apple of MLS’ eye as the league views a list of prospective sites for its next round of expansion, a process that MLS president Don Garber says will increase the league by three teams to a total of 16.

 And Garber has indicated his awareness of the progress being made in Vancouver’s preparations to build a spectacular waterfront soccer stadium, with an initial capacity in the 20,000 range, expandable to 30,000. The target date for completion is 2010, which gives the Impact a two-year head start in playing in their new soccer-specific stadium.

 There’s every reason to believe, though, that Vancouver’s stadium, bordering on the lively Gastown district, with a spectacular view of the North Shore mountains, will be the site MLS will choose first in adding a second team Canada. If the league expands by three teams in 2010, two western teams and one eastern franchise would balance out the two divisions evenly at eight each. A rebirth of the mothballed San Jose Earthquakes and a return to glory for the Whitecaps would give MLS two additions with great soccer traditions to build on and an ability to quickly establish hot rivalries with the two L.A. clubs. Vancouver would also broaden appeal within Canada and their matches with Toronto will bristle with intensity.

 At first glance, the impending MLS expansion in the east can’t afford to include Montreal. The league needs to add another rival, beyond the New England Revolution, for Red Bull New York, whose on-field excellence is being met by fan indifference at having to watch games in sterile Giants Stadium. Philadelphia would make the most sense, a city where soccer fans would easily get fired up over games with D.C. United.

 However, questions continue to be asked about how viable the Kansas City Wizards operation will remain. They’re drawing little more than  family and friends currently at 70,000-seat Arrowhead Stadium and are facing an uphill run getting local municipalities to agree to provide funding for a soccer project that would include a soccer-specific stadium that meets MLS standards. The alternative is an image-crushing move into a refurbished high school football stadium.

 The creation of an expansion team in nearby St. Louis might save this situation. Maybe not.  This is heartland America and baseball country first and foremost every summer.

If it was necessary to move this franchise, it might make more sense to take a proven star like Eddie Johnston and a competitive squad like the Wizards into Philadelphia and let the geographic heat of rivalry add to the competitive sparks that have flown between Red Bull and the Wizards this year.

That would open the expansion door for another eastern city and Montreal would be worthy of consideration given the track record established by the Impact and the credibility created for the Canadian marketplace by Toronto’s sensational start. It may not be Don Garber’s first, or even second, choice, but he needs to take the game to cities where he knows it will be supported from the get go.

Maybe it’s time for Joey Saputo to start cuddling up a little to MLS. He’s established that soccer has strong appeal in Montreal and he’s already building a stadium that gives him a head start on other competitors for an MLS franchise.

 Everyone connected with MLS has taken notice of what Toronto has brought to the league this year and it’s clear that Montreal has the potential for a repeat success story.  A little diplomacy will go a long way towards earning Saputo and his loyal fans the rewards they deserve. 

There wasn't much doubt that we were in for a challenging evening when we climbed toward our upper deck seats and found one side of the stairwell draped in red and white, the other side ablaze in orange.

Dwayne De Rosario's family, friends, and social associates were in the house.

On a night when rain fell like a bad Bible story, and roads around Toronto's BMO Field clogged like bad arteries, the reward for the Toronto FC fans who arrived early was the sight and sound of Club De Rosario.

Not that there's anything wrong with that.

De Rosario was back in his Toronto home and supported by several hundred of his most ardent supporters. Though some speculate the number climbed above 1,000, the truth is, he had a stadium full of admirers. It's no secret that T.O. wants De Ro.

Canadian soccer fans want this country's player of the year to come home and play where he'll be utterly adored. He's aware of that. But he's also been the complete professional and refused to demand that it happen at once.

Playing on a championship team is not something every player gets to enjoy. So many professionals spend entire careers chasing titles that never arrive. When a player finds himself in a winning situation, it's hard to give in to more basic instincts and head for home at all costs. De Rosario has one title under his belt and, perhaps more importantly, the respect of North American soccer fans for sticking with his team. It would be easy for him to leave if he wanted to.

Club De Rosario was there to remind him he's loved no matter what shirt he wears. Toronto FC fans were there to remind him he'll be loved more than ever if he makes both parties happy and moves home. The chants went up from both camps, increasing in volume and intensity as the wind and rain did likewise. Through it all, the mood stayed positive. There was laughter and good cheer everywhere.

It didn't hurt that Toronto fans were singing in the rain after a first half lead supplied by Andy Welsh's unstoppable header, the finishing touch to an inviting free kick from Ronnie O'Brien. 

Despite wearing a knee brace to offset the effects of a ligament injury, O'Brien's skill with either foot has proved to be a creative spark for a Toronto team now rebounding nicely after four straight losses to start the season.

That both players would combine to score the only goal in a 1-0 victory was appropriate. It's no coincidence that the return of O'Brien's cultured touch on the right wing has given Toronto an equally potent option to Welsh's crafty play down the left. The result is an invitingly open middle, drawing creative play from midfielder Maurice Edu, or even surging runs from the back by standout defender Marvell Wynne.

Toronto manager Mo Johnston stayed calm in the midst of an opening run of four goalless losses, preaching patience. His vision of what this team could become has slowly but surely materialized and it's beginning to look like the heightened expectations formed by a good pre-season performance were not entirely out of place.

If Toronto fans had doubts about his ability to build a team, and do it making quick, instinctive decisions about personnel, they've been well put to rest. When disgruntled midfielder Richard Mulrooney forced a trade, it was to Houston for defender Kevin Goldthwaite, the scorer of Toronto's first-ever winning goal against Chicago.

When Goldthwaite spilled Mulrooney with a harsh challenge early on, it brought a strong response from the crowd.

Whether De Rosario or his legion of supporters noticed such subtleties is unknown. But he has to be aware that this is already one of MLS' strongest franchises. The man at the helm is showing he knows what he's doing. The fans in the stands are proof of approval.

If De Rosario loved winning an MLS title in Houston, he has to know now that the only way to top that will be winning one with his hometown team. Here's betting that it will be sooner than later.

He's bald! He's bold! He's gonna score a goal! Daa-neee Dee-cheeo!

Danny Dicho. Instant Toronto FC legend.

The pre-game chants to pump up the 6''3" striker were largely unnecessary on Saturday. He packs his boots with motivation and plays like every game might be his last.

And after slotting home Edson Buddle's smart cross to score the first goal in Toronto FC's 3-1 victory Saturday over a Chicago Fire squad apparently traumatized by playing on plastic turf, it will be his last for a short while.

He matched the milestone of scoring the franchise's first-ever goal in MLS league play, with the millstone of earning the it's first-ever red card. He did both doing what he does best, ####ing his big body around the opposition's box.

A bump late in the first half with Chicago goalie Matt Pickens in the six-yard box set off a handbag-swinging melee that took a group of combatants into the back of the Fire goal. Diego Gutierrez was tabbed as Chicago's nastiest bag-swinger and also given a red card.

The fact Dichio left to a standing ovation says everything about how Toronto fans feel about him. In two games, the busy, bruising ballwinner has been yellow- and red-carded for heavy manners on opposing goalies. Crashing the crease is what hockey-loving Canadians would call it. Rattling a cage is what crash-causing NASCAR drivers might term it. Becoming an instant fan favorite is the net result.

Paired so far with shifty Alecko Eskandarian or the sly Buddle, Dichio's towering frame provides a highly-visible target for up-field passes. He has the strength to hold up the ball and lay off passes to on-rushing teammates or the skill to turn past a defender and go marauding for a goal.

Best of all, he displays body language that says, after leaving England's Preston North End, he's enjoying himself in Toronto's uproarious new stadium on the north shore of Lake Ontario.

The soccer-cynical element of Toronto's sports media had enjoyed themselves through the first four games the team played, playing their winless and goalless status for a few cheap laughts. But what no one touched on was the fact that four of what will be Toronto's most influential players either hadn't played or were just getting into the lineup.

Right midfielder Ronnie O'Brien, right back Marvell Wynne, top draft pick and midfielder Maurice Edu and Dichio had all faced delayed debuts with the team. Saturday's game displayed the result of having the group together to practice for two weeks since their last game, a 1-0 home-opener loss to Kansas City in April.

Wynne plays with such effortless efficiency, it's easy to overlook a player who doesn't look like he's working hard because he's read a play properly or prepared for a game properly and is well placed to shut down an opponent's play and start a counter attack.

Adding O'Brien's smart positioning and skill as a playmaker to the right midfield gives Wynne an obvious outlet coming out of defence. These two looked very comfortable in their first full game together. If it forces defences to pay closer attention to them, left winger Andy Welsh will appreciate less of the extra attention he'd been receiving earlier when he represented Toronto's best attacking option earlier in the season.

Toronto fans also enjoyed a sneak preview of what the future holds when talented local boy Andrea Lombardo, operating as a lone striker, worked the ball deep down the right and curled an inch-perfect cross to an unmarked Maurice Edu.

Edu, the first round draft choice from University of Maryland, was rewarded for an intuitive support run with a pass that left him the time and space to emphatically plant Toronto's third goal. Pressed into a more attacking role after Dichio's sending off, Edu was allowed to advance from his normally defensive midfield role and looked quite sharp in attack.

Lombardo is a member of the Canadian U-20 national team that will host FIFA's World U-20 World Cup starting in June. Tall and strong, like Dichio, he used his size and good positioning to offer a threatening outlet for his defenders in his brief second-half run. He showed no fatigue from having played 90 minutes against Argentina the night before.

As Toronto's fans were chucking promotional seat cushions onto the field in celebration, the players were throwing a number of #### of their back. Including Kevin Goldthwaite's fine winning goal also set up by Buddle, the team not only earned their first goals and their first win, but did it with some style.

As we stood among an anxious, hoarse throng waiting for Toronto FC to set up a final corner kick, my neighbour turned and said, "Hey, Toronto might be the first team to have it's first-ever goal scored by a goalie."

An interesting and timely observation, in light of two recent goals scored by European keepers - Paul Robinson of Tottenham Hotspur and Andres Palop of Sevilla. Seeing Toronto's lanky Greg Sutton arrive at the top of the Kansas City box, we wondered if history was in the making.

But the corner kick was cleared away, the final whistle blew and the likelihood remains that Toronto's first MLS goal will come in more orthodox fashion, probably less of an embarassment for all concerned.

The observant neighbour is my friend, Vanooch, a title created by dropping the vowel from the final three syllables of his Italian surname. 'Noochi was too much like Gucci, not really him. His countrymen often do that with their first names - Enzo, Renzo, Cenzo, etc. - so I did it with his surname.

We've shared many soccer sojourns the past few years, our boys growing up in our downtown neighbourhood, opponents in house league, teammates on competitive squads. Mine, a tall, two-footed left or right back, his, a darting striker in the mold of an Inzaghi or a Rossi, a right-footed stiletto. They were with us on opening day.

Vanooch figured to be the perfect seatmate for the four season seats I secured before Beckham's transfer announcement triggered a ticket-buying stampede, selling out the stadium for the year and creating a waiting list already two years long.

I heard him before I ever met him, an Abruzzi accent ringing out instructions or booming in goal celebrations from the sideline of an under-7 game one night. He only quieted down when his son's coach asked if he could be allowed to coach the team his way.

He's been lke that for each of the eight years since, an unofficial manager's assistant or referee's 'helper', the only man I've seen get red-carded as a volunteer linesman, for defying orders not to coach while carrying a flag.

He made himself a welcome sight at practices on cool, wet spring mornings, hauling a hamper with a stack of paper cups and carafes of dark, sweet espresso coffee. That recipe would get an octane boost at tournaments when he'd spike it with Italian grappa liqueur and have us all fired up.

And as soccer dads got into animated soccer discussions about international events, you could count on detailed, up-to-the-minute info on Serie A matters and how it all pertained to his beloved AC Milan. He still expects the prodigal striker, Andriy Shevchenko, to escape along the Hernan Crespo trail and return from Chelsea. Any day now.

Owning season tickets for the first time, I wanted the whole rowdy fan experience - the cheering, chanting and singing - and a manic sidekick to join me in tranforming tepid Torontonians into scarf-twirling tifosi. Vanooch had the track record to make him an automatic choice.

So it was something of a shock when the Campobasso Cannon went quiet at kickoff and stayed that way through much of the match. But his eyes were firmly fixed on the details, picking out flaws in certain players' games, debating tactics, deploring unforced errors and accurately forecasting in the first ten minutes that U.S. natonal team striker Eddie Johnson would eventually beat Toronto's defence with his quickness.An hour later, he was right.

I'm not sure I'm comfortable with this. If he wants to be serious, we can always record the game telecasts and study the details later. But I want the real Vanooch for company. Our section underperformed in its first game. They need us.

The way I see it, there's only two ways to bring out the soccer animal  in him.

In the good old days of NASL, we used to have one of our buddies bring a couple of wineskins to the back of the stadium. When we got in, we'd take a long string out, throw it over the railing, haul them up and enjoy a little refreshment at our leisure.

Maybe Mrs. Vanooch could bring a thermos of their high-octane espresso to the back of our section and I'll haul it up.

Or his son's just gonna have to make the team. Soon.

Toronto FC make their home debut Saturday before a sold-out throng of 20,000 that will raucously welcome them into BMO Field, an absolute gem of a new, soccer-only stadium.

 It's the sort of reaction that might be understandable if this was a club that had won a championship, made a series of high-profile off-season signings or just got Jose Mourinho angry. But this is an expansion team in an early-season crisis, having lost, on the road, their first three games by a combined score of 9-0.

 The results hardly matter. Nor will the outcome of the home opener. The stadium will be filled all year and it will be a league leader for attendance and atmosphere. You see, it's not the team that matters to most fans, at least not just yet. It's the game itself. 

That's the remarkable part of these circumstances. World Cups aside, fans here have endured a steady diet of negative soccer coverage from prominent local media outlets, yet their healthy appetite for their game has not only survived, but grown.

Despite the absence of any broad-based marketing campaign, season ticket sales topped  7,000 prior to the January announcement of David Beckham's transfer to L.A. Galaxy and are now close to 14,000 in total. Single game and group ticket sales have assured that every home game will be virtually sold out. It's a remarkable re-birth for pro soccer in Canada.

The collapse of the North American Soccer League and, later, the Canadian Soccer League, forced the city's last pro team, the Blizzard, to close up shop, leaving Toronto fans without a fully-professional local team to follow for almost two decades.

Yet the game has continued to thrive locally, a growing interest visible most summer weeknights in the form of jam-packed recreational playing fields, or every four years when the streets fill with chanting, singing, flag-waving World Cup fans proclaiming support for their favorite team or homeland.

Streets shut down, traffic gets diverted, beer mugs clink, everyone smiles. Only hockey could top this reaction, and an NHL title for the Maple Leafs isn't on anyone's radar.

Perhaps the most profound evidence of soccer's development here is found in the home-grown talent who have recently moved on to enjoy outstanding professional careers.

The long list includes: Dwayne De Rosario at Houston Dynamo, Paul Stalteri at Tottenham Hotspur, Tomas Radzinski at Fulham, the De Guzman brothers, Julian at Deportivo La Coruna, Jonathan at Feyenoord. And then there's Paul Peschisolido, a charismatic striker known throughout England as the 'Super Sub', with 114 goals, and counting, since leaving the crumbling Blizzard in 1992 for Birmingham City and a handful of clubs thereafter. There are others on the way.

This was never enough to satisfy soccer's abundant media critics. Led by Canada's largest daily newspaper and the city's most influential sportstalk radio host, they lined up to slag the building of the $72 million stadium, which is truly a wonderful showcase for the game. They branded it a white elephant as they forecast that the team would flounder and quickly wither, part of the eventual and, they hoped, final demise of professional soccer in North America. 

 The instant impact of Toronto FC suggests they couldn't have been more wrong. It has also sparked an urgency among soccer fans in Vancouver and Montreal, two major markets with and established history of strongly supporting the game, to see their cities become the next targets for MLS expansion.

So why have soccer fans, before a ball was kicked in earnest, before a full team had been assembled, suddenly thronged to support Toronto FC, when media indifference suggests they should be watching something else?

The critics have always maintained that, sure, lots of kids, in ever increasing numbers, were playing soccer in past years, but that didn't have any bearing on how well a pro team would do - they've failed before, surely they'll fail again. Well, the world changes quickly and quietly these days.

Previous generations of soccer players lacked the media options to stay in touch with the game as they grew older. Today, though, their kids, this generation's young players, are able to maintain their interest in any league, watching live games on digital or satellite TV, playing video games with more detail about the sport than ever before, or simply loading their iPods with highlight clips from the internet via youtube and sharing them with schoolmates. Has anybody under the age of 18 not seen Lionel Messi's sensational goal vs.Getafe?

 The return of the pro game now gives those aspiring youngsters a chance to watch live action, share in the noisy stadium atmosphere and develop their own hometown heroes. Since mom and dad were playing the game themselves not so long ago, they 'get' soccer, so it's not hard now to get them to buy tickets.

All of this seems to have passed under the noses of the city's mainstream media, an old guard that had to be courted in past years to ensure that vital publicity and promotion endeavours reached the eyes and ears of the ticket-buying public.

Soccer in Canada, and much of America, for that matter, has arrived at what's often referred to nowadays as'the tipping point', succeeding without the approval or co-operation of the traditional media mechanisms. 

Someone should call the papers and tell them about it. But the game's doing fine without them and their opinions just don't seem to matter much any more.  Kinda like how soccer fans felt 'round here about 10 year ago.