Head coach Marko Milanovic says Toronto FC need some time off after their 2-1 loss to the Vancouver Rise in the Northern Super League final on November 15.
“We drank for days,” he said.
The line was followed by laughter, proving that even though Milanovic lost the NSL Championship, his sense of humor was still intact.
So does his team, which heads to Florida on Wednesday to compete in the first-ever World Sevens Football seven-a-side soccer tournament in North America.
AFC Toronto, as the NSL's regular season leader, joins Mexico's Club América and Tigres Femenil, Kansas City Current and San Diego Wave of the NWSL, Brazil's Flamengo, Colombia's Deportivo Cali and Uruguayan Nacional with a combined prize pool of US$5 million.
Each game lasts 30 minutes on a field that is one-half to two-thirds the size of a regular field. The rules are slightly different: unlimited substitutions and no offsides. Teams can dress 16 players per game.
Milanovic, named NSL coach of the year in his first season, says it is essentially like indoor football played outdoors.
“The biggest change is the lack of offsides because our defensive line is used to offsides and that helps.” [them] a lot,” he explained. “And you’ve trained all your life to hold the line and not follow players who are clearly offside.” But now you must.”
The Vancouver Rise captured the Diane B. Matheson Trophy after being crowned NSL champions after beating AFC Toronto FC 2-1.
While defenders don't like to give up offside calls, it's good news for forwards like Toronto's Kaylee Hunter and Esther Okoronkwo.
“I'm sure Esther will love it,” Milanovic said of the Nigerian team that won the Women's Africa Cup of Nations in July.
The tournament takes place Friday through Sunday at Beyond Bancard Field at NSU (Nova Southeastern University) in Davie, Florida, the former training camp of the Miami Dolphins. The 7,000-capacity stadium is now home to Fort Lauderdale United FC, whose men's and women's teams compete in USL League Two and USL W-League respectively.
World Sevens Football will share the soccer spotlight with Vancouver Whitecaps and Inter Miami, who meet Saturday in the MLS Cup final, 20 minutes away at Chase Stadium.
AFC Toronto opens Group 1 play on Friday against Tigres and faces Flamengo and Kansas City on Saturday. The top two in each group will advance to Sunday's semi-finals.
Toronto topped the NLS regular season standings with a 16-6-3 record and defeated the Montreal Roses 6-1 on aggregate in the two-game final to advance to the final at BMO Field. Toronto dominated the game for long periods of time, outscoring Vancouver 16–8 (8–3 in shots on target) with a 12–4 advantage in corners, but conceded goals within 14 minutes of each other in the second half.
The first week after a defeat in the championship is “difficult”
Milanovic believes that most of the disappointment is behind him.
“Maybe not everyone. I still hear talk about a missed call, a missed chance, this, that from the final,” he said. “First week [after] it was hard, the first couple of days were hard for all of us.
“I'd say a whole week of training [after] our usual fast pace and good energy were missing. But now we're done with it. Personally, I’m just really happy with the way we looked and the way we played in that game. I would have taken the situation much worse if we weren't ready or played poorly. We just didn't score that day and that happens sometimes.”
Bayern Munich's women won the inaugural World Sevens Football tournament, beating Manchester United 2-1 in May in Estoril, Portugal. In one semi-final, Bayern defeated PSG – Saint-Germain with a score of 5:0, and in the other, Manchester United crushed rivals Manchester City with a score of 2:0.
Other teams participating were Ajax (Netherlands), Roma (Italy), Benfica (Portugal) and Rosengård (Sweden).
Canada's Simi Awujo, who plays for Manchester United, was named the tournament's best player.
The tournament was co-founded by American philanthropist Jennifer Mackesy, co-owner of NWSL champions Gotham FC and minority shareholder of Chelsea Women.
The tournament requires clubs to share a portion of their prize money with staff and players, although the actual amount must be determined by the clubs themselves.
Milanovic says he is taking all the players he has.
Canada World 7s squad
Goalkeepers: Sierra Cota Yarde, Daniel Krzyzaniak
Defenders: Ashley Cathro, Victoria Pickett, Sarah Rollins, Kaela Hansen
Midfielders: Cloe Uddenberg, Emma Regan (captain), Sarah Stratigakis, Nikayla Small, Colby Barnett, April Lantaigne, Zoe Burns
Forwards: Kakila Noval, Esther Okron, Kylie, Kunter, Jadik, Kitchellalic, Lorveit
