Toronto FC looks set to take on Club América for a place in the CONCACAF Champions League final with all of its biggest weapons at its disposal.
Victor Vázquez (back), Chris Mavinga (sports hernia) and Justin Morrow (calf) all trained on Monday having sat out Friday’s win over Real Salt Lake in order to give them extra time to recover for Tuesday’s semifinal first leg at BMO Field.
“They all completed training today, so we’ll see how they progress tomorrow,” Toronto coach Greg Vanney said.
Only Nick Hagglund, who has been sidelined by a hamstring injury suffered on the practice field, will be unavailable against América. The centerback, whose 2017 season was interrupted by two serious knee injuries, will miss the rest of the Champions League campaign.
“Nick is going to be out for approximately six weeks as a reasonably significant hamstring strain,” Vanney added.
Vázquez has been battling back tightness that has limited him to three starts this season and seen him miss both of TFC’s past two MLS games. His playmaking presence could be vital against América, who has won one and tied four of its five Liga MX road games this season without ever conceding more than one goal.
Vanney does not think that record is an indication, though, that the Mexican club will try to shut down the first leg before taking control of the rematch at Estadio Azteca.
“I think they’ll play what the game gives them,” Vanney said of América’s approach. “I think defensively they move together, they try to make the game difficult for the opposition. I don’t think they’ll necessarily come in and just sit back in their half or anything like that, [or] try to get out with a result that has a low number on it.
“My anticipation is they’ll come and they’ll try to play and they’ll try to still create turnovers in advantageous positions and try to play on the transition. They’ll still look for their moments to really try to be aggressive.
“I think they’ve been stingy – their back five are stingy – in terms of giving up goals, and I think they trust those guys back there that they’ll handle things more times than not, for sure.”
At the other end, goalkeeper Alex Bono realizes the importance of denying América an away goal.
“In our last tie, I thought that we kind of gave them opportunities to continue those waves,” Bono said when asked about the bursts of pressure Tigres UANL, Toronto’s quarterfinal opponent, had produced.
“If we can limit the opportunities we give them with, maybe, missed clearances or errant passes — if we can limit those to give them less opportunity to continue pressuring us and pressuring our back line, then I think that will really help us.
“A lot of times, especially from the Tigres tie and watching video on Club América, it can be very direct at times. It can be very tricky, their runs off the back sides of centerbacks and that sort of thing. They’re all things we’re prepared for and all things we’ve seen before.”