Altidore's team-first attitude, tenacity key to Toronto FC's MLS Cup berth

"What you can accomplish as a group is far greater than what you can accomplish by yourself. As we look to the game on Saturday, individual performances don't really mean anything."

Those were the words of Jozy Altidore, a player who's never been the kind to court celebrity; his is a modest demeanor, born of relentless criticism now silenced - as his Toronto FC hosts the MLS Cup final - through what he knows best: sacrifice and work in the duty of his team.

Like fans of his new team, Altidore's endured the highest of highs and the lowest of lows over the last 10 years.

And, like supporters of the Reds also hope on Saturday at BMO Field, an MLS Cup victory over the Seattle Sounders is the chance to finally bring an end to those rougher chapters.

It took Altidore 20 games into the 2016 season to score his first goal.

An eight-week injury stint spelled disaster for Altidore in May. His hamstring had once again failed him. Goals were difficult to come by. His old detractors reared their heads once more; chatter about his Premier League stint with Sunderland, or his "inability" to remain healthy, followed any mention of his name across the media landscape.

But Toronto FC head coach Greg Vanney kept faith in the U.S. forward. The goals would come later. There was still work to be done.

"Just as Jozy puts the team first when he talks about anything, he does the same thing when he plays the game," Vanney told reporters during a Thursday press conference. "He'll do anything and everything that you ask him to do and then some.

"That, for me, accounts for a whole lot, sometimes more than putting the ball in the back of the net."

What Vanney means by "anything" is the dirty work for forwards, seen in Altidore's tireless off-the-ball movement - his willingness to track back and help defend despite acting as a target forward. That, coupled with his ability to peel defensive lines open with his runs, gave Sebastian Giovinco space to exploit throughout the year.

When Altidore finally returned from injury in July, he found goals easy to come by. Suddenly, he hit hot form, just as newcomer Nicolas Lodeiro did the same for Seattle in the West.

"At the beginning of the year, we were grinding out games on the road and Jozy didn't get a goal but we were winning games," Vanney said. "We were winning games because of the amount of work he was willing to do for us on the road to compete and to grind things out.

"The reward right now is he's scoring goals and winning games and enjoying himself but this is a guy who has always competed for this team and that should go noticed regardless of if the ball hits the back of the net or not."

Vanney says Altidore is now enjoying his football. In that sense, perhaps things have finally come full circle for the player who had a grin painted on his face when he first joined the MetroStars as a 16-year-old in 2006.

That smile has returned in 2016; what would he say to that young man today?

Altidore took a moment to reflect when that very scenario was posed to him before delivering his answer. "I guess to enjoy it more," he said. "I've always enjoyed it, obviously, but when you're young, sometimes a lot of things get put your way and you forget that it's a game, that you're having fun.

"As a young player, being involved with the national team and playing overseas, it too quickly became a job in the sense that I didn't know how to balance the two. That's probably what I would say to him."