Ignore the noise: Toronto FC's focus, resolve key to succeeding in Mexico
Liga MX is better than Major League Soccer.
That's what Club America manager Miguel Herrera twice asserted as his team squares off against Toronto FC in the CONCACAF Champions League semi-finals, even after losing the first leg 3-1 at BMO Field.
Following the surprise defeat, Herrera also accused Toronto police of assaulting his players in the tunnel at half-time. The end result is that Tuesday's second-leg bout at the Estadio Azteca has a whole lot of people talking about a whole lot of things that don't really matter over 90 minutes.
At least, not to captain Michael Bradley and his teammates.
Bradley has helped change the media landscape in Toronto by requesting, repeatedly, that his team not be judged by a single result. Consequently, reporters and supporters alike choose to focus on the bigger picture instead, just like the U.S. international does.
Over the last four years, Toronto's players have reacted to each talking point with professionalism and poise, perhaps even bordering on the boring. Drowned in boos due to the United States' elimination in World Cup qualifying, neither Bradley nor compatriot Jozy Altidore bit back, carrying on with their business en route to achieving a historic treble in 2017. When TFC returned to the MLS Cup final, the team was subjected to the narrative of revenge and redemption as circumstance produced a rematch of the 2016 affair, with the Reds squaring up against the Seattle Sounders once more at BMO Field.
Bradley was quick to put that narrative in perspective.
"The way I look at things, this is about our group of guys, our club, this city, the road that we have all taken to get here ... in my mind, this is about us stepping onto the field and going for it," he told reporters before last season's final.
You'd be forgiven if it sounds familiar. Bradley has issued a similar battle cry in response to several moments of adversity at Toronto FC, demonstrating that internal focus is one of the team's greatest - and most underrated - strengths: he reminded onlookers that the project was bigger than Jermain Defoe alone as the star striker pushed for a return to the Premier League, then picked his team up by its bootstraps after a heartbreaking playoff debut loss to rivals Montreal Impact in 2015.
During that time, he brushed aside endless questions regarding his best position in both Toronto's and the United States' midfield. A year later, Bradley again rallied his troops after the Reds' watched Seattle clinch the MLS Cup at BMO Field on penalties. In the days leading up to the 2017 final, Bradley dismissed the notion that Seattle looked "looser" throughout the playoffs. Through it all, Bradley has stressed that Toronto FC must focus solely on playing its own game, and be accountable only to its own locker-room leadership.
Vindicated at last at the end of 2017, Bradley was asked by Taylor Twellman to respond to his more vocal critics. Again, Bradley remained unflinchingly silent.
"I don't have to say anything. I love to play, I love to compete. That's it for me."
This steadfast resolve isn't exclusive to Bradley. Head coach Greg Vanney's continuous insistence that his team looks only toward the next match, the next objective, and the next trophy has meant that wins come at an almost machine-like churn; Sebastian Giovinco reacted to his Most Valuable Player snub in 2016 not by turning into a more selfish player, but by putting in the team-first work needed to help deliver the greatest season in MLS history.
Even Ashtone Morgan, the team's longest-serving player, has risen above the noise regarding his quality to step up in Justin Morrow's absence. It was Morgan, after all, who scored TFC's third goal against Club America in the first leg.
For all the talk about the quality of MLS in comparison to Liga MX, the one key fact being lost is that TFC is not just a representative of the league - Toronto FC is Toronto FC. This is a group that sets out only to meet its own high standards, and chooses to look back at the consequences of any failures or achievements after the fact, not beforehand. If success crafts a complimentary narrative, it's a mere byproduct of Toronto FC's main goal - success itself.
It's why Herrera's comments don't resonate much with Bradley and Co.
"In terms of trying to draw any black or white conclusions in terms of which (league) is better, that's something that's probably more interesting for the media and the people on the outside," Bradley said in the buildup to the match. "Our mentality is that we are representing ourselves and our club and Toronto, and obviously Major League Soccer and the United States and Canada as well, but when we step on the field, the mentality and the goal is to lift this trophy. It's not to prove to anybody that MLS is better than Liga MX."
When Toronto FC enters the Estadio Azteca - a stadium with a well-earned reputation for hostility - the players will do so knowing that all of the talk regarding the quality of the league they play in and their talent relative to their opponent means absolutely nothing.
The only thing that matters is those 90 minutes. Talk is cheap.
(Photos courtesy: Getty Images)