Canadian Championship
Toronto FC 4, York United 0
THE MODERATOR: Player of the Match, Jonathan Osorio of Toronto FC, of course.
Congratulations on tonight's result. Can you take us through how the match played out from your perspective.
JONATHAN OSORIO: It was good. I think we started on the front foot. I think our plan was to get a goal early, much earlier than we actually got but we stayed with it. We stayed with it. I think we did a good job to stay with it and not panicking or anything. Those games are easier when 15, 20 minutes goes by. It's easy for the other team to gain confidence and get their selves in the game.
But I think our team, we are an experienced team out there on the field and we stuck with it. After we got the first goal, we knew that it would open up and that's what happened, and I think we took advantage of those chances. Then we did a good job of closing out in the second half.
Q. In light of how things are going in MLS, how big of a victory is this for the club and how confident are you that the team can hopefully build off this and build some momentum going down the season stretch?
JONATHAN OSORIO: It's a big win. We knew it was a big game for us this season, the way the season's gone everything and. This trophy means a lot to us. It was a big game for us. You know, these games against the CPL teams haven't gone easy for MLS teams. We saw Montréal struggled a little bit and we saw what happened with Vancouver. We knew this wasn't going to be easy.
But to win like this, I way the way we are supposed to, yeah, it's a big confidence boost. I think the last two games have been very good in the season. I think we win the last game, and it's the second-place team in the east, and then you know, the game before that, I think was a little bit of controversy and we deserved to win that game as well even with a man down.
These are all three positives performances in a row. This is good for the team and we just want to end the season strong, and then of course, in this championship we are looking to bring it home. Yeah, very important win for us today.
Q. In the Canadian Championship, you always seem to find your scoring touch. Can you tell us what you saw on your opening goal there?
JONATHAN OSORIO: Yeah, just the ball went out wide and I knew Chav is very good in the 1v1 and he always puts in a good ball. So I just tried to put myself in a space that was difficult for the defense and so I put myself between the center back and their left back. Chav put in a good ball -- a great ball, perfect ball, and I got the jump and redirected it into the net.
Yeah, honestly, it was a good goal by the team, great by Chav, made it really easy for me, and it was good to get that first goal I think. It was important with the way the game was going. Time had been passing and we did want the early goal. Didn't come, but in the first goal, it was important to get us going and then the game -- for us to close it.
Q. I know you were focused on the win and the performance tonight, it has to be a good night for Canadian soccer, and you Richie and Jacob combined nicely and you were playing against a young side with ten Canadians in the starting lineup. That has to bode well for the future.
JONATHAN OSORIO: Of course, this is great. It's great. It's a great night. It's great that their team got to experience playing against a team like the MLS even though this season maybe it's not going well for us, but still, in the MLS, any team can beat any team, and the level is pretty high.
So it's a good chance -- I think it was a good chance for them to feel that, feel the players and feel the atmosphere, the little bit of atmosphere that was there in BMO. These are experiences that these players are going to take and get better from. Yeah, great.
Actually I like a few of their players. They have really young players on that team and I see the sport is growing here. The sport is growing. The CPL keeps growing. The level of the CPL is growing each year. You know, I keep -- this result went the way it went, but you know, York, they are doing well. They are right there in the mid-table fighting in the league, and there's other teams that are doing well against the MLS teams in this tournament.
This tournament is really great for that I think and for the growth of the sport here in our country and yeah, like I said, I am for the CPL -- if I had to choose a team, I spoke with Jim Brennan and got to catch up with him a little bit and told him good luck for the rest of the season and if there's a team I support, it's them. Yeah, happy with the win. Happy, also, for the young players on their team to get that experience.
Q. In terms of the young Canadians, we talked about Jacob and the job that he did tonight, as well as Jahkeele and Noble coming on and scoring a goal, what can you say about their involvement and what they were able to continue tonight?
JONATHAN OSORIO: It was good. It's very positive for our team for the club to see those young players being productive for our team in a game lake this. This is what we want from them, and this is what we need to do, you know, moving forward each game, taking it as an opportunity to show that they need to be on the field, and yeah, so obviously we are all really happy with them.
Jacob has been in a good form the last few games and he's gaining confidence and he needs to improve a lot still, and he needs to improve and he can. As long as he keeps working hard, and learning from every game.
Then Jahkeele is a very young kid, I think he has so much potential. You know, we saw today him winning the penalty for us was great.
And then Noble coming on in the little minutes that he has and finding the goal, that's what you need to do as a young player. These are the things that gets you playing time and little by little, you need to be productive and earn the trust of the coach and the club. So this is a great game. It was a great game by the young players, and you know, they have to keep going, though. They can't be just satisfied with this happening. They need to look to do this every game.
DraftScripts by ASAP Sports
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports