THE CANADIAN PRESS
TORONTO — Toronto FC coach Predrag (Preki) Radosavljevic offered no apologies for keeping his top players off the field during a game against a touring English team on Wednesday, saying the demands of the Major League Soccer season supercede the international friendly.
The Bolton Wanderers won 4-3 in penalties after the game ended in a 1-1 draw, claiming the so-called Carlsberg Cup. Toronto fell to 0-4-3 all-time at BMO Field against international clubs, after academy player Oscar Cordon was stopped on Toronto’s final try from the spot.
"What do you think?" Preki said when asked about his lineup. "We have a game at four o’clock on Saturday that means a lot to us, and this game was fun. This was a game for our fans, and for some young players and some guys who came here for us to have a look at them."
Preki gave almost all of his regulars a night off, with the second half of the team’s MLS schedule set to begin on Saturday. Captain Dwayne De Rosario and goalkeeper Stefan Frei were not named to the squad, and were not among the nine potential substitutes.
At Bolton’s request, each team was permitted 11 substitutions. The Wanderers, three weeks from the start of their English Premier League season, were visiting Toronto in the finale of their three-game North American tour.
Spanish forward Miguel Angel Ferrer Martinez looked promising in his debut with Toronto, two weeks after signing with the club. The veteran striker, known widely as Mista, wore the captain’s armband in the first half and set up his team’s only goal of the game.
"When he touches the ball — at least I can tell — he has a special ability," Preki said. "Once he gets real fit, I think he’ll be able to show more of that ability."
Toronto signed Mista on July 6, but had to wait for the international transfer window to open on July 15 before it could insert him into the lineup. Preki had promised to play him for 45 minutes on Wednesday, and that is exactly what the Spanish veteran received, with his night coming to an end at halftime.
"Mista still … looked heavy, but that’s normal," Preki said. "For us, it’s very important that he steps on the field and gets some minutes, because he hasn’t played for a while."
Bolton opened its North American tour with a pair of wins over lesser teams from the United Soccer Leagues Second Division, and they continued to roll into the first half on Wednesday. Matt Taylor gave Toronto’s defence fits for the opening half-hour, and he gave Bolton a 1-0 lead with a snappy redirection in the 28th minute.
Toronto tied the game just before halftime after an inspired series of exchanges on the attack. Midfielder Jacob Peterson connected with Mista, who lifted a perfect pass in to Maicon Santos, who capped the play with a brilliant header toward the far corner of the net in the 46th minute.
Both teams made wholesale changes at the break.
Toronto auditioned players from its academy, and even looked to a couple of players on trial from the Canadian Soccer League. Drazen Vukovic, a midfielder from the Brantford Galaxy, was given a start alongside defender Mirko Medic, from the Serbian White Eagles.
"Everywhere we’ve been, it’s been a tough game," Bolton coach Owen Coyle said. "It gives us, as a group, a chance to build that bond, that team spirit that we have."
Toronto FC academy player Nicholas Lindsay narrowly missed on a pair of glorious chances from deep inside the Bolton box in the 66th minute, sending one shot off a defender’s leg, and dribbling the rebound into the goalkeeper’s hand.
Toronto hosts FC Dallas on Saturday as it hits the back stretch of the MLS regular season schedule. The Canadian side set a franchise record with an 11-game unbeaten streak over all competitions through the first half, a run which included a successful defence of its Nutrilite Canadian Championship title.
Coyle did not seem bothered that very few of the players from that run were on the field to play Bolton on Wednesday.
"I thought the atmosphere was brilliant," he said. "There was some good play, understanding that it was an exhibition match, and, as such, it doesn’t have the same intensity as a normal league game."
TFC loses on penalties to EPL club Bolton
