TORONTO — One week after holding the Western Conference-leading Vancouver Whitecaps to a scoreless draw at BMO Field, winless Toronto FC hits the road to take on league-leading Inter Miami on Sunday.
Miami (4-0-1) and Lionel Messi top the Supporters' Shield standings, 11 points and 25 places ahead of TFC (0-4-2).
"Certainly another huge, huge test for us," said Toronto coach Robin Fraser. "We don't even need to go into the amount of talent that they have on that team.
"So for us it's another week where we have to work really hard, we have to work cohesively as a unit. We have to defend well, we have to take care of the ball and then we have to be sharp in the attacking end of the field. It's a team that can hurt you in so many different ways that we really have to be a very, very solid group. There is no one player that's going to make the difference for us. It's about what we do collectively."
Miami is coming off a 1-0 loss Wednesday at Los Angeles FC in the opening leg of their CONCACAF Champions Cup quarterfinal. It marked the Herons' first setback of the campaign after an 8-0-1 start across all competitions.
Messi started that game after missing out on Argentina national team duty during the March international window due to an adductor injury.
Sunday marks Miami's third game in eight days with a busy week to follow — starting Wednesday with the return leg of the CONCACAF Champions Cup tie before a weekend trip to resurgent Chicago. It's a scheduling logjam that may prompt coach Javier Mascherano to keep some of his powder dry by rotating the roster.
Fraser doesn't see that as much of a plus.
"What's a break? You don't get Messi, but you get (Luis) Suarez, (Jordi) Alba and (Sergio) Busquets?" he asked.
"I think because they are so talented that they can afford to rest a few people. But it doesn't make them really less dangerous," he added. "Obviously, you take Messi off the field, that changes things. But if you take him off the field, you still have a lot of really good players. A lot of really experienced players, guys who can hurt you in different ways."
Fraser liked his team's resilience and fight in the draw with Vancouver, calling it a performance the team can build off. But he says change takes time after missing the playoffs for four straight seasons.
"If we were to think that we were going to snap our fingers and have it happen overnight, that would have been the height of naivete," he said. "So for me, I think we are head down, working on things. We're seeing progress. I would say probably the last 10 or 12 days have been pretty exciting for us, just because we're seeing tangible progress.
"We need to get results for the rest of the world to start to see that progress. But we feel like it's a process."
They are also seeing different conditions, which include snow Wednesday.
After playing in freezing rain last Saturday, Toronto can expect 27 C for Sunday's evening kickoff in Fort Lauderdale.
"I hate playing in heat and humidity, so for me this would be a nightmare," said Fraser, a former two-time MLS Defender of the Year.
"It's difficult," he added. "It's one of the things about this league. You talk about the travel and the distances you have to go to play. The other thing you have to (handle) is extremes in weather conditions."
Fraser's distaste towards heat and humidity comes despite having grown up in Miami and attending Florida International University. He was 11 when his family moved from Jamaica.
His brother and sister both still live in Florida.
Amazingly, Fraser has never coached against Miami, which entered the league in 2020.
Toronto will be without fullback Richie Laryea, who is expected to miss four to six weeks with a hamstring injury, and forward Deandre Kerr (high ankle strain). On the plus side, newly acquired Swiss/Spanish midfielder Maxime Dominguez is available although for how many minutes is questionable given he has not played a competitive game in three weeks.
Toronto sent US$275,000 in general allocation money to Sporting Kansas City on Friday for an international roster spot to fit Dominguez into the squad.
Veteran defender Kevin Long (hamstring) has returned to training.
Miami holds an 8-2-0 edge in career league meetings with Toronto. But it took a 93rd-minute goal by Ecuadorean forward Leo Campana, now with New England, for Miami to win 1-0 at BMO Field in Toronto's regular-season finale Oct. 5.
Miami also won, in a 4-3 shootout, when the teams met at Chase Field in Leagues Cup play in August, with Lorenzo Insigne scoring twice for Toronto in a losing cause.
With 11 goals scored for a 2.20 average per outing, Miami ranks fourth in the league on offence. On the other side, Toronto is tied for 27th in the league in goals allowed, giving up 2.0 goals a game (compared to 1.0 for Miami).
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 4, 2025
Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press
