Path To 2012/13 CCL Revealed
Toronto is still in the hunt for the present (2011/12) CONCACAF Champions League crown. However, on Friday the Canadian Soccer Association revealed official plans for Canadian teams’ path to the 2012/13 CCL tourney.
Winning the Voyageurs Cup – rebranded the Amway Canadian Championship – is the only way a Canadian professional team can vie for continental glory. Toronto is the three time defending champion of the tournament and will begin its defence on May 2 versus Montreal in the first of two legs at the Olympic Stadium.
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Video: Toronto players lift the Voyageurs Cup in 2011. |
The return fixture will be played at BMO Field on May 9. The winner of Toronto-Montreal will then take on the team that emerges from the Vancouver-Edmonton side of the bracket on May 16 and 23.
According to CSA, clubs were “seeded based on their 2011 league results in MLS and NASL (where Edmonton finished ahead of Montreal last year) respectively.” Toronto is the top seeded team based on MLS and NASL standings, Montreal the lowest, creating the first versus fourth side of the bracket in the first round.
Last year Toronto beat Edmonton in the first round then secured a CCL spot by defeating Vancouver over two legs. Toronto’s Joao Plata lifted the trophy as the best player of the 2011 Canadian Championship.
A fourth consecutive Voyageurs Cup title will put Toronto in the 2012/13 Champions League group stage instantly as CONCACAF has eliminated the CCL preliminary round.
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