Not surprisingly, there was a large congregation of Spurs supporters at the stadium, with many of them getting their one chance of a lifetime to see the team they support. I'd say there was probably a 40-60 split between Spurs supporters and those wearing TFC/plain clothing. With friendlies of this nature, it was also not surprising to see fans wear gear of the rivals as well. I did see a handful of people wearing Arsenal gear, and I'll be honest, I hope they got jumped.
I make it to the stadium, meet my large group of friends and family, and perched myself at the top of 111 to watch the match.
Spurs came out for their warm-ups to a rousing cheer, but the loudest of cheers went towards Jermain Defoe, as he was playing against his old team. He received cheers from both Spurs and TFC fans.
The teams lined up, the anthems were played, and we were ready to go.
The 1st half was a little bit dull, to be honest. It was easy to see the gulf in quality between the strong EPL team and the mid-table MLS club. TFC struggled to get out of their own half while Spurs were applying the pressure, especially on Kyle Bekker in the centre of midfield. Erik Lamela scored 2 goals for Spurs (insert joke that this was his biggest contribution in a Spurs uniform) and the half ended 2-0 to the visitors from North London.
The atmosphere was a bit subdued and our section stayed sitting down, despite the section being a standing section. I'd like to give special props to the group of people at the top of 110 drumming up some sort of atmosphere with chants and singing. I'm pretty sure they were the only people in the entire stadium creating prolonged support for Toronto FC. Even the south stand was understandably dead.
There was an incident at around the 30th minute of the match when four people showed up very late to the row below me and threw a fit that people were sitting in the seats that they bought. Yes, they had those seats, but it was impossible to feel sympathy for them when they showed up so late. When you come to the stadium, show up on time! What a bunch of morons.
The 2nd half began. Spurs sat back and TFC went forward to try to get back into the match. Spurs were definitely trying in the 2nd half (that was sarcasm, by the way). Andrew Wiedeman scored for TFC to make the score 2-1, and then Jordan Hamilton scored with a nice finish past the ancient Brad Friedel to tie the match. Spurs then decided to try again and they got their winner from Andros Townsend to make the final score 3-2 to Tottenham.
After the match, I went over to where the Tottenham players were coming out to watch them write autographs to the supporters patiently waiting. I actually managed to shake hands with Christian Eriksen, while I got snubbed by Lewis Holtby and new manager Mauricio Pochettino.
All in all, it was an enjoyable night, especially for the Spurs supporters that came out. I'm happy that they got to see their idols and it gave them something to remember for the rest of their life. People will complain about friendlies, especially involving Toronto FC, but I hope they realize that the revenue potentials and the reach that it has in potentially bringing new supporters to BMO Field to watch TFC matches, for the most part, outweighs the fatigue and potential injuries that may happen to the Toronto FC players. Remember that Toronto FC is a business, and it needs to maximize profits. Would you rather they increase the prices of season tickets for next year in order to increase revenues?
Regardless, I had fun, and I'm glad I had a free ticket to this event.
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