Pacific FC won on the pitch but lost off it Wednesday.
The Canadian Premier League-leading club moved to 11-4-6 in league and 13-4-6 overall with a 3-1 victory over Valour FC (7-11-2 in league) at IG Field in Winnipeg.
But PFC learned that Jozy Altidore, Michael Bradley, Jonathan Osorio and Yeferson Soteldo will not be coming to Starlight Stadium. The Canadian Championship semifinal tie between PFC and Toronto FC of Major League Soccer will be played at BMO Field in Toronto on Nov. 3 after TFC鈥檚 six players have returned from 2022 World Cup qualifying play with their national teams. That is despite that Forge FC of the CPL will get to host CF Montreal of MLS at home at Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton in the other semifinal to take place Oct. 27. At stake is an automatic berth in the 2022 CONCACAF Champions League for the Canadian champion club.
The PFC-TFC semifinal would have been an assured sellout of 5,000 fans at Starlight 颅Stadium, the maximum attendance allowed for outdoor sporting events under current sa国际传媒 health guidelines. Even twice that number gets lost clanging around BMO Field.
鈥淚t鈥檚 no different than playing the Vancouver Whitecaps [in the victory over the MLS team in the Canadian Championship 颅opening round at Starlight], except that it will be on TFC鈥檚 field,鈥� said 颅Victor Blasco, who scored for PFC in the victory against 颅Valour FC.
鈥淲e have nothing to lose. Anything can happen. We are capable of anything.鈥�
Blasco scored his first goal of the season after missing the first portion due to travelling to Spain to be with his family following the death of his father.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not been the easiest of seasons for me,鈥� said Blasco.
鈥淏ut this team is like family to me.鈥�
PFC head coach 颅Pa-Modou Kah said third-season striker Blasco has been a key 颅component of PFC鈥檚 rise.
鈥淎dversity hit Victor before the season. But he hit the ground running when he returned and he truly deserved this goal,鈥� said Kah.
鈥淗e is an important piece of what we are doing.鈥�
PFC Striker Alejandro Diaz again showed why he has played for Mexico in U-23 and U-20, not easy to do, and also in the top Mexican pro league by scoring twice to push his season total to nine goals.
鈥淗onestly, Alejandro is huge for us,鈥� said Blasco. 鈥淗e rarely gives you a bad pass.鈥�
There is no argument from Kah.
鈥淸Diaz] has been fantastic with the professionalism and work rate that he brings,鈥� said the PFC bench boss.
Kah said the PFC road trip has been draining on several levels with the victory over Valour FC following the 1-0 Canadian Championship quarter-final victory over Cavalry FC in Calgary and the 2-1 league loss to two-time CPL champion Forge FC in Hamilton.
鈥淚t鈥檚 been a very emotional trip with growth shown as a team,鈥� said Kah.
鈥淭onight [in Winnipeg] was a fantastic performance by the boys. They dug in.鈥�
PFC plays FC Edmonton next Wednesday at Clarke Stadium in the Alberta capital.
