The teams are back on the field this Thursday and most players will be looking to shed some pounds after the Christmas break.

Maestros vs Whitewalkers

The Fall Champs will need to hold off the Whitewalkers if they want to stay in first place.  Can their strikers get along?

Blue Lightning vs the Black Team

The Black Team ended 2015 with an emphatic win over the Bad Apples.  After a lot of frustrating weeks, they finally look like a team.

OTPP Utd vs Bad Apples

The Bad Apples need to rebound after their horrific 10-3 loss to the Black Team.  Have they recovered yet?

The notion of a Fall Champion is used in some parts of Europe.  It’s recognition for the team that leads the table heading into the Christmas break.  Last season it was Real Deal who won the honours and they went on to win the league.  There are 4 teams in contention with Blue Lightning in pole position.  Here are the scenarios:

Blue Lightning

• clinch title with a win over Maestros
• a draw is enough IF BOTH Bad Apples and Whitewalkers FAIL to win their games

Bad Apples & Whitewalkers

• Both teams need to win their games AND hope that Blue Lightning loses
• If this happens, whoever wins by a larger margin would take the crown as goal difference is the tie-breaker

Maestros

• need to beat Blue Lightning AND hope that both Bad Apples and Whitewalkers FAIL to win their games

 

It’s Blue Lightning v Maestros and Whitewalkers vs OTPP Utd @ 6 pm while Bad Apples and the Black Team face off at 7 pm.

Bad Apples (WDDWW) vs Blue Lightning (LWWWL) 6 pm

It’s first vs second as the undefeated Bad Apples take on Blue Lightning.  The team who sits in first place before the Christmas break gets the title of Fall Champions.  A win for the Apples will just about get them there.  For their part, the Lightning have 2 players who were fall champs last year so they have the pedigree.

Prediction: 4-2 Bolts

The Black Team (LLLLL) vs Whitewalkers (WDDLW) 6 pm

The All-blacks have to get it done this week.  Starting the season with 5 losses was unexpected and they need to step it up.  For the most part they’ve held their own this season but the ball just isn’t rolling in their favour.  The Whitewalkers are not known for showing mercy and this week will be no different.  With a win this week, they’re in position to be Fall Champs.

Prediction: 3-1 Whitewalkers

Maestros (WWDLL) vs OTPP Utd (LLDWW) 7 pm

These two teams are on opposite trajectories after the first 5 matches.  Maestros started well but are now struggling while OTPP Utd picked it up after a slow start.  Rumour has it some key players are missing for OTPP Utd and their ability to cope will be put to the test.

Prediction: Maestros 3-0

 

 

 

The Black Team vs OTPP Utd

It’s a basement battle as 5th place takes on 6th!  The Black Team will gunning for their first points of the season.  They’re taking longer to gel than other teams but progress is being made.  Ronalduy is 5 goals off the pace on the scorers table and he’ll look to address that this Thursday.  OTPP Utd wants to make it two in a row and leapfrog the Whitewalkers into 4th place.  Guest players from last week, Bouchard and Grzinic will not suit up for this game.  Apparently, United would have won without them and they say this with a straight face.

Blue Lightning vs Whitewalkers

The Whitewalkers still take great pleasure in beating the Lightning in week 1.  Captain Theo Blanchard was overheard still gloating about the result 3 weeks later.  Such gloating is usually an attempt to hide a lack of self-belief.  We know that Theo wants to be like The Rock but this ain’t wrasslin’!

Maestros vs Bad Apples

The primetime game promises to be a scintillating affair.  The Apples were arguably favourites heading into the season while the Maestros flew under the radar.  Metinho has fully recovered from the devastating blow to his manhood.  Scott has returned to lead his team to victory.  The players from the 6 pm games won’t want to miss this one!

Battle for First

It’s a battle for first place this Thursday when the number two ranked Blue Lightning face off against a still undefeated Maestros FC. With both these teams are averaging nearly four goals per game, Thursday evening’s matchup promises to be a high-scoring, exciting affair.

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Dead Men Walking

After securing three points in their season-opening game, Whitewalkers FC have tied in back-to-back matches. They’ll aim to get back on track with a win this week. OTPP United, coming off their first point of the season, stand in their way.

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Bottom Feeders

This is not the start that captain RonalDuy was looking for as The Black Team have not secured a single point in their first three matches. Coming off an embarrassing 7-2 shellacking in week 3, something needs to change. Bad Apples FC won their first matchup with The Black Team but with both sides severely undermanned this week, nobody can guess how this match will go.

The Toronto Champions League enters its third week.  The first two have been competitive and so far, there isn’t much separating the 6 teams.

A Perfect Start

Maestros FC is the only team with full points from their first 2 games.  Their come from behind victory last week was a real show of character.  Metinho and his team will be looking to make it 3 for 3 when they line up against Whitewalkers FC.  If not for a last second tying goal, Whitewalkers would also be 2 for 2 heading into this match.  Haddi has scored 5 of Maestro’s 8 goals and will now face last season’s player of the year Dan McNiece.  The Whitewalkers are aiming to be “the end” to the perfect start.  Winter is coming.

The Infrastructure Derby

When Blue Lightning take the field against the All Blacks, no less than 5 players from the Infrastructure group will feature.  The Bolts have 3 of them in Vince, Scott & Brad.  They’re as good on the field as they are in the office and are looking to secure bragging rights on the 7^th floor.  Nicolas Ress is expected to make his debut this week and long with Jeff McCabe, they make up the other side of Infrastructure.  There’s nothing more important in amateur sport than bragging rights and whoever wins them, will undoubtedly use them shamelessly until the next time these teams meet.

Here Comes the Juggernaut

OTPP United has lost both of their matches and are going to unleash the Juggernaut.  Two losses out of two games is unacceptable as far as JJ is concerned.  Brace yourself Bad Apples.  For their part, the Apples are up to the task and don’t feel much like losing.  Ireland just qualified for EURO 2016 and Sean Kinsella wants to celebrate with a victory in the TCL.  This game is the talk of the league and a strong fan turnout is expected.

Welcome everyone to another great year of OTPP soccer! First off a big thank you to the two commissioners of the league for putting everything together, Ivan Gojmerac and David Ashton have done a fantastic job and we all appreciate their efforts!

For those that are new to the league we normally have a small write up recapping games and calling out key players and interesting circumstances. Because there are no games we’ll simply talk about some the teams and all the anticipation surrounding this season.

Duy and Mario are back on the same team (The Black Team) – better known as Batman and Robin, you can decide which is who – they’ll have the assistance of John Altinian this year who after a few years hiatus has re-joined the league. It’s good to have you back John!

David Ashton has rebuilt his team from ashes and has a new crop of players on OTPP United. He’ll have “Pistol” Pauly and Natasha “Hot Foot” Trabulsey along with perhaps one of the most exciting players in the league, JJ “Half Man-Half Amazing”, covering defense.

Bad Apples head into this season as one of the favorites and for good reason. This team can really move the ball folks! Look out for Sean Kinsella in the midfield!

There are so many questions to answer and so little soccer time to be had, get your popcorn ready because it’s going to be a fun ride! Enjoy the first week of games everyone!

-Fernando “Loudmouth” Ayala

Whether you’ve been keeping fit over the summer or are looking to get back into shape, we hope to see plenty of new and old faces during the second season of Toronto Champions League. Kickoff is less than two months away!
The four teams of Toronto Champions League might have had their seasons end differently but it’s a new year and they all have the same objective: win. We’ll recap the season each team had last year, starting with our champions.

Real Deal
Real Deal started their season off strong, leading the standings as the league broke for Christmas holidays. Returning from break, the team had to rebuild chemistry as co-op Christine Zhu joined the league for a four month stint. Facing surging Bayern Munich and Calaveras FC squads, Real Deal slipped a spot down the standings and finished their year in second place. No longer favourites to win the title, Real Deal made quick work of The Gunners in semi-final action and got set to face off against Calaveras FC for the championship. Falling behind, the team showed no quit as they battled back to tie the game at 2-2. Goalkeeping and luck would be on their side as they won 6-5 on penalty shots.

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Calaveras FC
The start of the season was one to forget for the players on Calaveras FC. Scraping together only a few wins during the first half of the season, things looked grim for the squad. The team was reawakened by acquisitions of Salar Modaressi and Derek Chan, and a new face at the helm as Scott Tudo replaced Nasim Zoubeiri as team captain. However, the deficit was too great to overcome as Calaveras finished the regular season in dead last. Undeterred, they stomped the regular season champs, Bayern Munich, 12-3 on aggregate in their semi-final matchup. Now favourites to win the title, they fell just short and settled for silver behind Real Deal. Despite the second place finish, Calaveras had one of the most successful seasons between the four teams.

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Bayern Munich
This team looked nearly unbeatable. Rostering both the Golden Boot winner Duy Nguyen, who scored an astonishing 41 goals in 21 matches, and the Golden Ball winner, Daniel McNiece, the team leap-frogged Real Deal and The Gunners during the second half of the season to finish first in the tables. But their dreams of a championship were smashed as Calaveras FC stunned them in the semi-finals. Fighting to save face, Bayern looked to walk away with bronze. They made quick work of The Gunners, winning in a decisive 6-2 victory.

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The Gunners
Finishing only a couple points behind Real Deal at the Christmas Break, the inaugural season started strong for The Gunners. But their championship hopes would slip away as they returned from the Christmas break. Losses of Andrew Sharp and Andrew Winnett, and the addition of Patrick Polkowski changed the dynamic of the team. Thrown back into the ring, the team could not find their groove and failed to string together wins, finishing the league in third place. Losing 6-1 to Real Deal in the first game of their semi-final matchup, they showed flashes of brilliance in the second leg, scoring four goals. But the deficit was too much to overcome as they lost on aggregate. Their third place hopes were no better. As valiantly as they fought on the pitch, they fell to the power of Bayern Munich. Despite the loss, they’re still all smiles.

If the real Bayern Munich’s thrashing of Porto yesterday afternoon taught us anything it’s that no first-leg lead is safe. With that being said, both Bayern Munich and The Gunners will need to come back from the brink of death to take down Calaveras FC and Real Deal respectively.

Calaveras FC vs Bayern Munich
Calaveras leads 6-1 after the first leg. Bayern will need to win by 6 or more to guarantee advancement to the championship game. A loss, draw, or win by four goals or fewer will hand Bayern a loss on aggregate and a ticket to the consolation round. A 5-0 win for Bayern will not be enough, as Calaveras will win the tiebreaker with their 6 away goals in the first leg. A score of 7-2, 8-3, 9-4, etc. in Bayern’s favour will see them through while a 6-1 Bayern win means penalty kicks.

Real Deal vs The Gunners
The Gunners are only slightly better off than Bayern as they need a 5 goal win to guarantee a chance at the championship. A Real Deal win, draw, or Gunners win of 3 or fewer goals will not be enough, and will give Real Deal the aggregate win. A score of 4-0 advances The Gunners to the championship, while a Gunners win of 6-2, 7-3, 8-4, etc. gives Real Deal the win on away goals. A 5-1 Gunners win will send the game to penalty kicks.

The playoffs are here and the first leg of the semi-finals will be played this Thursday!

Bayern Munich (1) vs Calaveras (4)

These teams met 8 times during the regular season with Bayern winning 4, Calaveras 3 and one game ending in a draw.  Bayern are regular season champs and are the only team to finish with a positive goal difference.  RonalDuy led the league with an impressive 41 goals which was an average of 2 goals per game.  The scoring title was decided in the first week, much to the chagrin of Duy’s many rivals.  Calaveras started poorly but finished strong and made a run at third place.  When Salar joined the league he said things were about to change and he was right.  They may have finished fourth, but the bookies have them as the favourites to win it all.  It’ll be a great match on Thursday and what role will Mr. Clean play in it?

Real Deal (2) vs Gunners (3)

Real Deal won 5 of 8 matches against the Gunners this year including a 3 goal comeback in the last 5 minutes for one of their wins.  This was a familiar story for the Gunners in the second half of the season as they couldn’t finish off their opponents.  They finished off the season with an emphatic win though and that’ll give them confidence heading into the semi-finals.  Real Deal have had a fairly consistent season and head into the semi-finals full of optimism.  They were the only team to not be shut out this year and every single player, including goalkeeper Kevin Bonner have scored goals.

Two Leg Format

Bayern Munich and Real Deal are the home teams for the first leg.  If the aggregate score is tied after both legs, the team who scores more “away” goals will advance to the final.   If they’re still tied, a penalty shootout will take place.  Each team will take 3 penalties and if that doesn’t settle it, it will be sudden death where the two teams exchange single penalties until we have a winner.

 

Referee says PLAAAAY!