Toronto FC battled to take a point back home with them from a season-opening draw in D.C. on Saturday.
After going down twice during the game, goals from captain Jonathan Osorio and right-wing Federico Bernardeschi drew the game back level at 2-2.
With his goal, Osorio became the first player in club history to score a goal in 13 different seasons.
Despite a rocky start in the first half defensively, TFC rebounded to allow zero shots on target in the second half, and pushed to find a late winner but couldn’t find a third goal.
New head coach Robin Fraser said he was content with the team’s performance.
“Overall, I was really pretty pleased with [the performance],” Fraser told reporters post-game. “We’ll regret missing some of the chances that we did, but the fact that we were creating the chances is really good.”
Fraser also elected to play without an out-and-out striker in his starting lineup, as new signing Ola Brynhildsen isn’t match-fit yet, since he didn’t join the team until close to the end of camp.
“I don’t think it’ll be long before we see him,” the manager said of Brynhildsen. “But it really is a matter of making sure that we’re doing the best thing for him long-term and the best thing for us long-term.”
To counteract the lack of a proper centre-forward, wingers Bernardeschi and Theo Corbeanu played more narrow while Osorio looked to make runs into the penalty box from an attacking midfielder position.
There was one more notable absence on Toronto’s match-day roster.
Lorenzo Insigne, the second-highest-paid player in Major League Soccer (MLS) who received US$15.4 million in 2024 per the MLS Players Association, did not travel with the team and was not in the match-day squad.
Insigne has struggled mightily to stay healthy during his stint in Toronto, and while he’s shown some moments of magic, it’s hard to argue they come frequently enough to justify his pay grade.
When asked about Insigne in his end-of-season press conference in 2024, Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment CEO Keith Pelley said the club had to consider all possibilities when it came to Insigne’s future.
“Lorenzo is somebody that’s committed to Toronto, he’s given his heart and soul to Toronto,” Pelley said. “But in a rebuild, you have to evaluate everything.”
To Insigne’s credit, he showed up on time and ready for training camp, and did feature in a couple of pre-season games, though he was not starting or playing with the top group.
But, as TFC’s regular season started in D.C., the former Italy international remained in Canada.
Fraser said pre-game the club was “seeking some resolution” on Insigne’s status but didn’t have any other updates.
Corbeanu, who signed with Toronto on loan from Spanish side Granada this winter, started and made his MLS debut on the left wing, where Insigne usually plays.
Also making his MLS debut was 20-year-old Markus Cimermancic, who was one of the surprises of training camp.
Cimermancic earned himself a first-team contract after coming up through the TFC academy, playing the last three seasons with Toronto FC II in MLS Next Pro, the league’s under-23 developmental league.
“It was a dream come true,” he said. “I’ve been with the club since 2015, I’ve been just trying to get here for so long.”
“I still can’t believe it, to be honest,” Cimermancic said.
The youngster, who featured as a left wing-back against D.C. but can also play as a midfielder, played the full 90 minutes, completing 23 passes and winning 80 per cent of his duels.
“I think as the game went on, he really grew into it, and I thought he was very very solid,” Fraser said of Cimermancic.
Toronto are back on the road this Saturday as they travel to Florida, where they’ll face an Orlando side that dropped its opener 4-2.
