It was arguably the biggest soccer game in Canadian history. Certainly it was the biggest and most exciting game the Toronto soccer team, Toronto FC, had ever played.
Last night, Toronto FC played LA Galaxy, which has superstar midfielder, David Beckham (#23) on its team.
Beckham is not just one of the world’s best soccer players; he’s also a world-famous celebrity.
The teams played a quarter-final match in the CONCACAF Champions League, which is a tournament featuring teams from North America, Central America and the Caribbean. It was the first time a Canadian team had been in the CONCACAF playoffs.
Toronto FC was in the playoffs because it is Canada’s 2011 championship team. That’s a decent achievement for the Toronto team, which has only been in professional soccer for six years.
The two teams played to a sold-out crowd of nearly 50,000 people at the Rogers Centre in Toronto. The Rogers Centre, which normally hosts the city’s baseball and football teams, was changed into a soccer venue for this one game; Toronto FC normally plays its games at BMO Field.
Going into the match, Toronto was the underdog. However, just 12 minutes into the game, Toronto’s Ryan Johnson (#9) put the ball over the head of the Galaxy’s goalkeeper to score the first goal, making it 1-o for Toronto. And the crowd, mostly wearing Toronto red, went wild.
And then, just a few minutes later, Toronto scored again. Toronto midfielder Luis Silva (#11) pushed it past the keeper with a nicely placed header; it was Silva’s first game as a professional soccer player — the “biggest game” of his life, he said on Toronto FC’s website.
LA Galaxy then scored a goal to make the score 2-1 for Toronto going into the second half.
With just two minutes to go in the game, LA tied it up with another goal; the final score was 2-2.
The two teams play each other again next Wednesday in Los Angeles.
CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS
By Jonathan Tilly
Writing/Discussion Prompt
What is the most exciting sporting event that you have ever watched live (in person)? Describe what made that event such a special one.
Reading Prompt: Metacognition
As you read today’s article, how did you figure out what information was the most important?
Primary
Identify, initially with some support and direction, what strategies they found
most helpful before, during, and after reading and how they can use these and
other strategies to improve as readers (OME, Reading: 4.1).
Junior
Identify the strategies they found most helpful before, during, and after reading and explain, in conversation with the teacher and/or peers or in a reader’s notebook, how they can use these and other strategies to improve as readers (OME, Reading: 4.1).
Intermediate
Identify a range of strategies they found helpful before, during, and after reading and explain, in conversation with the teacher and/or peers or in a reader’s notebook, how they can use these and other strategies to improve as readers (OME, Reading: 4.1).
Grammar Feature: Acronyms
Acronyms use the first letters of words in a phrase, to make another word.
In Toronto FC, “FC” stands for “Football Club.” The letters in CONCACAF stand for “Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football.”
What do you think these acronyms stand for?
PS ________________________
ASAP ______________________
RSVP ______________________
CBC _______________________
LOL _______________________
MPP _______________________
