After scoring his second goal of the game on Saturday against New England, midfielder Amado Guevara rushed towards the Toronto FC bench and opened and closed his hand to simulate someone talking.
This unusual celebration was explained after the game by TFC interim head coach Chris Cummins. Guevara's gesture was the result of a promise made by Cummins before the match that might result in the coach looking for a language teacher.
"Every time I give the team talk [Amado] keeps telling me to give it in Spanish," Cummins said. "He understands English but he keeps telling me to give it in Spanish. I said listen, if you score two goals I'll do the next one in Spanish. So he came up to me after the second goal and said you'd better start learning Spanish. And I haven't got a clue. I think I'll have Daso [assistant coach Nick Dasovic] do the next one because he talks all languages."
While Cummins may be in the market for a Spanish-to-English dictionary, the coach was nevertheless pleased over Guevara's performance and TFC's overall play in the 3-1 (or, tres a uno) victory against the Revolution. Guevara's second goal, off a superb direct free kick from 40 yards out, came just two minutes after Dwayne De Rosario gave Toronto the lead with a strike that eluded Revs goalkeeper Matt Reis.
The three unanswered goals following a Shalrie Joseph header in the 13th minute added up to a sorely needed burst of attack for the Reds on their home field. Toronto had scored just four goals in six previous home league matches this season, and Saturday's match marked the first time in 2009 that TFC had scored more than once in a game at BMO Field.
Though the Reds had still managed a 2-2-2 home record (plus 1-0 wins against Vancouver and Montreal in the Nutrilite Canadian Championship) in spite of their lack of scoring prowess, the team was relieved to enter the closing minutes on Saturday without clinging to just a one-goal lead.
"We've been having a hard time finishing over the last couple of games and thankfully we bounced back and finished our chances," De Rosario said. "To look up at the clock and see at 90 minutes that you have a two-goal lead, it's a great feeling. It takes a lot of pressure off the defense, a lot of pressure off the midfield and we just have to worry about closing off the game."
Toronto again created a number of chances, notching new season highs in both shots (10) and shots on goal (16). It was perhaps not a coincidence that this scoring outburst came in the same match where club all-time scoring leader Danny Dichio made his first start since May 2. The veteran forward had been limited to a reserve role due both to a recent stomach illness and Cummins' desire to keep the 34-year-old Dichio as fresh as possible.
On Saturday, Dichio factored into all three TFC goals. He assisted Guevara's first goal by providing the final pass to the Honduras international, and then sprung De Rosario loose in the second half on a flick pass from midfield.
"Within that system we play it's a great role for Danny because he links the play up so well," Cummins said. "For a big guy he's got good feet. I just said to him just get amongst the two center halves and lead the play.
"It's a system we worked on and spoke about it and we wanted to get more support around Danny. Get the quality into him because you know the big fella is going to have that quality."
This sort of a playmaking role is a bit of a departure for Dichio, who has been used as the feature target up front for virtually all of his long career in England, Italy and in his three years in Major League Soccer. The veteran said that he will accept any job given to him just as long it helps the Reds win games.
"That's what I'm in the team for," Dichio said. "I'm not going to score 20 goals a season, but if I can assist or create a little bit of havoc up there ... I try to do as much as I can."
Dichio even played a part in the final goal of the match. After Revolution midfielder Wells Thompson was booked for a foul, TFC was awarded a direct free kick. Guevara lined up on the left sideline, roughly 40 yards from the goal, but despite the distance sent a tremendously well-placed kick towards the upper-right corner of the net.
Dichio was standing in front of the goal looking for a possible header, but when he noticed the ball was on a beeline for the top of the net, he simply acted as a decoy to distract Reis from making a play for Guevara's shot.
"I thought I was a bit under the ball and I thought if I had got a touch I might have taken it off-target," Dichio said. "I've been in many of those kinds of situations where the ball ends up in the back of the net [and] no one touches it because the goalkeeper is waiting for the touch for someone like myself or a defender. It was a great free kick and I'm glad it went in the top corner."
Dichio said that he and Guevara joked that if he still had hair on his bald head, the goal might have been belonged to the English forward. Guevara affirmed that he, indeed, was the one who scored, noting Dichio's baldness with a chuckle.
"We practiced that kind of play," Guevara said. "When the ball is well-kicked, it is very difficult to pull in for the 'keeper."
While Cummins was pleased that his side was, at least for a few hours, once again in first place in the Eastern Conference, he was more satisfied by the fact that the Reds had finally delivered more than one conversion in front of the Toronto fans.
"We've been criticized as of late and we criticize ourselves as well, we've created a lot of chances and haven't been putting them away," Cummins said. "I'm pleased for the fans since they deserve to see a few goals here. We haven't been scoring enough so that one was for the fans."
Indeed, the words of a muy feliz coach.
