TORONTO — His face concealed by a scarf under a tuque, Toronto FC defender Chris Mavinga looked more like he was going to rob a bank than kick a ball Monday.
It was minus-5 Celsius — feeling like minus-14 with the wind chill, according to Environment Canada — during Toronto's late-morning practice at BMO Field in preparation for Tuesday's return leg of the Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League round-of-16 tie against Panama's Club Atletico Independiente de la Chorrera.
To no one's surprise, soccer, February and Toronto don't really go together.
The forecast for Tuesday night calls for a low of minus-9, which will feel like minus-16 with a 30 per cent change of precipitation.
Independiente won the first leg 4-0 last Tuesday in the heat of Panama, leaving Toronto a huge hole to dig itself out of. TFC will need to score a bucketful of goals and keep Independiente off the score sheet, given away goals count double in case of an aggregate tie.
Midfielder Jonathan Osorio says the Toronto mood is positive despite the "eye-opener" in Panama.
"We have 90 minutes to turn this around," he said. "It's not impossible. It's been done around the world ... We're confident."
Failure to advance, after reaching the final of last year's competition, will add to the black cloud hanging over TFC, whose bid to turn the page after a poor league campaign in 2018 has been overtaken by the departure of high-profile players like Sebastian Giovinco and Victor Vazquez.
Toronto coach Greg Vanney says his team can't be reckless in its bid to keep the scoreboard ticking over.
"We need to try to work our way back into this series one goal at a time," he said. "But we need to play smart. We can't come out mindless and just chasing goals."
"If we can tick off one (goal) relatively early and start to build some momentum, then some good things can come out of it," he added. "It's going to be uncomfortable, I would think, for the opposition. So we just have to give them a reason to doubt themselves on the night a little bit but we've got to do so in a smart and calculated way."
Earlier Monday, the city of Toronto issued an extreme cold weather alert, which is triggered when Environment Canada forecasts a temperature of minus-15 Celsius or colder, or a wind chill of minus-20 or colder. The alert cites groups at risk, which includes "people who work or do physical activities outside for extended periods."
The alert was issued shortly after Environment Canada ended its wind warning and blowing snow advisory for the region. But the frigid conditions did not stop Toronto captain Michael Bradley, Drew Moor, Liam Fraser and rookie Griffin Dorsey from wearing shorts at training. Moor didn't even wear head gear.
"Yeah, it's cold," said Osorio, a native of Brampton, Ont. "It's cold for us but for them even worse."
The Panamaians trained Monday afternoon.
"I think they'll be excited to see snow — for the first time, maybe, for some of them," said Osorio. "Playing will be very difficult for them, for sure."
Down in La Chorrera, sunscreen was needed. Monday offered a high of 33 Celsius with sun, cloud and a few showers.
The Independiente players were up to the task as they emerged for training at BMO Field. Two wore shorts, several had bare arms and there was little said as the business-like team, which looked less bundled up than Toronto, took the field.
"The temperature will be a factor that will affect us somehow, but we are hopeful we will make it to the next round," coach Fran Perlo, a Venezuelan, said through an interpreter. "We have to forget about the weather."
Asked how many layers he will wear Tuesday night, Osorio replied: "As much as I can to be warm but to (be able to) move."
"Listen, it is what it is," he added. "I'm interested to see how many layers their players wear."
Toronto will be without striker Jozy Altidore, whose return from ankle surgery has been slowed by a non-related knee irritation. Moor and winger Nick DeLeon are both available after missing the last game.
The playing surface will be less than ideal.
New sod was laid in November at BMO Field, with plans to stitch in hybrid roots in April to help strengthen the playing surface. But in the meantime it's February and very cold, hardly conducive to growing grass.
The field does have underground heating. But the cold temperatures will likely restrict watering it pre-game, meaning the surface won't be as fast as the Toronto players like.
The opening leg was played on slow artificial turf in Panama.
Toronto reached the Champions League final last year, beating the Colorado Rapids and Mexico's Tigres UANL and Club America to reach the final before losing via penalty shootout to Chivas Guadalajara.
Toronto kicks off the MLS season Saturday in Philadelphia. Vanney expects defender Eriq Zavaleta to be back to full health by then
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Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press
