TFC Tidbits: Reds blank South Korean champs in pre-season

Welcome to TFC Tidbits, a special feature at TFC Republic that curates bits and pieces of news about what's going on with Toronto FC. 

Mihailovic, Laryea scored for TFC in a 2-0 win

Toronto FC cruised to a 2-0 victory over South Korean side Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors on Saturday in pre-season action from Spain.

Djordje Mihailovic and Richie Laryea scored against Jeonbuk, who are the reigning K League 1 champions and Korea Cup holders.  

Coach Robin Fraser fielded a pretty strong starting 11 on the day, setting his team up in a 3-2-4-1 formation with Laryea and Malik Henry on the wings:

It's still early in pre-season and far too premature to make any bold statements about TFC. But the Reds demonstrated in this game what made them so difficult to beat in the second half of last season. They effectively pressed all over the pitch and won a number of first and second balls, which played a part in them scoring both goals.

Toronto opened the scoring in the seventh minute after some patient build-up play that ended with Mihailovic latching onto a return pass from José Cifuentes into the box and slotting his low shot inside the near post.

Toronto doubled its advantage in the 56th minute when Laryea went on a lung-busting run down the middle that started in his end before unleashing an attempt from just outside of the penalty area that beat the goalkeeper at the far post. 

Fraser made wholesale changes in the 61st minute when he made 10 substitutions. Only Laryea stayed in the game. The Canadian international ended up being replaced in the 76th minute.

Kobe Franklin nearly made it 3-0 when his shot from 20 yards out hit the crossbar.

Jeonbuk have won the K League a record ten times, including five consecutive titles between 2017 and 2021, and the Korea Cup on six occasions. 

This was TFC’s second match of the pre-season, having battled South Korea’s Incheon United in a closed-door contest earlier this week.

Toronto’s next pre-season match in Spain is against Swedish club AIK Fotboll on Saturday, Feb. 7 (9:00 a.m. ET).

TFC open the 2026 MLS regular season away to FC Dallas on Saturday, Feb. 21.

(Top photo courtesy of Toronto FC)

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