TFC Republic Weekly: June 23-29

Welcome to the latest edition of TFC Republic Weekly, an email newsletter that will land in the inbox of both paid subscribers and free members of TFC Republic every Monday.

This newsletter will look at what's in store over the next seven days for Toronto FC, and also get a glimpse of what to expect at TFC Republic in the coming days.

So, without further ado...

TFC returns to action with 2 home games

After an extra-long sabbatical, Toronto FC returns to action this week with a pair of important home games. 

TFC welcome the New York Red Bulls to BMO Field on Wednesday (7:30 p.m. ET/Apple TV) and then host the Portland Timbers on Saturday (7:30 p.m. ET/Apple TV)

The Reds have been idle since a 2-0 home loss to Charlotte FC on May 31 and will have been off for 25 days by the time it takes to the pitch to take on Portland. Toronto entered this break riding a three-game losing streak and having lost seven times in their previous nine league games.

How will TFC respond after a laboured start to the MLS season that saw them go 3-10-4? Can a team currently sitting in 14th place in the Eastern Conference (five spots and 12 points out of a playoff berth) dig themselves out of this big hole?

If TFC have any hope of qualifying for the post-season, they'll have to take at least four points from this week's games. But that will be a tough task for a side that will be without Richie Laryea, Deybi Flores and Tyrese Spicer (away on Gold Cup duty) and who is still dealing with injuries.

Jonathan Osorio sent home from Gold Cup

Veteran midfielder Jonathan Osorio has left the Canadian men's team camp at the Concacaf Gold Cup with a lower-body injury. 

Canada Soccer confirmed on Sunday that the Toronto FC captain will miss the rest of the tournament. Osorio suffered the injury in training the day before Canada's match vs. Curaçao on Saturday. 

Per Concacaf rules, he can't be replaced on Canada's roster. Osorio was the most experienced member of coach Jesse Marsch's squad with 85 caps. He had yet to play at this year's tournament. 

Osorio was sidelined with a shoulder injury after an April 30 Canadian Championship match vs. CF Montreal before returning on May 24 in an MLS game against Nashville SC. 

TFC Republic will get a full injury update on Osorio following TFC's training session on Tuesday. 

CanMNT and CanWNT in action this week

Both the Canadian men's and women's teams will take to the pitch this week in important games. 

Jesse Marsch's team meets El Salvador on Tuesday (10:00 p.m. ET/OneSoccer & TSN) in Houston in its final match of the round robin. Canada is coming off a disappointing 1-1 draw vs. Curaçao on the weekend, blowing its chance to book a spot in the knockout round with a game to spare. 

Canada still sits in first place in Group B with four points, ahead of Honduras (three points), Curaçao (two points) and El Salvador (one point). A win or draw vs. El Salvador would be good enough for the Canadians to advance to the quarter-finals. A loss could mean their elimination from the tournament. 

The women's team hosts Costa Rica in an international friendly at Toronto's BMO Field on Friday (7:30 p.m. ET/OneSoccer). Canada has won all 17 previous meetings with Costa Rica, outscoring the Central Americans 53-6. 

Canada is No. 8 in the FIFA world rankings. Costa Rica is No. 43.  

"We were aware that Costa Rica is far lower ranked, a little bit more unpredictable, but [they're] going to be hard to break down ... So, it's a good opportunity for us to play against the team like that, where we have to have more off the ball and break them down," coach Casey Stoney said last week. 

Stoney's squad will use this game and a friendly vs. the United States on July 2 at Audi Field in Washington, D.C. to prepare for the qualifiers for the 2027 FIFA World Cup in Brazil which kick off next year. 

RELATED READING: Newsletter || Features || Match reports || Opinion || Q&As || Videos || News || Transactions || TFC 2 ||

Stories to look out for at TFC Republic 

Toronto FC faces a lot of pressing questions going into the second half of the MLS season. Foremost among them is what, if anything, GM Jason Hernandez will do during the summer transfer window to strengthen his squad. I'll have a special feature story on the major storylines surrounding TFC during the back end of the campaign. Look for that story to be published on Tuesday.  

Other stories that will be published later this week include:               

• In-depth pre- and post-game coverage of Toronto's match vs. the New York Red Bulls.    
• An audio interview piece with Michael Battista of New York Sports Nation ahead of Wednesday's home game vs. New York.  
• In-depth pre- and post-game coverage of Toronto's match vs. Portland.    
• An audio interview piece with Tyson Alger of The I-5 Corridor ahead of Saturday's home game vs. Portland.  
• Regular "TFC Tidbits" stories throughout the week.      
• A new TFC Talk interview with beat reporter James Grossi.         
• The reader mailbag.      
• The weekly TFC 2 report.   
• In-depth pre- and post-game coverage of the Canadian men's team's match vs. El Salvador.        
• In-depth pre- and post-game coverage of the Canadian women's team's match vs. Costa Rica.        
• And much more! 

TFC Republic mailbag

TFC Republic will feature a regular reader mailbag column where I answer questions from subscribers about Toronto FC and Canadian soccer in general.

I'll answer the best questions submitted to me by TFC Republic readers, so feel free to drop me an email at jmo1897@gmail.com. You can also reach out to me via Twitter.

(Top photo by Lucas Kschischang/Toronto FC)

TFC Republic has a comments section! At the very bottom of every story, there is a feature where you can post your comments, so be sure to share your thoughts and views.