With TFC undergoing so many changes last season, both in terms of personnel and organizational philosophy, 2011 was certainly a year in which most of the players on the Toronto squad barely had a chance to catch their breath. That said, maybe more than any other player on the roster, Terry Dunfield experienced a genuine whirlwind of a calendar year.
After making the decision to leave England to return home to British Columbia to be a key player on a Whitecaps squad making its debut in Major League Soccer, the Vancouver native very quickly experienced the highs of scoring in Vancouver’s first MLS fixture against Toronto, captaining the Whitecaps through much of the early part of the 2011 campaign and then scoring a cracker of a goal for the Canadian Men’s National Team in front of a home crowd at BMO Field in Toronto.
However, Dunfield also struggled with injuries for much of the year, found himself traded from his hometown club in the summer and had to integrate himself into a TFC club that was very much undergoing a major transition at the time that he arrived at the club. To top all of that off, the affable former Manchester City midfielder would end the calendar year by undergoing hernia surgery.
RedNation had the chance to catch up with Dunfield and asked the Canadian International how he was feeling following his offseason surgery.
“I'm feeling good and I feel strong. It's almost like a miracle surgery. You can be back in as little as two weeks after it. It was fantastic for Toronto to send me there. Everything was successful and, with a little bit of luck, I should be ready for the games in Orlando and I should be ready for selection against the Galaxy,” said Dunfield.
Asked if the injury affected his play last season, the former U-20 Canadian National Team captain indicated that while he wasn’t 100%, he was able to battle through the situation and did not let it affect him that much in terms of his performance on the pitch.
“I think everything was good in Vancouver. Everything went fine into the Gold Cup and in the first half of the season I played a lot of games. Once I came to Toronto, it wasn't quite right, but the medical staff here were fantastic. They were able to get me ready for games and though I wasn't 100%, I was able to contribute when called upon.”
Like many of the returning players on Toronto FC’s 2012 roster. Dunfield is now embarking upon his first preseason with the team and he is looking to take advantage of the significant training time with his teammates to prepare for what he expects will be another extremely busy season.
“That's a big part of any season. Getting to know the strengths and weaknesses of players and what the manager wants. I have an idea from last season for sure, but getting through a preseason strong and healthy and ready for the long slog ahead of us is vital.”
While Dunfield is one of the veterans that TFC Head Coach Aron Winter will be counting on to lead the large number of young players on his roster, it is important to remember that the midfielder was a newcomer to Major League Soccer just last March. And according to the veteran of English football, he expects that all of the foreign imports on the team will benefit greatly from the MLS experience they gained in 2011.
“A rookie into the league at 28 doesn't quite sound right, but this league is its own beast. It's nothing like any of the leagues in Europe. There were so many things that were different and that were unexpected. So having a year of experience under my belt is vital for me and for some of the other players on this squad as well - like Danny and Torsten, who were also new to the league. I think that this season there will be even a little bit more to come from us.”
With it being said that Toronto absolutely has to brea kthrough and make the MLS Playoffs in its sixth year in the league, Dunfield, like the majority of his teammates, is confident that TFC will do just that.
“If you look at our results, I think we only lost twice after all the new players came in. That's not far off playoff form, so I think things went really well. It's important that we don't sort of rest on our laurels and that we try to get better and keep improving. I think that if you ask any of the players or the coaching staff, with the players that we have, if we don't make the playoffs, we'll be underachieving. It's important that we start the season well. It is a long season when you add in Nutrilite games, CONCACAF Champions League, league games and Canadian World Cup qualifying. So it's going to be an exciting season.”
The first challenge for Dunfield and Toronto FC comes in the form of the CONCACAF Champions League Knockout Stage fixtures, which will kick off with a home match against the Los Angeles Galaxy on March 7th at the Rogers Centre. And for a player who left Canada many years ago at age 15 to pursue his soccer dream in the UK, that game won’t only be exciting due to it being a crucial event in CONCACAF’s premier club competition, but also by virtue of it once again illustrating just how much the game and soccer culture in Canada has grown since the advent of top flight soccer in his home country.
“If you had told me five years ago that I would be playing in a game in Canada with 40-50,000 people in the stands, I would have shook my head at you. But this is a real pat on the back to Toronto and the club and its fans in terms of it being both such a spectacle and such an important game as well.”
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