Toronto Croatia is in for a busy season.
But that’s not unusual for a club with nine CSL championships and two world club titles under its belt since 1970.
The now elder statesman in the Canadian Soccer League – Toronto Croatia entered professional soccer in 1956 – winning the inaugural Croatian World Club Championship in 2007 and again in 2011, while being the most successful team in Canadian league competition during the past 60 years.
This year is third time around for the Croatian World Club Championship of overseas Croatian teams and the Canadian entry aims to make it three in a row. The games are held every four years.
Eight teams took part in the original 2007 competition: Toronto Croatia (Canada), Croat San Pedro (U.S.A), Zrinski Chicago (U.S.A.), Canberra Croatia (Australia), Croatia Essen (Germany), Croatia Berlin (Germany), Croatia Villefranche (France), and Burgenland Croatian (Austria).
Toronto Croatia defeated Canberra Croatia 3-1 in the final and the Canadian team repeated the victory against their Australian opponents four years later in 2011, this time with a 5-0 romp.
“And it’s our goal to win again this year,” said Joe Pavicic, president of Toronto Croatia, now planning to take his team to Croatia for the games this coming June 27 to July 4.
Pavicic, who was installed as Toronto Croatia president in 2006 and who is also a member of the CSL’s executive committee, considers his club will be well prepared for the world tourney that comes right in the middle of a 22-game First Division regular season schedule and the ensuing season-end playoffs for the CSL Championship, all of which makes for a rigorous six months of tough competition as a member of Canada’s professional league.
“But we know what to expect and we look forward to it,” said Pavicic while talking about the Toronto Croatia players that took part in the first two world championship wins and want to be part of the hat-trick should they pull it off again this year. Head coach Velimir Crljen was emphasized for being a big part of the Toronto Croatia success in recent years.
Pavicic’s confidence is reminiscent of the time his club merged with Toronto Metros in the 70s and Toronto Metros-Croatia stunned the North American sports media by winning the 1976 North American championship to become known as 1976 Soccer Bowl Champions. They defeated Minnesota Kicks 3-0 at Seattle, and the victory was the first for a Toronto sports team since the Toronto Maple Leafs won the Stanley Cup in 1967. The victory also helped to bring the local community closer to the game of soccer, especially when Portuguese star Eusebio, the Metro-Croatia captain, received a cheque for the winners and honoured by Metropolitan Toronto in a civic ceremony.
That was then and now is now with the Croatian World Club Championship back in Zagreb, the venue for the inaugural games which then moved to the Adriatic coastal city of Split in 2011. Toronto Croatia aim to be well prepared while also attempting to repeat their last CSL championship win of 2012.