Michael Bradley: 'We had a team full of warriors that spilled their guts'

• by Paul Kennedy  @pkedit, Apr 26, 2018

After one of the most heartbreaking defeats of his career that ended when he missed his penalty kick, Toronto FC captain Michael Bradley said the shootout loss to Guadalajara in the Concacaf Champions League final would not deter the reigning MLS champions.

"We had a team full of warriors that spilled their guts on the field in the biggest possible moment," he said. "In the end, a few things didn’t go our way. That hurts but when you compete at the highest level then you also understand that’s part of the deal sometimes."

TFC came back from 2-1 down after the first leg and 3-1 on aggregate early in the second leg to even the score at 3-3, sending the series directly to penalty kicks.

"We had to be aggressive, we had to go after them, we had to win the game and I couldn't be more proud of our players," said Bradley.

Chivas converted all four attempts, but Jonathan Osorio, the tournament's leading scorer, and Bradley missed their penalty kicks. The 4-2 score gave Chivas its first regional title in 56 years.

“That’s how it goes,” Bradley said. "We're not going to let this stop us, we're going to continue to work, we're going to continue to make sure we play in more finals and win more trophies."

TFC swept the MLS Cup, Supporters' Shield and Canadian Championship to win the treble in 2017. It returns to MLS action at home on Saturday afternoon against Chicago at BMO Field. It is in last place in the overall MLS standings with four losses in five games. Before and after the first leg against Chivas, the Reds fielded a reserve team and lost both times.

"It would have been so easy to make excuses," Bradley said of the shootout defeat, the closest an MLS team has come to lifting the CCL trophy. "So many other teams would have lost their way. But throughout the entire tournament, we just kept going, we kept competing, we kept playing, we were fearless, and in the biggest moments we [f******] went for it. That’s all you can ask for."