Toronto

Sixer’s Travels: as a postponed trip to Middlesbrough mercifully spares one fate …

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But it was still a weekend of pleasure rather than the usual Sunderland-induced pain, according to Pete Sixsmith. He saw some decent non-league football, albeit watching Shildon lose, and some rugby league. He’s already worried about Saturday but put aside such cares to compose another piece of classy writing combining sport, social observation, politics and travel …

Thanks to Middlesbrough for making the quarter finals of the FA Cup. Not only were they brushed aside by Manchester City, their presence in what used to be called the Sixth Round, spared us from having to go there on a Saturday and thereby probably spoiling our weekend.

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Delicious skill from Jozy vs PSG’s Luiz and a Toronto progress report

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Jake: 'Jody scores, we're on the pitch'
Jake: ‘Jody scores, we’re on the pitch’

See the caption in Jake’s image. It’s true. That’s what our supporters relentlessly chanted throughout Jozy Altidore’s dark, goal-free days with Sunderland. As we look to Defoe, Borini, Lens and the rest to deliver the goals he couldn’t, a Co Durham exile in Toronto, Bill Taylor, has had a chance to track Jozy’s progress since the move to Canada …

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Advochaat on the importance of Jermain’s two goals to beat Toronto

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The return of Advocaat. Dick, by Jake
The return of Advocaat. Dick, by Jake

The bare bones of it, courtesy of safc.com, are that Sunderland beat Toronto with a Jermain Defoe double after his former club took the lead: ‘two well-taken efforts … the first, in the 65th minute, reward for Defoe’s persistence in a scramble on the edge of the area, the second four minutes later after of a flowing counter-attack led by Adam Johnson’. And no battle royal with Jozy Altidore, who did not play. Dick Advocaat was happy for the fans and for Defoe, as his post-match email shows. Much coverage and photos to come – and yes, the players acknowledged the support …

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Toronto vs Sunderland: a chance to make amends taken. Bravo, Lads

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Right, so the criticism has been dished out and it was deserved. The players should have properly acknowledged the Sunderland support at the end of both games in Sacramento, and didn’t.

But sometimes it’s fair to redress the balance.

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Toronto vs SAFC: a chance to make amends

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New away kit, courtesy of Sunderland AFC. Love it? Hate it? Think it may grow on you?
New away kit, courtesy of Sunderland AFC. Love it? Hate it? Think it may grow on you?

From our friends across the water, we have heard of good public relations and bad public relations during Sunderland’s North American tour.

Paul Pattison, a long-time exile originally from County Durham (Annfield Plain), told the story of the owner Ellis Short’s wife, Eve, mingling and posing with SAFC fans before the first game in Sacramento. Eve Short went to university in the area and used the occasion to meet up with old friends.

Eve Ellis mixes wit the fans in Sacramento
Eve Ellis mixes with the fans Sacramento

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Sunderland Out West: Jermain vs Jozy. The battle in Toronto looms

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Martin Bates
Martin Bates

Martin Bates is our latest Out West reporter to keep an eye on all things Sunderland in North America. Martin, a Canadian with Sunderland family origins, has the advantage of following our next opponents, Toronto, in all games in which they are not playing us, if that makes sense. So he knows all about both clubs and all about the possible battle royal between ex-Toronto man Jermain Defoe and ex-Sunderland man Jozy Altidore. Let Martin set the scene …

See all artiicles in the Sunderland Out West series at https://safc.blog/category/sunderland-out-west-2015/

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Sixer Says: let’s offer a fond but grateful farewell to Jozy Altidore

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Jake: 'Jody scores, we're on the pitch'
Jake: ‘Jozy scores, we’re on the pitch’

The lads and lasses who support AK over in the Netherlands won’t be able to believe it. For them, Jozy Altidore scored goals for fun. Followers of the United States national team generally think he’s the real deal. But back in Blighty, in Hull and Sunderland, we all wonder about the lack of goals (a problem if you are a striker) and some, Pete Sixsmith among them, suggest Rugby League might have been a better option as the young Jozy contemplated his sporting career. For all that, Jozy Altidore deserves to be remembered as a player who gave his all and was, by all accounts, a great guy. Good luck, Jozy, but let Sixer take up the story …

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Ghana for the cup – if heart triumphs over head

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roofer


It may be the withdrawal symptoms of a curious gap in the football. It may be a righteous response to Salut! Sunderland’s ever-so-slightly tabloid lapse. But Bill Taylor has been out and about in Toronto again, snapping away at the flags and reflecting on the coming finale of the World Cup …

If he hasn’t been pulled over by the police for the potentially hazardous additions to his vehicle, this Toronto roofer is no doubt now flying his Portuguese flags at half-staff.

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Brazil v Cote d’Ivoire, through Canadian eyes

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braz1

Bill Taylor reports with laptop and lens from his temporary second home, the Little Italy quarter of Toronto. Is he really watching three games a day, as his stream of comments to Salut! Sunderland suggests, and will it make him go blind? …


Also: Join the debate on Kaka’s invisible assault

I learned something during the Brazil-Cote d’Ivoire game – that TV sports commentators don’t ALWAYS talk drivel.
During the later stages of the game – before it almost deteriorated into a gang rumble beyond the referee’s control – the guy doing commentary for CBC said something to the effect of: “Leaving aside their own supporters, Brazil is pretty much every soccer fan’s second-choice team.”

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