With World Cup behind him, Richie Laryea shifts focus to ending Toronto FC’s playoff drought

Richie Laryea knows it will never be the same.

Two months ago to the day on Wednesday, the versatile fullback ran out onto the pitch at BMO Field in front of almost 45,000 fervent fans as Canada got its great World Cup adventure under way with a memorable 1-1 come-from-behind draw with Bosnia-Herzegovina.

This Saturday, it remains to be seen how many will be on hand at the same venue – now trimmed back to a capacity of just under 30,000 – as Toronto FC returns to play at its home stadium for the first time since early May, against the New England Revolution.

Coming down to earth can be hard.

“I know it’ll be different,” Laryea said Tuesday. “It was all dressed up in a different way when we got there for the [Canada] game, and I’m sure it’ll be back to what it was before the World Cup.”

Monday Morning Halfback: Jays, FIFA and sports villains highlight a down-time in the sports calendar

Following Canada’s elimination in the round of 16 against Morocco last month, the 31-year-old veteran took just a handful of days off before returning to training with his hometown team. Not that he went anywhere. “I just stayed here,” he said. “Tired of travelling.”

Since then, he has started all four of TFC’s Major League Soccer matches and played the full 90 minutes in each, as well as getting 18 minutes off the bench in the MLS All-Star Game in Charlotte two weeks ago.

For a team that was already below the postseason cut-off before the league’s World Cup break commenced, the return of Laryea – as well as fellow Canadian squad member Jonathan Osorio – has been welcome, but the results haven’t been. Over that four-game stretch, TFC has taken just three points from the available 12. The Reds now sit 12th in the Eastern Conference, six points back of D.C. United for the ninth and final playoff spot with 16 games to play.

As Laryea related on Tuesday, the process of making the mental adjustment of going back to his day job after being involved in some of the biggest soccer matches that this country has ever witnessed has been anything but easy.

“To be honest, it’s tough to be able to go from playing in the World Cup, and then I think I was off for not even sure how many days it was – five, six days or something like that – and then we’re playing away in Montreal,” Laryea said.

The memories from this summer will last forever, though. The defender picks the opening match at BMO Field, Canada’s response to Ismaël Koné’s tournament-ending injury and Stephen Eustáquio’s injury-time winner against South Africa in the round of 32 as his top three World Cup moments.

In fact, Laryea says he can still feel the electricity of the crowd when Cyle Larin equalized late against Bosnia at BMO Field back on June 12.

“That feeling, that excitement that I felt running through my body during that moment, I still go back to pretty frequently,” he said.

While he has his fingers crossed that some of that energy can carry over into the stands at BMO Field this weekend, he adds that it is up to many of the soccer clubs in this country to push the sport to new heights, and capitalize on the increased attention in soccer.

“I think now we have a big responsibility here at this club to be able to continue to ignite that,” Laryea said. “You want to be able to capitalize on a great opportunity that we were able to see this summer here with the national team. We have to take that into Toronto FC now, where we’re winning games, bringing this club to new heights and being able to lift trophies, keep the fans in the stadiums.”

Cathal Kelly: Getting rid of Infantino won’t quell the urge to monetize sports

To that end, Laryea scripted a letter to the team’s supporters this week, urging them to get behind the squad as they chase their first playoff spot since 2020. With a record of 3-7-8, TFC needs to start winning soon.

But as one of the few holdovers from the 2019 team, which went unbeaten in its last 10 regular-season games on its way to an appearance in the MLS Cup, Laryea knows how quickly fortunes can turn.

“In this league, as soon as you get rolling, you get a few wins under your belt, and you get in a good way, the season turns very quickly,” he said. “Opinions change very quickly, the mood within the team changes very quickly when you start winning.”

When it comes to his own opinion though, Laryea refused to offer much of anything on the melodramatic developments within FIFA’s ivory tower.

“We could sit here all day and talk about that, honestly,” he said.

However, he added that he was very happy to see the $1-billion committed by Prime Minister Mark Carney’s government last month to improve sports infrastructure throughout Canada.

“I think [soccer is] in a place where I’ve never seen it before,” he said. “Everyone is excited about football now. I think everyone’s now looking forward already four years down the line for another World Cup because of how it was able to bring everyone together.”