Final Preparations in Toronto

Greetings from Toronto, it was a hot and humid day in this truly multi-cultural city as the G20 summit is about to begin with dignitaries from around the world converging here. But, we decided a quick stop at Cherry Beach was needed as opposed to showing you shots of all the police throughout the city.

Meanwhile, the Galaxy went through their final training session late Friday afternoon prior to tomorrow's return to MLS action against Toronto FC. It has been more then two weeks since the team's last game and the players are ready to get back on the field.

Despite the G20 Summit being held in Toronto and increased security throughout the city, it was a short bus ride with very few cars on the road and police at almost every intersection on the ride to the training field at Cherry Beach. Although tomorrow's game will be played on grass, the team practiced on a local turf field as options were very limited.

It was a typical training session for the day before a game as the players began with a long warm up run led by strength and conditioning coach Ben Yauss, who made the trip. Then, it was on to a little 5v2 with a little running tossed in to get the players moving a bit more.

Following a run through the set plays for Saturday, the players got some time on their own to finish out the session.

However, the team would make one stop on the way back to the hotel for a quick walk through at BMO Field. With the change from Field Turf to grass, coaches and players wanted to get a feel for the surface before tomorrow's game. A few guys even kept their cleats on to get a better feel for the field in studs as opposed to runners.

After training, we caught up with Chris Birchall and Sean Franklin to get their thoughts on final prepartions, tomorrow's game and the grass surface at BMO Field.

Birchall...

Franklin...


Here are a few more photos from today's training session. Enjoy!