Soccer Rewind is back with a new trip into North American soccer history. This time, we’re going back 50 years to one of the NASL’s most unlikely championship runs.
Canadian Soccer Hall of Famer Bob Iarusci joins me to revisit the amazing story of Toronto Metros-Croatia, a team that somehow turned a season of turmoil into a championship.
What turmoil?
- Seven straight games without a goal – and they still won three times!
- A midseason coaching change.
- The defender who attacked the coach with a piece of lumber.
- The star goalkeeper who walked out on the eve of the playoffs.
- And a team that didn’t pack for a long trip, but kept winning and moving on – finally winning it all.
At the center of it all was the legendary Eusebio, still capable of moments of brilliance despite troublesome knees, surrounded by an eclectic collection of Canadian and international talent that found its best soccer at exactly the right time.
Iarusci takes us inside that team and breaks down rare footage from Toronto’s playoff victory over the defending champion Tampa Bay Rowdies. Then we head to Seattle’s Kingdome for the NASL’s original highlight film of Soccer Bowl ’76, where Toronto completed its Cinderella run with a 3-0 victory over the Minnesota Kicks.
Five decades later, Iarusci still calls it perhaps the best team he ever played on. Watch the new episode of Soccer Rewind below and discover why.
And subscribe to Soccer Rewind on YouTube for more full matches, rare footage and stories from North American soccer’s past.
