In wake of NSL final loss, AFC Toronto looks to impress at seven-a-side tournament

TORONTO — Coach Marko Milanovic says AFC Toronto needed some time away after its 2-1 loss to the Vancouver Rise in the Nov. 15 Northern Super League final.

“We had a couple of days drinking,” he said.

The line came with a belly laugh, proving that while Milanovic lost the NSL championship, his sense of humour is still intact.

And so is his team, which leaves Wednesday for Florida and the first-ever North American edition of the World Sevens Football seven-a-side tournament.

AFC Toronto, as the NSL regular-season leader, joins Mexico’s Club América and Tigres Femenil, the NWSL’s Kansas City Current and San Diego Wave, Brazil’s Flamengo, Colombia’s Deportivo Cali and Uruguay’s Nacional with US$5 million in total prize money on the line.

Each game lasts 30 minutes on a pitch, about half to two-thirds the size of a normal field. The rules are slightly different, with unlimited rolling substitutions and no offsides. Teams can dress 16 players per game.

Milanovic, named the NSL coach of the year in its inaugural season, says it basically looks like an indoor soccer game, played outside.

“The biggest adjustment is no offsides, because our backline is used to having offsides, and that’s something that helps (them) so much,” he explained. “And you’ve trained your whole life to hold the line and not to track players that are clearly offside. But now you have to.”

While the defenders don’t like forgoing offsides, it’s good news for forwards like Toronto’s Kaylee Hunter and Esther Okoronkwo.

‘Esther will love it, I’m sure,” Milanovic said of the Nigerian international, who won the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations in July.

The tournament runs Friday through Sunday at Beyond Bancard Field at NSU (Nova Southeastern University) in Davie, Fla., the former training camp home of the Miami Dolphins. The 7,000-capacity stadium is now home to Fort Lauderdale United FC, whose men’s and women’s teams compete in USL League Two and the USL W League, respectively.

World Sevens Football will be sharing the soccer spotlight with the Vancouver Whitecaps and Inter Miami, who meet Saturday in the MLS Cup final, a 20-minute drive away at Chase Stadium.

AFC Toronto opens Group 1 play Friday against Tigres before facing Flamengo and Kansas City on Saturday. The top two in each group progress to Sunday’s semifinals.

Toronto topped the NLS regular season standings at 16-6-3 and dispatched the Montreal Roses 6-1 on aggregate in the two-legged final to reach the final at BMO Field. Toronto dominated the game for long stretches, outshooting Vancouver 16-8 (8-3 in shots on target) with a 12-4 edge in corners, but conceded goals 14 minutes apart in the second half.

Milanovic believes the disappointment is mostly behind them.

“Maybe not everyone. I still overhear conversations about a missed call, a missed chance, this, that from the final,” he said. “The first week (after) was rough, the first couple of days it was rough for all of us.

“I would say the whole week of training (after) wasn’t our usual uptempo and good energy. But we’re over it now. Me personally, I’m just really glad how we looked, how we played in that game. I would have taken it much worse if we weren’t prepared or if we played poorly. We just didn’t score on the day, and that happens sometimes.”

The Bayern Munich women won the inaugural World Sevens Football, defeating Manchester United 2-1 in May in Estoril, Portugal. Bayern downed Paris-Saint Germain 5-0 in one semifinal while Manchester United blanked rival Manchester City 2-0 in the other.

Other teams competing were Ajax (The Netherlands), AS Roma (Italy), Benfica (Portugal) and Rosengård (Sweden).

Canadian international Simi Awujo, playing for Manchester United, was named the tournament’s Breakout Player.

The tournament co-founder is U.S.-based philanthropist Jennifer Mackesy, a co-owner of NWSL champion Gotham FC and minority stakeholder in Chelsea Women.

The tournament requires clubs to share a portion of their prize money with staff and players, although the actual amount is to be determined by the clubs themselves.

Milanovic says he is taking all of his players who are available.

AFC Toronto World Sevens Football Roster

Goalkeepers: Sierra Cota-Yarde, Danielle Krzyzaniak.

Defenders: Ashley Cathro, Victoria Pickett, Sarah Rollins, Kaela Hansen.

Midfielders: Cloey Uddenberg, Emma Regan (capt.), Sarah Stratigakis, Nikayla Small, Colby Barnett, April Lantaigne, Zoe Burns.

Forwards: Kaila Novak, Esther Okoronkwo, Kaylee Hunter, Jade Kovacevic, Lauren Rowe.

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This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 1, 2025

Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press