Music: {allcanada} TORONTO FC PLAYS PARTIZAN BELGRADE TO PRE-SEASON DRAW

Wednesday, February 2, 2011

{allcanada} TORONTO FC PLAYS PARTIZAN BELGRADE TO PRE-SEASON DRAW

ANTALYA, Turkey -- Nana Attakora scored the team's lone goal Wednesday as Toronto FC played Partizan Belgrade to a 1-1 draw to open the Major League Soccer pre-season.

The Canadian defender connected on a corner kick in the sixth minute, but Toronto couldn't hold onto its lead as Nemanja Tomic tied the game for the Serbian side four minutes before halftime.

Toronto captain Dwayne De Rosario missed a penalty shot with the score at 1-0.

"We are very satisfied with the way the game went," said Toronto assistant coach Bob de Klerk. "We had good chances and defended well against a team that is of a very high standard. The team has been training well but it is always good to see the players in a match to be able to assess them.

"Overall we are happy with the way things are going for us so far."

Toronto's new head coach Aron Winter named four trialists to the starting lineup -- Canadian Gianluca Zavarise, Uruguayan striker Santiago Gonzalez Areco and Dutch forwards Nick Soolsma and Javier Martina.

Toronto changed all 11 players at halftime and the second-half lineup included two more players on trial -- Ghanaian midfielder King Gyan Osei and Dutch winger Bas Ent.

SuperDraft pick Joao Plata also saw action in the second half along with Toronto FC Academy players Ashtone Morgan and Oscar Cordon.

Toronto, which is training at the Calista Luxury Resort in Antalya, plays Dinamo Zagreb on Feb. 10. The team returns briefly to Toronto before resuming training camp in Orlando and Charleston, S.C.