TORONTO -- Almost three weeks after its last league outing, Toronto FC returns to action Friday night against the New York Red B

TORONTO -- Almost three weeks after its last league outing, Toronto FC returns to action Friday night against the New York Red Bulls as the MLS season resumes with a vengeance following a World Cup break. Roberto Luongo Canada Jersey . After just two league games in June, Toronto (6-4-1) will go on to play seven in July plus a friendly against Tottenham. Five of those contests are against Eastern Conference opposition, meaning valuable points in the playoff race are on the line. Manager Ryan Nelsen gave his players eight days off following the 1-0 win over visiting San Jose on June 7. They have been training ever since, albeit with sessions pushed forward a little bit to allow players to watch the World Cup in the afternoon. There are different allegiances, although the team is rooting for both Brazil and the U.S. given the presence of TFC goalie Julio Cesar and midfielder Michael Bradley at the tournament. Canadian international Jonathan Osorio is pulling for Colombia, where his parents came from. The U.S.-Ghana game pitted the 12 Americans on the Toronto roster against Ghana-born forward Dominic Oduro. Massage therapist and acupuncturist Marcelo Casal is cheering for Uruguay. The public relations department is still mourning the exit of Italy. While his players enjoyed time off, albeit with a prescribed gym regimen, Nelsen and his coaches were at work planning training sessions. "We might have worked around a nice glass of red," said Nelsen, whose business holdings include a winery back home in New Zealand. Nelsen is expecting a hard contest Friday against the Red Bulls (4-5-6) who are one point behind fourth-place Toronto in the East despite having played four more games. Toronto defeated New York 2-0 when they met in May at BMO Field, with Jermain Defoe scoring early and Luke Moore scoring late. "I think that game was a big game for us," said Nelsen. "We had a few guys out (injured) and wed just come back from the West Coast after 120 minutes (in an Amway Canadian Championship game in Vancouver) and it was a really, really good performance. "New York will have a lot of motivation, in all honesty, to put one back on us. Its at their home field. Ive got a real sense that everybodys desperate to play a game after the break. "Its nice to have a break but everybody wants to get back on the field. I can sense this games going to be a really good one, a good tough one. Im looking forward to it." The host Red Bulls will also be well rested. Star striker Thierry Henry, fresh from a stint as a BBC World Cup analyst, and Colombian defender Jamison Olave have not played since May 27 at Sporting Kansas City, skipping artificial turf games June 8 in New England and June 14 against the New York Cosmos (in U.S. Open Cup play). The Red Bulls Australian star Tim Cahill is slated to be back from the World Cup and could make an appearance Friday night. Cahill did not see action in the Socceroos 3-0 loss to Spain on Monday but scored two goals earlier at the tournament including a highlight-reel volley against the Dutch. "Were expecting them to play," Nelsen said of Cahill and Henry. While hes a Kiwi, Nelsen was raving about Cahills strike against the Dutch while saying it had not got the publicity it deserved. "For me, if a Brazilian did that, or an Argentinian, or a big-country-type player did that, theyd be raving about that for years to come. ... It was of such quality that I didnt think they gave him the credit he really deserved for an over-the-shoulder left-foot volley." "But thats Timmy," he added. "Timmys been scoring those type of goals his whole career. Thats why New York is so lucky to have him." Toronto has two injury concerns in winger Daniel Lovitz (concussion) and Brazilian striker Gilberto (hip flexor). Jonathan Toews Jersey . The Toronto Maple Leafs were holding a news conference, so they got curious. It didnt take long for them to find out via social media that coach Randy Carlyle was coming back — with a two-year extension — and assistants Greg Cronin, Scott Gordon and Dave Farrish were being let go. Tyler Seguin World Cup Jersey . Hamilton signed offensive linemen Mike Filer, Joel Reinders, Landon Rice and Carson Rockhill. http://www.hockeyteamcanadajerseystore.com/ryan-getzlaf-Canada-jersey/ . The 24-year-old Raley was 0-2 with a 9.00 ERA for Chicago in his first two career starts after being called up from Iowa on Aug. 7. He was optioned to Iowa on Monday after losing 3-0 to Cincinnati in Chicago on Sunday.WASHINGTON -- In the first major league matchup featuring twentysomething stars Mike Trout and Bryce Harper, it was a guy born two decades earlier, Raul Ibanez, who came through with the biggest hit. And after delivering a tiebreaking three-run double as a pinch hitter in the eighth inning to help Trouts Los Angeles Angels beat Harpers Washington Nationals 4-2 Friday, the 41-year-old Ibanez was showered with a particular nickname when he returned to the dugout. "After he got that hit, we were calling him Viejo, -- Old in Spanish," Trout said with a smile. Ibanez might be, um, much more experienced than many of his teammates, but he happens to be leading the Angels this season with 15 RBIs. "These guys make me feel young," he said about his teammates with the Angels, his fifth club in a 19-year career. "And I have five kids at home. Theyre 12 and under, and Im the biggest kid in the house, really. I feel right at home around these guys who are 22, 24, 25 years old. They definitely keep you young." He came through on a night that Trout and Harper went a combined 2 for 8 with zero runs or RBIs, and Albert Pujols went 0 for 5, staying on 498 homers. The 22-year-old Trout, the 2012 AL Rookie of the Year and a two-time MVP runner-up, was 2 for 5 with a pair of singles. The 21-year-old Harper, the 2012 NL rookie honoree, was 0 for 3 with a walk. The two outfielders became pals while teammates in the Arizona Fall League in 2011 and chatted with each other before the game. Neither recent first-round pick in the amateur draft -- Trout was No. 25 overall in 2009, Harper was No. 1 a year later -- was much of a factor once play began, though. Instead, all eyes were on Ibanez, taken in the 36th round in 1992. "Hes been around the block," Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. Fernando Salas (1-0) won with a hitless seventh. Joe Smith worked the eighthh and Ernesto Frieri pitched the ninth to earn his second save, despite allowing Desmonds leadoff homer. P.K Subban Jersey. Frieri struck out Denard Span with a man on second to end it. The Nationals led 1-0 entering the eighth, when they brought in reliever Tyler Clippard (1-2). Pujols led off and reached on the first of shortstop Ian Desmonds two errors in the inning. Later, Erick Aybars third hit of the night scored Pujols to even it. After Clippard walked Chris Iannetta to load the bases -- "The biggest thing that hurt me," the reliever said -- the lefty-hitting Ibanez came up. "Everybody likes being up in that spot," said Ibanez, the second-oldest player in the majors, behind Clevelands Jason Giambi, 43. "Thats what you play for, thats what you compete for -- to try to be up in that spot -- since you were a kid in the backyard playing." Nationals manager Matt Williams did not have a lefty reliever ready to go, in anticipation of Ibanez being used there, because he wanted Clippard to get through that inning. "Clips been the eighth-inning guy here for a long time," Williams said. "Certainly (his) track record indicates that hes good against lefties. Hes just as effective against left-handers as he is right-handers. So I want to stay with him there." Ibanez, without a hit in his previous 11 at-bats, connected on a changeup, Clippards specialty. "It is a pitch Im getting hurt on," Clippard said, and wondered aloud about whether hes tipping his pitches to opponents. NOTES: Angels 3B David Freese, who is hitting .143 with a .197 on-base percentage, was out of the starting lineup and struck out as a pinch hitter in the seventh. ... The Angels recalled LHP Nick Maronde from Triple-A Salt Lake. He fills the roster spot opened up when the Angels optioned RHP Josh Wall to Salt Lake on Sunday. 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