Toronto FC adds Brazilian defender
With just a week to go until Toronto FC plays its first competitive match of the year, the Reds have signed a second new defender.
The club announced Tuesday that Auro Alvaro da Cruz Junior — Auro, for short — is joining its ranks on loan, with an option to buy, from Brazilian club Sao Paolo FC
“Auro is a young and versatile defender that will provide us with flexibility within our lineup, both on the left and right side,” Reds general manager Tim Bezbatchenko said in a release.
Auro has already joined the team in pre-season training. He made his unofficial debut for the club on Tuesday in a friendly against Mexican side Cruz Azul FC.
The 22-year-old native of Sao Paulo made a combined 34 appearances in Brazil’s Serie A and the Campeonato Paulista over three seasons with his hometown club. He has been loaned out to Brazilian clubs before, first to Clube Atletico Linense in 2016 and more recently to America Futebol Clube last year, where he made a total of 14 appearances.
Auro, who played for Brazil at both the under-17 and under-20 youth levels, joins Toronto a little less than two weeks after it signed Dutch defender Gregory van der Wiel.
The newest face on Toronto’s roster should provide depth on both the left and right wings for the Reds, particularly in the 3-5-2 formation the club regularly uses.
Of the 23 players currently on the Reds’ roster, which has seven open spots remaining, eight are listed as defenders. That depth likely means Nicolas Hasler, who spent the bulk of last season playing on Toronto’s backline despite spending much of his career as a midfielder, will be employed farther up the field this season.
“I’m used to all kind of positions almost, so for me it doesn’t really matter,” Hasler said at the start of pre-season. “If I play, I want to do the best and I want to show what I can.”
TFC kicks off its season next Tuesday with the first leg of the first round of the CONCACAF Champions League against the Colorado Rapids in Denver