After earning their
\u200ba second consecutive Canadian Premier League title as the champions of the 2020
\u200bIsland Games, Forge FC travel to El Salvador to face Club Deportivo Municipal
\u200bLimeño in Concacaf League action on Thursday 22 October LIVE on TSN3 at 8 p.m.
\u200bET/5 p.m. PT. The match marks Forge FC’s second Concacaf League campaign after
\u200bthey fell in the Round of 16 to Club Deportivo Olimpia in 2019.
Despite the
\u200bchallenges of COVID-19, Forge FC Head Coach Bobby Smyrniotis believes that the
\u200bIsland Games bubble opportunity helped his team prepare for what they’ll face
\u200bin Concacaf League. Speaking from San Salvador, Head Coach Bobby Smyrniotis said the 6-week
\u200btournament provided them an opportunity to come together as a group, something
\u200bthey’ll benefit from in Concacaf League.
“Our experience
\u200blast year in this competition is going to help us for sure as any game in
\u200bConcacaf is going to be a difficult endeavor having to deal with the
\u200benvironment and challenges they provide,” Smyrniotis said. “After the Island
\u200bGames, we returned to Hamilton to train and prepare for this challenge and are
\u200bready.”
Forge will look to
\u200bdraw on the experience of their veterans including Canadian Internationals
\u200bDavid Edgar and Kyle Bekker, who were both recently announced as
\u200bparticipants on a unique combined Canada Soccer C/B Licence Coach Education
\u200bProgram.
“Both of those guys
\u200bare field generals, for sure, David at the back and Kyle in the midfield,”
\u200bSmyrniotis said. “They both had very different development pathways with David
\u200bin England and Kyle in North America but I am always talking with them and look
\u200bat things in different ways and I’m sure they’ll make excellent coaches once
\u200bthey finish their professional careers.”
Forge will look to
\u200bbenefit from the experience of the Island Games bubble even further if they
\u200badvance beyond Municipal on Thursday, as they’ll travel directly to Panama to
\u200btake on awaiting Tauro on 3 November.
“There’s just no
\u200bplanes in the sky, so we need to be sure that we’re ready and not unable to
\u200btravel or train in self-isolation with the short window between games,”
\u200bSmyrniotis said. “We know that Concacaf will be ready and have all the right
\u200bprotocols in place for us.”