Forge FC continues to demonstrate its qualities as a big club with CanChamp result against Toronto FC – Canadian Premier League

In the Forge FC dressing room, rain-soaked players sat quietly, some hunched over with exhaustion, while their coach Bobby Smyrniotis paced the room, carefully avoiding a piece of sports foil on the floor as he addressed the team.

The Hamilton club had just put in a monumental performance on the Tim Hortons Field, defeating Toronto FC 2-1 in the first leg of the 2024 TELUS Canadian Championship semi-finals. Eight-time national champions Toronto FC were destroyed in the first 14 minutes by a bold midfield lever from Béni Badibanga and a clever backheel from Kwasi Poku.

Many would call it a big surprise. A few aisles away, in the press conference room at Tim Hortons Field, Toronto FC head coach John Herdman explained the differences between the two teams. On his side, he said, are European champions, former Premier League players and those who have experienced football at the highest level. The difference in budget and resources between the two clubs is a factor.

But in the Forge FC dressing room, the word “underdog” doesn’t mean much. This team has won four of its five Canadian Premier League finals and played 20 games in continental competition in its six years of existence – including against regional superpowers like Cruz Azul and Chivas Guadalajara.

When he praised Forge’s performance in the first leg in front of his players on the evening of July 10, Smyrniotis underlined exactly that.

“That’s how you look after teams, guys, that’s how you look after teams and that’s why we’re a bloody big club,” he said.

On Tuesday night at BMO Field in Toronto, Forge will look to complete its task of securing a spot in the 2024 Canadian Championship final and reaffirming its status as a major club in the Canadian and North American soccer landscape.

The Hamilton club is, of course, the only CPL team to have previously competed in a Canadian Championship final. They hosted Toronto FC in a pandemic-postponed 2020 final played in 2022, pitting the winner of the CPL’s Island Games competition against the winners of the head-to-head series between Canadian MLS clubs played in late 2020.

Despite a strong performance in that match, which ended in a 1-1 draw after regulation time thanks to a goal from Tristan Borges equalising a goal from Alejandro Pozuelo, the Hamilton club were eliminated in the sixth round of penalties. The year before, Forge had been denied another chance to reach the final by a penalty shootout in eleven rounds, as they lost at home to CF Montréal.

But this would be something else entirely, a final appearance forged by defeating two MLS opponents in back-to-back home-and-away ties. Forge’s 2-1 lead over Toronto FC going into the second leg means a draw or another win will see them through to the final. A 1-0 win for Toronto FC would see the Reds through, while a 2-1 result during regulation time would force another round of penalty kicks between the teams. Any other win by more than one goal would see Toronto FC through, while a one-goal loss in which they scored more than once would see Forge through to the final.

There was a notable absence of goalscorers for Forge in the period between the two games, with the club announcing the sale of Kwasi Poku to Belgian side RWD Molenbeek last week, a league record. With goals against Toronto FC and CF Montréal, Poku’s switch to striker was a turning point for Forge in this competition.

However, like any big club, it was always the next man up for Forge. In Poku’s place, they have two very good options in three-time Canadian champion and 2016 Canadian Championship Golden Boot winner Jordan Hamilton, as well as the Canadian Premier League’s all-time leading goalscorer Terran Campbell. They have very different profiles to Poku, but both have proven themselves as goalscorers throughout their careers and will relish this opportunity to prove it again on such a big stage.

Forge were also missing a key player from the first leg through suspension, and the return of Daniel Parra to the lineup could play an important role in the second leg. This is especially true as much of Toronto FC’s attacking power comes from Federico Bernardeschi on the right. Parra has been arguably the best left-back in the Canadian Premier League this season, scoring a crucial goal in the 2-1 win over CF Montréal in the quarter-final second leg.

It will also be interesting to see how the Hamilton club will approach this game tactically. Much of their success in the past has been based on their ability to adapt to opponents while maintaining their basic football principles. Like any ‘big club’ they try to play games their own way regardless of the opponent.

Usually that meant doing it with the ball, but lately Forge has shown increasing flexibility to stay comfortably in their defensive formation and find moments where they can pick apart their opponents in transition. That’s not exactly park-the-bus football, but it’s been a different way for the team to find and exploit spaces.

They used it to great effect in the second leg against CF Montréal at Stade Saputo and it could prove very effective against Toronto FC, who will be keen to go on the offensive on Tuesday night, especially knowing they need at least a goal and a win to advance. The disappointment of their first leg performance will no doubt also push TFC to put in a convincing performance of their own.

But in their short history, Forge has proven that they are not intimidated by any opportunity or opponent, whether it be multiple cup finals, trips to Estadio Azteca, Estadio Akron or trips throughout the Concacaf region. BMO Field and Toronto FC are no exception.

“We will go there determined to win, obviously it’s only half time, and put in a hard-fought, hard-fought performance,” Forge FC midfielder Alessandro Hojabrpour said recently. “It will be an exciting game for us, we love these big games. The first one against Toronto was a lot of fun. We will go there with a lot of belief, we know what we can do and we just have to show it on the day.”

“It will be one of those days when emotions are running high and the energy is high. We have to show our quality and prove why we are a great club.”

Reaching another domestic final would be just that. Finally adding a Voyageurs Cup to their already impressive trophy cabinet is the ultimate goal, and if they defeat Toronto FC on Tuesday, they would be just one game away from making even more history.