Canadian Championship | CF Montréal finds Forge FC on its way

There are things that change over the years, but during the Canadian Championship, the confrontations between CF Montreal and Forge FC seem regulated like Swiss clocks.

For a fourth consecutive year, the two teams will cross swords during the tournament, but the circumstances of the three previous duels had nothing to do with those surrounding that of Tuesday, in Hamilton.

The Bleu-blanc-noir has barely recovered from a 4-1 loss suffered at the home of Nashville SC last weekend, when it must now prepare to play the first leg of the quarter-finals right before noon, at 11 a.m.

It’s not ideal, but Montrealers must play the cards they have in their hands, hoping to be strong enough not to be surprised by a club that plays at a lower level.

“The turnaround is quick between the two matches. It’s a big challenge, but it also allows us to make up for what happened in terms of results, noted head coach Laurent Courtois on Monday before training in Hamilton. It’s never ideal, but we adapt. We have players who are ready to come into training. We try to find the balance between freshness and not compromising our continuity. »

But why a match in the morning on a weekday?

Forge FC, two-time reigning champion of the Canadian Premier League (CPLan), had already planned to face the Halifax Wanderers at this time to allow several schoolchildren to come and cheer them on at Tim Hortons Field.

The problem is that when Hamilton’s team got their ticket to the quarter-finals of the Canadian Championship, Soccer Canada forced them to play this game on the same day.

At first glance, this particular situation could cause some problems in terms of preparation, but the CF Montreal players seem more worried about their lunch on Tuesday than the match itself.

“I don’t know if I can eat pasta this early in the day,” defenseman Joel Waterman said with a laugh. Match time is not in our control and we are doing everything we can to be ready. The mission does not change; we want to win the (Voyagers) Cup and right now the Forge is in our way. »

Waterman was used as a starter in the three previous clashes against Forge FC, all of which ended in favor of the Montreal team.

The defender from British Columbia, however, would like to point out that surprises are common in the Canadian Championship. This was also the case in the first round of the tournament, when CS Saint-Laurent, a semi-professional club, brought down the Wanderers.

“We know them very well. The message is that we are not going to take them lightly. The Forge has been PLCan champion in four of the league’s five years. Bobby (Smyrniotis) is a very good head coach and the guys know how to win. Anything can happen in this competition, we saw it with CS Saint-Laurent. You can never approach these games lightly,” insisted Waterman.

For his part, Courtois knows Forge FC a little less well. However, he has spent the last few days analyzing the style of play of his club’s next opponents and he understands very well where his defender is coming from.

“They are a very good team, who play well on the ball and who offer a lot of challenges in the way they move the opposition. We expect to see players who have clear ideas and who go through the game to get to the opponent’s 16 meters. Lower division teams want you. That’s really the beauty of football, anything can happen at any level,” observed the Montreal head coach.

Courtois confirmed that there was no change to the club’s many injured players, but that they “are on very good track to recover as best they can”. We must therefore expect a further decimated formation against Forge FC, with the absence of eight players, including offensive elements Matias Coccaro (knee), Josef Martinez (knee), Kwadwo Opoku (ankle) and Dominic Iankov (hamstring). -hamstring).

The return match of these quarter-finals will take place on May 22 at Saputo stadium, but in the evening this time.