Forge FC will play for real three months before other Canadian Premier League (CPL) clubs begin 2024 as the Hamilton, Ont., club hosts Mexican legend Chivas at Tim Horton’s field Wednesday in the Concacaf Champions Cup.
Returning from a training stint in Queretaro, Mexico, to try to shake off their recent downtime, Forge head coach Bobby Smyrniotis admits his side will have their work cut out for them playing a Club Deportivo Guadalajara (also known as Chivas) side who have already played more than half their regular campaign in LIGA MX.
In light of such a challenge so early, Smyrniotis said the decision to get in some warm weather training in the south was important to find some semblance of a bond between his players who will face a top North American franchise.
“It gives us an opportunity to train multiple times in a day in a great environment (with) very good weather,” he explained.
“Get some good friendly matches against opponents who’ll be very similar in style of play to Chivas, and also gave us an opportunity for two weeks to be at altitude, which is something we’ll face.”
The four-time CPL champs are hoping to avoid a repeat from two years ago when their early Champions Cup start didn’t go so well in being bounced 4-1 on aggregate by another top-five Mexican club, Cruz Azul.
After medicals, Forge players begin daily workouts on Jan. 6 at Redeemer University before departing for two weeks of training down south in mild weather.
The century-old Chivas have a huge advantage in fitness being in full swing having started the second half of their season in January following a fifth-place finish during the Apetura — the first part of a typical split regular LIGA MX schedule that runs from July to December.
Smyrniotis believes Forge may have a tactical advantage since they’ve been able to watch Chivas in their last five outings and pick up on tendencies among players in their lineup.
“It’s a very good squad … in all positions,” he said.
“We’re going to need to be at our best … and most importantly we need the crowd behind us.”
Forge returns to Mexico for the second leg Feb. 13 at Estadio Akron, which is just west of the training grounds they were just at in Queretaro.
The Concacaf event features 27 teams from across Canada, the United States, Central America and the Caribbean who qualified through their performances in their league play last season.
Forge got there through their CPL championship win against Calvary FC in the league final.
The club’s CPL home opener is April 13 against Cavalry FC in a re-match of the 2023 league championship game.