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After a season from Hamilton to Charlottetown, El Salvador and Panama, Forge FC is hoping the Dominican Republic will be the last stop on the road to the Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League.
The Canadian Premier League champions from Hamilton can secure a place in the CONCACAF elite club tournament by beating Haitian Arcahaie FC on Tuesday in the quarter-finals of the CONCACAF League, a feeder competition for the Champions League.
The four quarter-final winners of the CONCACAF League with 22 teams qualify directly for the CONCACAF Champions League 2021. The four lost quarter-finalists compete in single-game matches, with the two winners moving on.
Arcahaie is playing the game in the Dominican capital, Santo Domingo, in order to use the larger Estadio Olimpico Felix Sanchez.
« It’s a challenging game. It’s been a challenging 2020 for all of us on this team, « said Forge coach Bobby Smyrniotis on Monday evening. « I just ask them to start and stop on so many occasions and do what they do outside of their families and their homes. «
He called the Haitian team « a very good team that are here for a reason. You are the champion of Haiti. «
The Haitians advanced in November. 5 with a 3-1 win in the round of 16 against Waterhouse FC in Kingston, Jamaica in the round of 16. Forge beat Panama’s Tauro FC 2-1 in Panama City two days earlier.
Arcahaie reached the last 16 when Belize’s FC Verdes were eliminated from October. 20 preliminary round game due to positive COVID-19 tests. This game was also planned for Santo Domingo.
Forge defeated El Salvador’s CD Municipal Limeno on March 2. October in San Salvador with 2: 1. 22 in the preliminary round game.
The Canadian team has been training in Punta Cana, around 170 kilometers east of Santo Domingo, since November. 21st. Forge traveled to the capital earlier on Monday.
While the men’s Canadian basketball team decided not to play two FIBA AmeriCup 2021 qualifiers in the Dominican Republic in November due to COVID-19 concerns, Forge decided to head south.
« I leave it to our team manager who put together a great itinerary and trip for us down here to keep the boys safe, » said Smyrniotis.
Smyrniotis said the team decided to come early for more training after having served their 14-day quarantine at home after traveling from El Salvador to Panama. He also noted that it had snowed in Hamilton when they were south.
Thanks to his triumph at the Island Games in Charlottetown this summer, the CPL champion also has the chance to qualify for the main CONCACAF club competition when he takes on Toronto FC in the final of the first-planned Canadian Championship quarter 2021.
Forge left the CONCACAF league in the round of 16 last year and was beaten 4-2 by Olimpia from Honduras overall.
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Forge FC, Canadian Premier League, Arcahaie FC, Canadian Championship, Concacaf Champions League
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Ref: https://www.timescolonist.com