Forge FC coach Bobby Smyrniotis joined OneSoccer’s Hangouts on Tuesday to discuss the club’s Concacaf League match this week and reflect on their 2020 CPL Championship-winning run at The Island Games.
Smyrniotis’ side is set to play Salvadorian side Club Deportivo Municipal Limeño on Thursday (8:00 p.m. ET/TSN3). Early scouting reports on Limeño are scarce, though Smyrniotis offered a glimpse into his pre-game preparations for the match at El Salvador’s national stadium, Estadio Cuscatlán.
“They pose threats in their own way… they’re very good defensively,” began Smyrniotis, adding the side is fortunate to play at Estadio Cuscatlán rather than Municipal’s Limeño’s rough-looking home field.
“Being in the national stadium [and on a good pitch] allows us to play on the front foot…. But sometimes in these games there are banana peels, in a way, so you have to be careful.”
BROADCAST ALERT: Forge FC vs. Municipal Limeño, Thursday Oct. 22 at 8pm ET on TSN3
Smyrniotis also recapped Forge’s 2020 Island Games triumph and repeating as CPL Champions. Looking back, Smyrniotis credited his players for adapting to the bubble atmosphere for eventually capturing the North Star Shield.
“We were asking ourselves ‘where do we lighten things up’ to make sure the players are just as prepared mentally as physically,” Smyrniotis said of his team’s run in PEI.
“You take a lot of positives about how we handled it as a team. As well as the players. They were never late for a meal… always dialled in. By the end, everything went so well that we said ‘let this bubble last for another six weeks.'”
To watch Tuesday’s OneSoccer Hangout with Bobby Smyrniotis in full, click here.