Match Thread: CONCACAF League - Round of 16 - Leg 1: Forge FC v Independiente (Panama) - September 21, 2021

[narduch]

Match is at 8pm ET on One Soccer.

The 2nd leg is exactly 1 week later.

The winner of the 2-leg series will face either Santos de Guápiles (Costa Rica) or Plaza Amador (Panama) in the Quarter Finals.

Independiente is the club that famously knocked TFC out of the 1st round of the 2019 Concacaf Champions League.

The only other time Forge played a club from Panama was in the 2020 Concacaf League Round of 16. They won the single elimination match against Taruo 2-1.

 

Edited September 20, 2021 by narduch

[narduch]

Smyrniotis interview leading up to match.

 

[Pottsy3]

I'm curious about Browne. He obviously hasn't been able to come to Forge thus far and was rumoured to be back with Independiente. Is he back with Independiente, is he still with Forge and would he be eligible when we go down for the return leg in Panama? I doubt they'd work him into the squad so last second anyways, but just an odd situation.

[gator]

I'm excited for tonight's match, it is nice to play teams from other leagues to gauge where we are, I never really have a feel for these ties until they take to the pitch! As noted this team rather handily dumped TFC out of the competition a couple of seasons ago so they are potentially a very tough opponent, thankfully Forge has had over a week off to rest and get some players healthy because the congested fixture list has been taking its toll!

[narduch]

 

Edited September 21, 2021 by narduch

[king1010]

Lol some of the Panamanian players wearing gloves. 

[dyslexic nam]

Maybe it is homer bias, but it sure looked like that Panamanian attacker put his hand on the back of the Forge defender’s head and shoved him into Henry.   

[narduch]

Damn Krutzen pk stopped 

[Cheeta]

All very untidy so far.

[dyslexic nam]

Yeah, Forge aren’t looking great.  The other guys are already in full CONCACAF mode to get to a goalless draw, but we aren’t exactly making it hard for them.  A few good passages of play, but overall not playing that well.  I don’t know how this team would normally rank against Forge, but I was hoping we would be taking the game to them a bit more than this.  

[Cheeta]

Nice hit.  Bit greasy out there so why not give it a go? 

[dyslexic nam]

Well, not the greatest - especially with the missed PK.  At least they didn’t give up an away goal, but they need to do a fair bit better during the away leg to have a chance of progressing.   

[Cheeta]

Weather had to play a part but I'm not coming away from this match as anything but disappointed if I'm Forge.  Especially as the match got on.  Disappointing.

[Shway]

Not great...but not bad. 
Forge clearly look like the better team, with more options as well. 

If i'm Bobby, I'm not worried as I know and the team knows what we can do on the road in latin america.

[gator]

I came away quite disappointed, Forge didn't really cause a lot of problems in the crucial areas and of course the pk miss could haunt them, there is still a chance to win this but Forge will have to be much more clinical in the away leg and be ready to deal with even worse Concacaf theatrics!

[Ozzie_the_parrot]

 

[deschamp86]

2 hours ago, Ozzie_the_parrot said:

 

Not the best editing begins at 10:00 then goes to 2:50 for the next highlight

[Pottsy3]

10 hours ago, Cheeta said:

Weather had to play a part but I'm not coming away from this match as anything but disappointed if I'm Forge.  Especially as the match got on.  Disappointing.

I saw it in reverse. I think the first 20 minutes or so were very disappointing. We looked disorganized and were lucky not to concede early. As the game went on, Forge started taking it to them but the Panamanian side made it clear they've been in these type of matches before. Frustrating little team to deal with, but we were the better side in the end.

 

The pitch was clearly soaked, players were falling a lot easier than usual and the Panamanian's knew how to take advantage of the conditions. 

This looked like one of our larger crowds of the season, which was a big surprise to me considering the weather and the weekday game. The rain only came down hard for like a 10-15 minute patch in the second half, but directly before and after the match it was pouring.

[RickC]

Two funny incidents on the evening: first, when the teams came out and lined up, the Concacaf music was played and all of the nice, dutiful, Canadians stood up and removed their hats thinking it was the Panama national anthem. Some confusion afterwards about why O Canada was not then played. Second, was when Henry had to change his jersey and the crowd cheered him mid-change.

I do like Forge's style of play but they can be very frustrating too. Perhaps one too many passes? I find myself wanting them to just shoot the damn ball.

These continental matches are a real pleasure to attend. The atmosphere is different than league matches and I find myself very tense, not wanting any mistakes to lead to goals. Agree that it was one of, if not the, largest crowds of the season. Never did see the sniper who kept shooting the Independiente players. By the time the second player got up and ran after having writhed in pain the fans had no sympathy for any other "hurt" players.

[gator]

2 hours ago, RickC said:

Two funny incidents on the evening: first, when the teams came out and lined up, the Concacaf music was played and all of the nice, dutiful, Canadians stood up and removed their hats thinking it was the Panama national anthem. Some confusion afterwards about why O Canada was not then played. Second, was when Henry had to change his jersey and the crowd cheered him mid-change.

I do like Forge's style of play but they can be very frustrating too. Perhaps one too many passes? I find myself wanting them to just shoot the damn ball.

These continental matches are a real pleasure to attend. The atmosphere is different than league matches and I find myself very tense, not wanting any mistakes to lead to goals. Agree that it was one of, if not the, largest crowds of the season. Never did see the sniper who kept shooting the Independiente players. By the time the second player got up and ran after having writhed in pain the fans had no sympathy for any other "hurt" players.

That was funny because my son did just that then wondered why they didn't play O Canada, I razzed him big time pointing out he had removed his hat and given respect to Concacaf who have screwed us over so many times over the years!