Pacific FC returns Sunday to the site of one its two greatest victories — the 1-0 win over Forge FC last November in the 2021 Canadian Premier League championship game at Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton, Ont.
(The other was the win last year over the Vancouver Whitecaps of MLS in the Voyageurs Cup Canadian Championship competition).
The PFC player who scored the winner against Forge FC in the CPL final, midfielder Alessandro Hojabrpour, is now with the Hammers along with former Tridents star striker Terran Campbell. It is just one of the features of Sunday’s marquee CPL match-up.
Pacific FC (5-2-3 in wins, losses, draws) arrives in Hamilton leading the CPL but with two draws and a loss in its previous three league games and a shoot-out loss against York United in the Voyageurs Cup quarter-finals that denied the Tridents a semifinal date against the Whitecaps.
“We need the three points,” said PFC captain Jamar Dixon.
“But Forge (3-2-2) was the back-to-back defending league champion before us and it’s never easy to play there. It’s always a battle in Hamilton,” added the sa国际传媒-capped Tridents midfielder.
“We have to play 90 minutes non-stop. We have always had good teamwork and that is going to be the key to finding our groove again.
“Sometimes, the bounces just don’t go your way in this game. We’ve got to get back to doing what we do.”
Alejandro Diaz of Pacific FC, who leads the CPL in scoring with six goals, echoed those thoughts.
“It’s a part of football that things will not always go as planned. It’s a matter of getting back that confidence we had earlier in the season,” said the former FIFA Under-17 and U-20 World Cup player for Mexico.
“We know these are two quality sides that are meeting [Sunday].”
Forge FC proved that by winning the 2019 and 2020 CPL championships and advancing to the 2022 CONCACAF Champions League by reaching the CONCACAF League semifinals last year. Pacific FC, as defending CPL champion, begins its CONCACAF League quest next month with a first-round home-and-home set against Waterhouse of the Jamaican Premier League.
“Forge has done an amazing job and has shown that the CPL is growing,” said Diaz, a former Liga MX pro.
“Not only did they reach the CONCACAF Champions League, but they have played step for step with MLS teams [losing to Toronto FC of MLS only on penalty kicks last week in the pulsating two-years-pandemic-delayed 2020 Voyageurs Cup final before more than 13,000 fans at Tim Hortons Field].
“It has been great for the CPL. It shows we can get to those levels because we are a quality side, too.”
PFC and Forge FC played in the marquee season opener in April at Starlight Stadium with the Tridents winning 2-1, although the Hammers lead the all-time series 8-2-1.
NATIONAL TEAM DUTY: The Tridents will be missing two young attackers to international play. Kamron Habibullah, with PFC on loan from the Whitecaps, is called up to play for sa国际传媒 in the CONCACAF U-20 qualifier in Honduras from June 18-July 3 for four regional berths into the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Indonesia and two berths into the 2024 Paris Olympics … (Dino Bontis and Kwasi Poku of Forge FC are also with the sa国际传媒 U-20 team for the CONCACAF qualifier in Honduras) … Gianni Dos Santos of PFC, who has shown brief but tantalizing flashes of brilliance, has been called up to the Cape Verde national team for a friendly this weekend against Ecuador in Miami.
