A stunning debut for the acrobatic Forge goalkeeper.
It’s tempting to say that a star is born, but Dimitry Bertaud is 27 years old and has been in and around the highest level of world soccer since he was an early teen.
Still, the native of Montpellier, France, played his first official game in over four months and his first official game of any kind for his new team Tuesday night and unleashed five astounding saves in the first half alone as Forge held Mexican powerhouse Tigres UANL to a scoreless draw at Hamilton Stadium in front of 4,560.
Four of those saves came late in the first half as Forge held off furious pressure from Tigres’ creative and talented attackers, particularly former World Cup champion André-Pierre Gignac of France—one of Bertaud’s idols as he was growing up—and new Canadian national team member Marcelo Flores, who was only the second-best player on the pitch, thanks to Bertaud’s athletic heroics.
After a great reaction save off Flores in the early going, he later made a too-quick-for-thinking leg save as the first half began closing down, and in the space of 30 seconds in the 44th minute, stopped both Flores and Gignac on glorious chances originating with corner kicks; each time on leaping fingertip denials which he deflected over the bar.
Although their well-conceived, but atypical, backline setup was keeping the ball in mostly non-dangerous zones, in the first half Forge surrendered seven corner kicks and earned just one of their own, and were outshot 10–2 in the half, with eight of the visitors’ shots being directly on target.
Those saves kept the score at nil, sent Tigres into the intermission frustrated and a little worried and provided a springboard of confidence for a much stronger second half by the Hammers, who came back out into the impossible, windy, cold with a noticeable home-field advantage surge.
It was the second-best result ever by a CPL club in Champions Cup—Cavalry FC beat Pumas 2–1 in 2025 before being eliminated with a 2–0 loss in the return leg—but it was the first time that a CPL team has not given up a goal in a Cup game. And remember, Bertaud had been officially signed just a couple of days earlier, had been around his new team for only about 10 days, and was playing behind a defence which was without injured star Daniël Krutzen, who was supposed to be playing the first game of his second tenure in Hamilton.
“They had good jump, good anticipation and good reaction,” Bertaud said of his first-half saves. “You couldn’t follow the ball in because there were a lot of people in front of me, so it had to be all reaction and reflex. I was very proud, and I’m very happy with the work of the team. It was a good match for us and a very important draw. We want to do the same for the next game.”
For those who’d never seen Bertaud before, it was a little shocking to see him setting up most of the time with his body inside the goal line with only his hands outside the net area.
“I’ve always done it like this, and the most important thing is making the stop,” he said matter-of-factly.
Bobby Smyrniotis has been extolling the virtues of Bertaud the last few days, and Tuesday night, the rest of Forge’s appreciative fan base saw why. He’s here to accumulate experience as a No. 1 keeper and recalibrate his career with an eye toward returning to elite European competition, and appears ready to continue a Forge tradition, big-play goalkeeping established by Triston Henry and Jassem Koleilat.
“He's a quality keeper, and that's something we've seen from his past," Smyrniotis said. "Watching him for 10 days in training, you could see that, but you could also see it from the first day he walked in; by day two, he knew everyone's name, so he was talking on the pitch, he was giving advice, pointers around to the defenders. You see his level of engagement. He has a lot of drive ahead of him as a player, and a lot of ambition in front of him, so it's a great performance from him."
So maybe a recount is in order here: A star was born Tuesday night.
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Forge’s draw against Mexican championship runners-up a major step forward
Bald statistics—Tigres absolutely owned the possession advantage at 68 per cent—don’t always tell the full story, and the scoreless draw was actually full of positive nuances for the Hammer,s who kept the 2020 Mexican champions, and last year’s runners-up, without a goal.
Forge heads into Tuesday’s second leg at Monterrey with lots in their favour, including not conceding a home goal. Should the series still be knotted after regulation time in that game, the first tie-breaker before overtime is away goals. So a 1–1 draw would send Forge through.
And, spurred by Bertaud’s marquee play, Forge made a few adjustments and was a much better team in the second half, which, if you have to choose, is more important than the other way around. They have mounted somewhat of a tailwind off that final 45 minutes, although Tigres were still dangerous and had a goal called back by an obvious offside that the assistant referees somehow missed. Hamilton created some chances early in the second half, most notably a near-miss by Hoce Massunda and with four minutes to go, Ame had a header by Rezart Rama off a GPS-style service from Mark Jevremović, which just looped over the crossbar.
"We're not stupid. We know they have quality, and going to Mexico and getting results is no easy feat,” said Forge captain Kyle Bekker, who controlled the tempo in the game. “But the importance of leg one was to just give ourselves a fighting chance, and that's what we did."
Smyrniotis hinted that, despite what was an outstanding result, his club would have to make some adjustments themselves for Tuesday’s return match in Monterrey.
Invaluable experience being gained as Forge turns to young depth
Forge was without two players who might have made even more of a difference in this game and had been expected to start: injured defender Daniël Krutzen and slippery winger Nana Ampomah, who is still awaiting his visa approval. It’s not yet known whether Ampomah will be approved to play next week but if he is, he can be a difference maker.
Forge had 20-year-old winger Massunda and 19-year-old Spanish striker Ismael Oketokoun up front along with veteran Tristan Borges. Both youngsters acquitted themselves well, and with a little more seasoning, some of the opportunities Oketokoun had Tuesday could be finessed into goals. This was, remember, the sixth official game of 2026 for the Mexicans but just the first for Forge, who suited up a lot of players who are early in their pro careers or are new to the CPL game.
Additionally, Tigres became visibly frustrated and angry at themselves for not scoring in the first half and even substituted Gignac off at the intermission and made some other personnel changes earlier than anticipated. After the game, head coach Guido Pizarro could be heard criticizing his side in the dressing room. Several Tigres players were clearly angry and disappointed as they departed the stadium, and Pizarro said in his media conference that the results fell far below his team’s expectations and their play needed upgrading.
And here’s a telling metaphor: when the teams started midfield substitutions about an hour in, among the changes were Tigres summoning 30-year legend Ángel Correa, who’s won a World Cup, and the Hammers summoning 22-year-old Anthony Aromatario, who played last year for York University. He did not look out of place.
This is not news: Smyrniotis can coach
Credit Smyrniotis with an excellent game plan, widening Forge’s attacking pattern, using Borges and Mo Babouli creatively near the box, employing five backliners when Tigres had the ball—which was often—and sending Ben Paton (who was outstanding throughout) and Rama forward when Forge regained it. For such a short lead-up after a brief off-season, the back five were generally in sync, with the 360-degree cohesiveness of a synchronized skating team.
Flores shines, but Bertaud shinier
Bertaud complimented 22-year-old left forward Marcelo Flores of Georgetown, Ont., for his pressure on the ball and his ability to change directions quickly while working into optimum shooting zones, and camouflaging the exact part of the net he targets.
“He’s a very fine player and was good all game,” Bertaud said. “Yes, I was aware of him.”
Flores, though, was not made available by Tigres after the game despite strong media interest in his upcoming World Cup possibilities.