Forge FC's main objective in leg one of their Concacaf Champions Cup tiewas to give themselves a chance in leg two.
With an impressively resilient 0-0 draw against Tigres UANL on Tuesday night, it's mission accomplished for the Canadian Premier League side.
Forge became the first ever CPL club to keep a clean sheet in the Concacaf Champions Cup; so, for the first time in four attempts in this tournament, they'll head to an away leg in Mexico with the aggregate score level.
In his post-match press conference, Forge head coach Bobby Smyrniotis pointed out that he decided to do things a little differently this year.
"It's important to give yourself a good opportunity in the second game," he told reporters. "We decided to be a little bit different than we have been in the past in these games, with the result being the most important thing. I thought the guys went out there and executed very well."
Smyrniotis set up his team in a shape that looked like a 3-4-1-2, with wing-backs Ben Paton and Rezart Rama pushing forward in possession while Tristan Borges operated behind dual forwards Hoce Massunda and Ismael Oketokoun. A wider, five-man backline when defending helped push Tigres to the outside and prevent them from playing dangerous balls through the central channels.
Still, the job is far from over, and Forge captain Kyle Bekker preached caution in his own post-match media remarks.
"We can't get ahead of ourselves," said Bekker. "We're not stupid. We know they have quality, and going to Mexico and getting results is no easy feat. But the importance of leg one was to just give ourselves a fighting chance, and that's what we did."
Another major story to come out of this game was the success of several new faces in the squad. The 19-year-old Oketokoun made his debut up front, and experienced defender Antoine Batisse slotted in nicely to the backline.
The biggest standout, however, was goalkeeper Dimitry Bertaud. The 27-year-old has 15 career caps for DR Congo and has played his entire professional career for French Ligue1 side Montpellier, and his experience and talent were evident in his Forge debut.
Bertaud made seven saves, including a few jaw-droppingly athletic fingertip stops on Andre-Pierre Gignac and Marcelo Flores. Smyrniotis was therefore full of praise for his new keeper post-match.
"It's always a tough thing to read, because you know he's a quality keeper and that's something we've seen from his past," Smyrniotis said. "Now, watching him for 10 days in training, you could see that. But you can see it from the first day he's 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."
Now, Forge head to Mexico knowing that just one goal might be enough to achieve the unthinkable, and knock out a foe the size of Tigres. In fact, even a 1-1 draw would be enough, thanks to the away goals rule.
Still, it'll be a different kind of battle down in Nuevo León, at Tigres' fabled Estadio Universitario — more commonly known as El Volcán.
Whatever Tigres throw at them, Forge will be ready.
"I think Tigres had about eight of their regular 11 starters on the pitch today, so maybe we'll find 11 out of the 11 in the next one," Smyrniotis quipped. "Maybe they'll sell a few more tickets as well, create a nicer environment for the game."
Leg two of this Concacaf Champions Cup first-round tie will be played next Tuesday, Feb. 10 at 10 p.m. ET.
