By the time they celebrate Canada Day with a matinee home match against Vancouver FC, the Forge\u2014always one of the busiest teams in the country\u2014will not have played for 21 days.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s a good rest, although the Hammers were red hot coming into the downtime to accommodate the\u00a0Men\u2019s World Cup<\/a>.<\/p>\n They are in first place in the CPL, haven\u2019t allowed a goal at home this year, and had serious momentum. So naturally it begs a visit to pro sports\u2019 longtime vs. rust debate.<\/p>\n But according to the players who were at Hamilton Stadium for the well-attended World Cup viewing party Thursday night, there is no debate.<\/p>\n Forge, they insist, will not suffer from any corrosion. Next question please.<\/p>\n The club returns to regular training Monday, and will take only Thursday off as they prepare for the final 18 regular-season games and the second round of the Canadian Championships.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think there\u2019s going to be much of a rust period when we get back,\u201d says the impressive 20-year-old forward\u00a0Kevaughn Tavernier<\/a>, who has represented Canada at U-17 and U-20, won the Ontario Premier Young Player of the Year Award in 2024 and is another in that seemingly endless chain of prospects who have risen through Forge affiliate Sigma FC.<\/p>\n \u201cOur staff does a good job of keeping us active during the break. I\u2019m sure the training will start well so any rust will get out before we get back for that first game.\u201d<\/p>\n Right winger\u00a0Hoce Massunda<\/a>, who turned 21 on Friday and also has a deep Sigma pedigree concurs with his fellow forward.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were given a program for runs and workouts and I\u2019m pretty sure the whole team is doing them,\u201d says Massunda.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWhen we get back Monday we\u2019ll ease into it at first then gradually pick it up. By the end of the week it\u2019s back to normal.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think there will be a letdown or rust at all, because I think the guys are hungry to be better than we were last year. We have some unfinished business (league title) we need to attend to, so I think the guys are going to be hungry to get more wins when we come back.\u201d<\/p>\n Massunda has been working out every day with his father and brother on the pitch at Erin Mills Secondary School near his Mississauga home, \u201crunning, getting some touches, trying to remain fit for when we come back.\u201d<\/p>\n And Tavernier has been meeting with a small group of teammates at Hamilton Stadium to run, train and \u201cwork together to get better.\u201d<\/p>\n The attention on the World Cup splashes over into increased recognition of the Canadian Premier League, and soccer in general in this country, and the CPL should benefit from the increased exposure to The Beautiful Game.<\/p>\n \u201cHaving the Canadian team in it and having games in Toronto is going to be good for the league,\u201d Tavernier agrees. \u201cBecause this league was started because you needed to have a domestic premier league, in order to have a\u00a0World Cup<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI think having it in our backyard is going to give a lot of young kids a chance to see it live in the city and see the overall experience and get a love for the game that maybe they never had before.\u201d<\/p>\n