MARK Hartmann picked up from where he left off, leading his professional club to a rousing win in the Football Alliance League Cup of the United Football League on Thursday night.
Fresh from a four-goal performance in the Azkals’ 5-0 shutout of Papua New Guinea last Sunday, the prolific striker duplicated his output for Global FC in a 12-0 demolition of Manila All-Japan at the Rizal Memorial Stadium.
The emphatic win enabled the reigning UFL League champion to increase its points tally to 12, remain unbeaten after four starts, and secure the first quarterfinal berth in Group B, while keeping the Division 2 side in fourth spot with five points.
Hartmann registered a hat-trick in a 10-minute span in the first half, starting in the 28th minute, before completing his sum with another goal two minutes after intermission for Global, which also drew a brace from Misagh Bahadoran and rookie Edgar Briones, and a goal each by Curt Dizon, Dennis Villanueva, Daisuke Sato, and Paolo Bugas.
Global’s sister squad, Laos FC, derailed Kaya FC from joining Global in the knockout stage as the Division 2 side hacked out a 1-1 draw against the Division 1 runner-up in the other game.
Laos built a first-half lead, then held on in the second half despite going a man down.
Former Kaya top-choice goalkeeper Saba Garmaroudi emerged the villain for his former team with numerous denials.