UNITED City FC and Kaya FC-Iloilo start their debut campaign in the 2021 AFC Champions League on Saturday night in separate venues.
The two clubs will play in matches that will mark the first time that the Philippines will be represented in Asia’s top club competition.
UCFC, the reigning Philippines Football League champion, will be competing against Beijing FC at the Bunyodkor Stadium in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, while Kaya FC will take on Thailand champion BG Patham United at the Pathum Thani Stadium in Bangkok.
How they got here?
United City FC gained a spot in the Champions League after it expanded the competition in which the PFL titlist will advanced to the AFC club tournament.
UCFC debuted last year after multi-titled Ceres Negros FC transferred the ownership of the club to the current group led by Eric Gottschalk.
The United City core came mostly from that Ceres squad that won the first three seasons of the PFL from 2017 to 2019, the year that also saw the club win the Copa Paulino Alcantara.
United City ended up in Group I of the competition alongside Japan champion Kawasaki Frontale, Beijing FC, and Daegu FC.
Kaya FC-Iloilo, second-placers in last year’s PFL had to go through the qualifying stage. After its first-round opponent Brisbane Roar withdrew, Kaya stunned Shanghai Port, 1-0, on Wednesday to become the second Philippine club to make it to the AFC Champions League.
It is the biggest accomplishment of the club that began in 1996, a feat that was no longer witnessed by one of its founders Rudy Del Rosario, who passed away last year.
Prior to the AFC Champions League stint, Kaya FC won the United Football League crown in 2015, and the Copa Paulino Alcantara in 2018. It has also been competing in the AFC Cup for several years.
Kaya wound up n Group F featuring champion teams in their own countries - BG Patham United, Ulsan Hyundai (Korea), and Viettel FC (Vietnam).
Top level competition
With daunting odds of advancing to the next round, the mindset of the two clubs is to do the best it can to perform at a high-level against the formidable Asian squads.
UCFC striker Bienve Maranon said that despite not having the opportunity to come to Manila after the PFL bubble, he had been training in Spain in preparation for the AFC Champions League before rejoining the squad in their training camp in Dubai.
“I prepared myself to be my best in this competition,” Maranon saidn in an inerview with Fox Sports Asia. “I will try to bring my best and be at 100 percent. Doesn’t matter if I score. (What) I want to do in this competition is to show a good performance. My best performance ever. With more experience, I’m very, very good. This is the time that I can enjoy more football than ever.”
The team captain is Stephan Schrock, whose match fitness won't be a problem after seeing action for the Philippine Azkals in the FIFA World Cup 2022 and AFC Asian Cup 2023 joint qualifiers held in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.
Kaya FC coach Graham Harvey, meanwhile, will also be urging his wards to play their best football.
“There is a little bit of pressure because obviously, we are here on the biggest stage in Asia… We will represent ourselves as best as possible,” said Harvey.
Audie Menzi scored the lone goal of the match, while goalkeeper Louie Casas kept a clean sheet in Kaya's stunning win over the China club.
Entering the AFC competition, Kaya FC also made a major acquisition by signing Jarvey Gayoso, who also saw action with the Azkals in UAE. Kenshiro Daniels was also fresh from the Azkals call-up.
Harvey also intends to field all his players in the six matches of the group stage so that they can experience top-class football in Asia.
“We brought our squad here that we know we would use and we will use across the six games. Everybody in that squad is competitive. You’ve seen from Wednesday’s game, we had two Azkals on the bench. We have strength and depth. Everybody will get an opportunity to play.
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