Philippine Daily Inquirer
SINGAPORE—The invitation came as a
surprise, but United Football League side Loyola Meralco is looking to make the
most out of it.
Bent on sustaining the rise of Philippine
football, this time at the club level, the Loyola Sparks set out to create a
ripple when they face Singapore League side Geylang United Friday night at the
Jalan Besar Stadium.
The Sparks, who were invited to the
tournament because of their strong showing in the first round of the UFL, are
surprisingly the slight favorites—according to betting lines here—against a
Geylang side that has struggled in the S-League this season.
A big Filipino crowd is expected to turn
up for the 7:45 p.m. match that comes less than a year after a well-supported
Philippine team bowed to Singapore, 0-2, in an international friendly match.
The turf ground at the JBS augurs well for
the Sparks’ passing game and they are brimming with optimism with Korean coach
Kim Chol-su actually targeting a semifinal finish in the 16-team knockout
tournament.
But star striker Phil Younghusband
dismissed any notion of a cakewalk for Loyola, stressing that, as neophytes in
the tournament, the Filipino side is still the heavy underdog.
“It will be difficult because we don’t know
what to expect from Geylang,” said Younghusband, the AFC Challenge Cup Golden
Boot winner, who is currently the leading scorer in the UFL with 18 goals.
Among the five foreign teams playing in the
tournament here, the Sparks appear actually to have the easier draw. Geylang is
the 2009 champion of the tournament, but its campaign in the S-League has been
affected by the departure of key players.
Still, the Singaporean squad has ace
players, including English midfielder Michael King, formerly with English side
Burnley.
Veteran Filipino international Simon
Greatwich, a midfielder, is expected to be fielded as a centerback, while
Matthew Hartmann, who is facing a one-year ban in the UFL, could start at
midfield alongside brother Mark, Anton Gonzales and James Younghusband.
SIMON GREATWICH!
ReplyDelete