GLOBAL FC will have two crucial games, and I hope it’s going to be a split for the Dan Palami-owned club. First off is the quarterfinal round on Nov. 26 in the UFL Cup against the Loyola Meralco Sparks, a controversial match-up that had fans shaking their heads.
Why are Global and Loyola--the top two seeds--facing off this early? It was a mistake that was corrected but was corrected again because the UFL is afraid to set a precedent by correcting a mistake mid-way to the tournament.
It’s a crappy explanation I say. The precedent set here is that if you notice something wrong with a decision of the UFL technical committee, you don’t point it out to them because, what’s the use?
To be fair, I think the UFL has become a victim of its growth. When it started, a mistake like that would have been corrected easily by a few phone calls and teams would shake on that. Now that the stakes are getting bigger, something that could have been easily corrected now needs a couple of meetings and a formal vote.
Anyway that’s done and it’s the quarterfinals--or the Cue-Finals as I call it--for Global and Loyola. How would the Global defense fair against a Loyola team that scored 61 goals and conceded none in the Group Stage? Both teams are also off convincing wins in the round of 16, with Loyola blanking Cimarron FC, 10-0 and Global shipping off the Philippine Navy, 8-0.
It’s going to be a great televised match so watch for it over Aksyon TV at 8:30.
And then, of course, there’s Global vs. Cebu Queen City, this time it’s the long-delayed PFF Smart Cup Visayas eliminations that was supposed to happen a lifetime ago. It’s finally happening in Cebu, on Dec. 4.
There are plans to have it at the Cebu City Sports Center but I think the kick-off time isn’t final yet. And for Cebu to have a snowball’s chance in hell against Global, I hope it would be held at noon. Global has all the advantages so the Cebuano club must create its own advantage, and holding it at high noon may give the club a slight edge against the team that is used to playing late afternoon or early evening at the pristine Emperador Stadium.
The winner here will advance to the national finals and the champion will represent the country in next year’s AFC President’s Cup, so I’m pretty sure those who are already in the national finals are really interested on the result.
So, let’s watch both games, shall we?
Published in the Sun.Star Cebu newspaper on November 25, 2013.
This year the winner of PFF Smart finals will represent Philippines in AFC Presidents Cup. , so Stallion dont get that spot as UFL winner
ReplyDeleteMaybe Ceres Fc should have represented last year not Global ? Ceres won PFF Smart finals , Global won UFL .