Global FC shifts UFL title bid to a higher gear as it battles lowly Pasargad

By Karlo Sacamos

GLOBAL FC shifts its championship bid in the United Football League to a higher gear as it tangles with struggling Pasargad on Saturday night at the Emperador Stadium in Taguig.
Now in the driver’s seat after overtaking Loyola Meralco in the nine-team standings, the league-leading squad seeks to pull away further from the Sparks.
A victory in the 8:30 p.m. affair with cellar-dwelling Pasargad will be Global’s fifth straight that will jack up its point total to 37 and put the Dan Palami-owned club four points clear at the top.
But that hardly excites Global coach Leigh Manson, who stressed that it’s too early to think about the title race with an eternity of football left to be played.
“Ask me in ten weeks’ time when there’s a game left to play,” the Scottish mentor said when asked to comment on the team’s new place at the top of the field.
Global, which overwhelmed Pasargad, 3-1, in the first round, is once again favored to duplicate its feat against a lowly side that is on a five-game tailspin and in danger of getting relegated.
Global, led by Mark Hartmann and fellow Azkals in the fold, even gets a boost with Mexican defender German Rodriguez making his return from a one-game suspension slapped by his country’s federation.
Earlier, two other teams that are poles apart in the standings face off.
Kaya FC, running third with 27 points, takes on eighth-running Socceroo at 6:15 p.m.
Kaya whipped the top-tier rookies, 7-1, in the first round, but will be facing a different side that made acquisitions, including Colombian winger Diego Barrera, in the transfer window this time.
“They’ve definitely improved in the (transfer) window, so we can’t take them lightly,” Kaya coach David Perkovic said. “And as we’ve shown in the past, you can’t take any team lightly.”

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