PFF still not giving up on hosting AFC finals

By Cedelf P. Tupas
Philippine Daily Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines is not losing hope in its bid to host the Asian Football Confederation Challenge Cup finals in May, where the Azkals will be gunning for a ticket to the 2015 AFC Asian Cup.

The country, which plans to stage the May 19 to 30 tournament at Rizal Memorial Stadium, emerged as an option behind the Maldives after the island nation in the Indian Ocean failed to start rehabilitation work in their venues late last year.

The AFC Competitions Committee, in fact, recommended the transfer of the event to the Philippines, before the Maldives made an assurance that the two proposed venues for the tournament will be completed before March.

The Philippine Sports Commission is installing a Fifa-approved all-weather grass at RMS, which the Philippine Football Federation hopes will be finished by February.

PFF general secretary Ed Gastanes said the AFC is closely monitoring the work being done at Rizal Memorial. “We still hope that we can host the Challenge Cup since it’s the most important tournament for the Azkals,” said Azkals manager Dan Palami.

“Getting the home field advantage will enhance our chances of making the Asian Cup through the Challenge Cup.”

The Azkals, who finished last year at its highest position in the Fifa rankings at No. 127, will face Myanmar, Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Palestine, Laos, Kyrgyzstan and Maldives in the Challenge Cup.

inquirer.net

AFC Challenge Cup draw date set

Kuala Lumpur: The draw for the AFC Challenge Cup 2014 will take place on Wednesday, February 12 at the Paradise Island Resort in the Maldives.
Joining the tournament hosts in next month’s draw are two-time runners-up Turkmenistan, 2013 SAFF champions Afghanistan, Kyrgyzstan, Myanmar, Palestine, the Philippines and Laos, who will be making their debut in the AFC Challenge Cup finals after booking their place as one of the two best runners-up from the qualifiers.
The eight-team competition will be held in the Maldives from May 19 to 30 with the winners of the fifth edition of the tournament for emerging nations also earning a berth at the 2015 AFC Asian Cup.

afc.com

Stallion Fc begins title defense bid against Green Archers United on 2014 UFL opening day

Karl Decena, InterAksyon.com

Defending champion Stallion FC begins its title defense bid against Green Archers United Globe to cap a four-match schedule of the 2014 United Football League opening day on Saturday at the Emperador Stadium.

Stallion will clash against Green Archers in the last match of the day at 8:30 p.m. after the Division One debut of the newly-promoted Team Socceroo FC against Pachanga Diliman FC at 6:15 p.m.

Stallion is entering the season without its key players from its League title run last year. After the notable losses of reigning Most Valuable Player Rufo Sanchez, who is serving a one-year ban from the UFL, and Joaco Cañas, the squad dropped four more players in its lineup ahead of the competition.

Green Archers is hoping to ride the momentum of its third place run in the Cup last year. Veteran winger Chieffy Caligdong is carrying the team once again, with the target of improving its fourth place League finish last season.

Two new squads will also make their Division Two debut on opening day, with new squad Manila Jeepney FC taking on Manila All-Japan at 1:45 p.m. and defending national club champion Ceres-La Salle taking on Philippine Navy at 4 p.m.

Manila Jeepney is aiming to make a splash in Division Two after reaching the knockout stages of the Cup, while Ceres is looking to duplicate its impressive records against UFL squads which they beat during its title run in the past two national club tournaments.

UFL matches will be played every Tuesdays, Thursdays, Saturdays and Sundays at the Emperador Stadium.

interaksyon

Kaya boss explains Garmaroudi cut: 'He's not on same page with team'

KAYA coach David Perkovic is sticking to the positives with the departure of several of his players especially first-choice goalkeeper Saba Garmaroudi ahead of the opening of the United Football League on Saturday.

In one of biggest surprises in the United Football League preseason, veteran Iranian 'keeper Garmaroudi, who had been integral to Kaya’s campaign in the top tier in the last few years, was among those cut along with Danilo de Jong, Scott Baginski, Mitchell Davidson, and Fabien Lewis.

Perkovic explained the decision to drop Garmaroudi, whose recently expired contract was not renewed, saying the player and team are not on the same page.

“Saba has different goals than what was required of him by the club and myself, so therefore we went our separate ways,” Australian mentor told Spin.ph on Monday, refusing to elaborate, although he believes the goalkeeper will transfer to Division 2 side Laos.

“I think along with some of the players we’ve lost before, sometimes it’s better for the squad that some players leave. But I don’t really focus too much on what ‘was’ the squad. I try to look forward and make sure we’re positive about our future.”

“Instead of thinking about what we’ve lost, I try to think about what we’ve gained,” he added of his team, which finished fourth among 10 teams last season.

One of Kaya’s most notable additions is homegrown Filipino Mark Sorongon, who will contend with fellow 'keeper Nick O’Donnell for the starting position.

Kaya has two other Filipino signings in midfielder Miguel Tanton and 19-year-old Filipino-Australian striker Luis Abadia.

Midfielder Richard Greer of Queensland leads the cast of foreign recruits along with Australian Tommy Taylor and Ghanaian centerback Alfred Osei.

Hardly satisfied with his new-look lineup that is still bannered by Azkals OJ Porteria and Chris Greatwich, Perkovic nevertheless has to make do with what he has.

“I think we’ll hit the ground running fine, but having said that, we have a lot of hard work to do.”

Other teams have also been undergoing major revamps, saying the only “stable” squads in the league are newly minted UFL Cup champion Loyola Meralco and Green Archers United.

“The competition’s going to be very interesting because there are a lot of changes to all the teams.” 

spin

UFL Div 2 - Dropped players

2nd DIVISION
Agila FC
BHAT, Shwetank (13-239)
BIÑAS, Kevin Regan (13-230)

Cebu Queen City United FC - will not participate in the 2013/14 UFL League

Cimarron FC
LEE, Yong Seok (13-309)
SOLTANI, Mehdi (13-032)
VALERIO, Solomon (11-332)

Dolphins United FC
BARITUGO, Rex Ares (13-088) - not free to sign
CABALLERO, John Reginald (12-190)
CALAWOD, Ronnie (13-203) - not free to sign
CLEMENTE, Timothy Titus (11-202) - not free to sign
NAYYEF MNAWER, Saleh (13-207) - not free to sign
PABIA, Oliver (13-090) - not free to sign
TABA, Kami (13-313) - not free to sign
TRANSPORTO, June (11-219) - not free to sign

Forza FC
CELDRAN, Luis Miguel (11-024)
ROMERO-SALAS, Enrique (11-039)

Laos FC
UBIAM, Okoro Ugochukwu (11-597)
VILLARINO, Joseph Jino (13-222)

Manila All-Japan FC
FARIÑAS, Rizaldy (13-324)
ITO, Yoshinori (11-244)
NAKAGAWA, Yusuke (12-284)
OKEYUI, Brian (11-251)
SALAZAR, Deney (12-089)
SHOGAMI, Takuro (13-329)
SORONGON, Mark Evans (11-594) - Player Transfer Certificate issued to Kaya FC
YAGI, Masahiko (12-178)

Nomads FC
BORRILL, Steven Robert (11-097)
CREMET, Camille Adrien (13-010)
EL HABIB, Bahaeldin Elzari Ibrahim (11-509)
FOGG, Samuel Robert (11-102)
LLORENTE, Ruffy (11-057)
MAGASSA, Bafio (13-011)
SKOULOS, Alex (13-183)
WEIDMAR, Martin (13-184)
WILLIAMS, Daniel Stephen (11-118)

Phil. Navy FC
AGBAYO, Daniel (13-340)
ASPA, Rogelio Jr. (13-341)
CORONEL, Michael Ritz (13-227)
GUNDA, Rachy (13-156)
SATURINAS, Mark (11-540)
SOMOZA, Norman (13-228)
VANZEKIN, Friday Imonah (13-037)

Union Internacional Manila FC
ANGELES, Marvin Janwer (11-503)
BEHGANDOM, Milad (12-127)
HAJIMAHDI, Hamed (12-129)
NORBERT, Eric (12-314)
PASCUAL, Jose Paolo (11-017)
SHEEHAN, Alexander (11-569)
SUTCLIFFE, Charlie (11-571

UFL transfer news Div 1 - updated

UFL transfer news .  New transfers after UFL Cup . To be updated

Global Fc
Has signed fil-Am defender Charley Pettys from Los Angeles Blues
Paolo Pascual and Marvin Angeles both Union Int Manila is back with Global.

Dropped players : Paul Mulders, Ed Sacapano (Army fc), Ange Tressor Guisso and James Shaw

Stallion Fc

Has signed Philippines born fil-Italian Simone Rota . Rota has been playing professional football in Italy .

They have also signed forward Hamed Hajimhedi from Union Int Manila

Dropped players : Barrera , Doromal , Gordon , Hasegawa,BB Park, Pavone , Pettys, Torres-Benitez , Zaghi and Zamora

Kaya Fc

New local players : Mark Sorongon and Miguel Tanton  and fil-Australian : Luis Abadia
New foreign players : Richard Greer (Gold Coast United, Australia) , Tommy Taylor (Fraser Park Fc Australia), Alfred Osei (Ghana)
Dropped players : Lewis, Baginski , Davidson , Danilo De Jong , Garmaroudi

Green Archers United

Has signed Korean midfielder Jun Soo Park and Greggy Yang, defender from DLSU.

Powell Schneider , Jake Hugo (Air Force Fc)  and Miguel Angel Garcia have all left Green Archers.

Pachanga Diliman Fc :

Dropped players :

Alvin Ocampo and Juan Miguel Roy

Loyola Meralco Sparks Fc

Dropped players : Chad Gould , Jonah Romero , MH Park and Aaron De Rama

Pasargad FC :

Dropped players : Reza Ataei, Joshua Cruz, Amin Karami, Jamille Muncada, Michael Nelson, Jerome Orcullo, Celestino Ravel


Army Fc :

New Player : Ed Sacapano (Global Fc)
Dropped player : Rommel Villaruel

Team Socceroo 

Dropped players : Matthew Uy , Alex Obiang , Dexter Chio and Jonathan da Silva

Global Fc signs Charley Pettys from USA

Global Fc has signed Charley Pettys a defender from Los Angeles Blues. He seems to be  a fil-american and tweeted he is looking forward to play for Azkals.

Charley was in the roster for Stallion Fc in UFL Cup but did not play for them.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charley_Pettys

UFL back on January 11 with 9 teams . Triple round robin format

From UFL Media Officer Jing Jamlang:

After Loyola Meralco Sparks' title-winning efforts in the UFL Cup, attentions now turn to the 2014 League, which starts in less than two weeks. United Football League fans can prime themselves for an exciting shakeup this season, with more matches to enjoy, and new clubs to follow. 

After the UFL's Technical Committee secured approval for their recommendations regarding the format of the highly anticipated competition, it was decided that the UFL's First Division will be composed of Nine Teams, playing in a Triple Round Robin. Also, the Second Division will be expanded to 12 Teams, while retaining its Double Round Robin format. 

Scheduled to kickoff on a Saturday, January 11, UFL fans can look forward to a First Division campaign that will run a month longer than last year's, with rivals having to clash one extra time. The adjustment increases a team's number of games from 18 to 24, reinforcing the idea that unlike the Cup, the League is a marathon, not a sprint. 

The First Division will be without Nomads FC, last season's eighth placers. The club voluntarily dropped down to the lower division due to its inability to comply with the Foreigner Cap Rule, which states a minimum of six Filipino players be on the pitch at all times. They join the fairytale club of the recent UFL Cup, Philippine Air Force, who were relegated from the First Division last season. 

Competition will be incredibly fierce in the nation's second tier, with Ceres La-Salle FC and Manila Jeepney joining the battle to earn passage into the top flight. Ceres' first Cup run may have been halted in the quarterfinals, but their victory over Global to defend their PFF Smart National Club Championship title means they are automatic contenders for promotion. Despite their credentials, the quest for qualification into the First Division won't be easy, with several clubs proving their mettle in the recent Cup.

New team Manila Jeepney showed promise when they advanced to the knockout stages in their first ever crack at the competition. Union Internacional Manila put together a very impressive run, but were denied a semi-final berth by Air Force's late-game heroics. With the intensely competitive nature now of the Second Division, a spot in the First Division has become exponentially more valuable. Team Socceroo will be among the first to reap the benefits, having been promoted after their dominating title run in the Second Division last year.

Champions Stallion will be looking to defend their well-earned title, but it won't be easy as they face ever-improving competition. The likes of Loyola, Pachanga Diliman, and Green Archers United have developed dramatically in the last few months, while Global and Kaya remain perennial dangerous threats. PSG FC, who finished seventh last season, will be looking to recover from failing to compete in the UFL Cup. Given the division's quality, Philippine Army, who narrowly avoided relegation last year, could be facing a real fight to stay in the top flight.

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