The Trequartista Sweeper - Previewing the UFL Cup Semifinal

Photo from Fritz Dalida of Soccer Central Philippines

The stakes get raised. With a new cup winner sure to be crowned, Global FC, Loyola Meralco Sparks, Penson Stallion Gilligan's and Green Archers United are raring to go this Tuesday at the fabled Rizal Memorial Stadium.

Kicking off the double header at 5pm is the star-studded matchup of Global FC and the Loyola Meralco Sparks. Global won Group A and beat Kaya FC in extra time to book their seat in the semifinals, while Loyola won Group C and easily dispatched Philippine Army to finalize their matchup with the league champions.

Both sides will be fielding their key stars but whilst the Loyola players called up for the upcoming friendly are reportedly going to be made available for the semifinal, no details have been made available from Global with regards to their players' availability, other than this statement. If the national team players are unavailable, expect Alex Obiang, Jerry Barbaso, Yu Hoshide and newcomer Kevin Capolei to shoulder the load alongside Izzo El-Habbib for Global against the self-styled "Wolfpack" of Loyola.

Global has yet to win against Loyola in its recent past, as it drew 1-1 and lost 4-3 in league action. Both B.Y. Jeong and Izzo scored on their league matches against each other.

The night cap will feature teams that needed penalty shootouts to gain entry into the semifinals. Group D winners Stallion survived the lone surviving play-in entrant General Trias International FC, while Group B winners Green Archers handled Division II champions Pachanga-Diliman.

Stallion has been dominant of GAU as of late, scoring five goals in both of their league matches, with three each coming from Ruben Doctora and Jovanie Simpron. On the other hand, Tating Pasilan has scored all three goals for GAU in their league matches against the Ernie Nierras-coached side.

No details have been made available with regards to Stallion's lone call-up to the national team, Jason de Jong, as to whether he will be playing, but someone who was previously ruled out has been made available, as starting GK Wilson Munoz will be wearing a mask in order to play in the semifinal.

In preparing for this matchup, GAU played against the national team on Saturday afternoon in the University of Makati, losing 5-0.

Expect UAAP standouts in Jesus Melliza, Ronnie Aguisanda and Patrick Deyto to help out Pasilan and Arnie Pasinabo in their effort to pull out a victory for GAU, while new addition from CFIM Rufo and Joaco aim to be the extra oomph needed to pilot the Stallion stampede towards the Cup.

Tampines edges Loyola in S'pore Cup 1st Leg

c/o Brosi Gonzales

Current S-League leaders Tampines Rovers secured a 2-0 victory over the United Football League's Loyola Meralco Sparks in the semifinals of the RHB Singapore Cup on Thursday night at Clementi Stadium.

Before the match, Loyola's head coach Kim Chul Su had expressed that the matchup would be a good measure to see where Philippine club football is as of the moment, with the 2011 UFL Cup runner-up going up against a team that has won the competition thrice. The team is also the only guest team still in the running for the competition, something LMS FC President Randy Roxas stated, expressing their wish to move further in the competiton and make the finals in their first try. According to Phil Younghusband, preparations for this semifinal went well and the confidence from the preseason performances would bode well for the team here as well as in the United Football League. Said confidence, according to Chad Gould, would translate to a 110% performance in the pitch.

Goals from the ageless Aleksandar Duric in the first half and Ahmad Latiff Bin Khamarudin in the second half proved to be enough for the Rovers against the Sparks, who are playing their first competitive match of the season with the roster of players for the upcoming UFL Cup. Duric's chip in the 28th minute over keeper Ref Cuaresma put the home side up 1-0. Ref would later on acknowledge the error as he had been off the line when Duric attempted the chip. 

Latiff had been dominating in midfield with his forays and passes to Duric and Saed Hadzibulic, but in the 50th minute, Imran Sahib fed Latiff the ball, which the midfielder then fired towards the goal to double the advantage.

The Sparks were able to secure a goal in the 73rd minute when a Kim Woo Chul free kick made its way to a Chad Gould header into the net, but referee Sukhbir Singh disallowed it, as he deemed that Kim kicked the ball before it was ready to do so. Singh then issued a yellow card to Kim, which turned out to be his second of the match, and thus the center back was banished from the game and suspended for the return leg on Sunday night. Coach Vince Santos deemed it as a poor call, as according to him, "everyone was lined up for the shot and everyone seemed to be waiting for it. And the referee only blew his whistle after the goal. If it was a violation then he should have blown it before or during the shot."

Tampines could have had a third goal with Hadzibulic's header, but Ref saved it then defender Jang Jo Won cleared it away.


Afterwards, Anto Gonzales and Ref remarked on the game plan being geared too much on Duric, while not focusing on the wingers who fed him chances. However, the team is not discouraged with the defeat, and as Chad said, "It is something [that] we can build on." Ref also added that the team will make the adjustments from their mistakes in the first leg, while Phil noted the importance of an early goal in gauging their chances in the second game.

The 2nd leg of the RHB Singapore Cup semi final is scheduled on Sunday night at Jalan Besar Stadium, with kickoff pegged at 7:45 pm. The winner will face the winner of SAFFC against Gombak United, with the Armed Forces leading 1-0 and their 2nd leg to take place Saturday night at Jurong West Stadium.

*Thanks to Rick Olivares of Bleachersbrew for the information in crafting this report.

Cebu Pacific backs Loyola’s Singapore Cup bid

Loyola Meralco Sparks FC players Simon Greatwich, Mark Hartmann, Phil and James Younghusband & Chad Gould with Cebu Pacific President & CEO Lance Gokongwei. c/o Brosi Gonzales via Rick Olivares

Once again, the Loyola Meralco Sparks have tied-up with the number one airline in the Philippines, Cebu Pacific, in their 2012 RHB Singapore Cup campaign.

Cebu Pacific has been part of the UFL Cup runner-up's Singapore Cup sojourn previously during the earlier stages of the tournament, a 2-1 victory over S-League side Geyland United followed by a 5-3 aggregate win over Myanmar guest squad Kanbawza.

According to LMS FC President Randy Roxas, “Cebu Pacific is a great partner to have because of the infrastructure that they provide,” Randy also adds, “Aside from flying us to Singapore, they allow us to concentrate in other areas that need immediate attention while here in this competition. And we hope they support us for our future endeavors.”

The Sparks are facing the current S-League leaders Tampines Rovers in the semifinals, with the Rovers holding a 2-0 advantage after one leg, with the second leg scheduled on October 7 at Jalan Besar Stadium with a 7:45 pm kickoff time. The winner will face the winner of the SAFFC-Gombak United matchup on October 28.

In addition to Cebu Pacific, Also sponsoring Loyola are the following organizations: Meralco, Mizuno, Gatorade and Maybank ATR Kim Eng Financial Corporation.