Global vows to come back stronger after defeat in Malaysia
DEALT a tough defeat in an away AFC Cup Group F match in Malaysia on Tuesday night, Global Cebu FC vows to come back stronger in its next game and get its campaign on the right track anew.
Opening its 2017 AFC Cup bid with two straight victories, the “People’s Club” found the going tough against Johor Darul Ta’Zim (JDT) on Match Day 3, losing, 4-0, at the latter’s Stadium Tan Sri Dato’ Haji Yunos in Johor Baru.
The loss effectively allowed JDT, the 2015 AFC Cup champion, to overtake Global for group leadership. JDT (2-1-0) now has seven total points while Global (2-0-1) has six in their grouping for this year’s edition of the continent’s second-tier club football championship.
“We are so disappointed with the result. We could have done better especially in the first half. We know our mistakes and we will go home and we will come back stronger. I promise you that guys,” said Global skipper Misagh Bahadoran in the postmatch press conference.
Global stood toe- to- toe with the host team early in the match but was busted open by JDT in the 30th minute with a goal from midfielder Mahalli Jasuli. It was followed up after four minutes by Safiq Rahim to help their team to a 2-0 cushion by halftime.
Global tried to make up for lost ground in the second half only to find its woes compounded in the 61st minute when substitute Brian Ferreira made it 3-0 with a nifty finish for JDT. For safety measure, the Malaysian team added another goal in extra time to seal the deal.
Mr. Bahadoran admitted they had a difficult time staying with JDT. “We really pushed ourselves to get back in the game but the team was just too tired and our opponents really played well. Hopefully we can improve on our performance in the next game,” said Mr. Bahadoran, also a member of the Philippine men’s national football team, or “Azkals.”
Next for Global is a rematch with Johor Darul Ta’Zim on April 5 at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium.
Meanwhile, the two other teams in Group F, Beoungket Angkor FC of Cambodia and Mangwe FC of Myanmar also collided on Tuesday in Yangon with the former winning, 1-0, to improve to 1-0-2 for three points, with the latter dropping to last place with 0-1-2 card for one point.
In the AFC Cup, Global is aiming for at least a solid top two finish in its group to advance to the next round of the tournament.