Pinoy Club Global faces Tampines Rovers in Champions League opener
GLOBAL FC will start their campaign in the Asian Foot ball Confederation (AFC) Champions League with a bout against the Tampines Rovers FC at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium at 7:30 p.m. today.
Global FC, which has adopted Cebu as its home province for the upcoming national league, will be the first Filipino club to see action in the premier continental tournament. The two clubs last met in the 2016 edition of the RHB Singapore Cup, where the Rovers won twice in the semifinals, 5-3, on aggregate. Consequently, Global FC clinched a berth to the competition after securing a rare double in the United Football League last season. “Our mentality is t o bring out our best and the biggest game that we have to play so we have to go for our 100 percent. This is the biggest tournament for any clubs in any Asian country,” striker Misagh Bahadoran said during the prematch news conference on Monday.
“We want to go through this and we want to go through the group stage so we really need to go with strong mentality but we still have some problems we need to address,” he added.
If Global won against Tampines, they would have to go through Brisbane Roar FC of Australia in the second qualification match on January 31 before they can earn a seat in the playoff round. The veteran forward of Global vowed to do their best to win for the country. “I’m really happy to be part of it and hopefully we go further and win the game tomorrow and the games after. “It’s such an honor to be part of this big tournament especially with our club. I also represent the country in the national team, but playing for Global in this tournament makes me as excited as playing for the Azkals,” he said. Global will be playing with its core players with new talents it has acquired during the holiday break. Former Chinese Taipei national football team head coach To shia ki Imai, who replaced Englishman John Burridge, will mentor the team.