ph.sports.yahoo.com/blogs/thepassionatefan/global-south-china-afc-cup-notes-and-uaap-football-semis-preview-055749719.html#more-idGlobal loses 6-1 to South China AA of Hong Kong in the first match of the AFC Cup group stage on Wednesday. My thoughts.
The scoreline wasn't reflective of the nature of the game. Yes, the Hong Kongers were the better team, but the score suggests that Global were cowed all game long and just played defense. Anyone who watched the game knows that that was not the case.
Global made many forays into South China territory and had plenty of chances, just not as dangerous as the Hong Kong side's. I think 4-1 would have been a fairer scoreline.
South China counterattacked better and were more clever in front of goal. Mahama Awal was exceedingly quick, but I appreciated how all of the SC players snapped into offense mode so quickly during counters. Global couldn't match their transition play, and they paid for it dearly.
Chan Siu Ki made a terrific assist in the second half but I love the work he put in on the third goal. He was unmarked in front of goal when Awal centered to him. A defender closed him down so he dummied, letting the ball run to a team mate behind him who buried the shot past Patrick Deyto.
Who dummies on a pass RIGHT IN FRONT OF GOAL? Chan Siu Ki does. When Chan was involved in the goal in the second half, it just showed how Global was just tactically burned that night.
Chan missed a penalty for Hong Kong when the Azkals beat them on their home pitch two years ago. Maybe he feels some revenge now after a good night in Rizal Memorial.
This was a game of Shoulda, Woulda, Coulda for Global. Global was far from full strength. Apparently a bunch of key players who were hoped to be a part of this game and this competition were unable to participate. It seems there were administrative issues. I really don't know who is to blame. Matt Hartmann, who has just come over for Loyola, was at the game but was not cleared to play.
So many excellent Global players were in the stands in Global traveling shirts, like Satoshi Otomo, Izo Elhabbib, Hartmann, and Roland Sadia. No Hikaru Minegishi either. Curt Dizon unavailable too, maybe he is still struggling with fitness. No Yu Hoshide either, as he was not one of the chosen three foreigners.
Apparently the availability of some players was still up in the air until hours before kickoff. That must be tough, because training without knowing who could and could not play is certainly not ideal.
In that sense, Global were behind the eight ball even before the opening whistle. I hope they can play with a deeper lineup in succeeding matches in this competition. Their bench, with the exception of Michael Anthony Jonsson, has potential but is very inexperienced.
But Pinoy club football was a family for one night. Players, coaches, and team officials from Kaya, Loyola, GAU, Stallion and Team Socceroo were at the game. I spoke to Ali Go of Ceres after the game and he said had Ceres been in town and not in Bacolod, they would have watched too.
It was nice to see Pinoy club football rally behind one team just for one night. I hope it's like this for Global's next two home matches as well.
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Nice to see the other UFL clubs lending their support. Global was not full strength it seems. Hopefully the availability of other players can be ironed out next time, although I think Bob forgot that Dizon is now part of Loyola and cannot play for Global in future games.
Sad to hear that this is the last article that Bob writes for yahoo. I have always enjoyed his unique take in all this sports(not only football) that don't normally get enough coverage in mainstream news sources in the Philippines.