Global FC kicks off bid vs Singapore

MANILA, Philippines - Global FC sets out to play its best game against Singapore side Tampines Rovers tonight at Rizal Memorial Stadium as it tries to take the next step in its bid to crash the prestigious Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League.

The Cebu-based club makes its historic debut in the Champions League’s Preliminary Stage 1 qualifiers in the 7:30 p.m. home fixture and hopes to take full advantage of this opportunity to further its cause.

“We’re representing the Philippines for the first time in the AFC Champions League and this is the biggest game we have to play so we have to go 100 percent,” Global skipper Misagh Bahadoran said during yesterday’s pre-match presscon.

“This is the biggest tournament for any club in Asia and everybody dreams of playing in it. For us, we want to go through this, we want to go to the group stage so we’re entering this game with a strong mentality,” he added.

Global needs to win three successive KO matches to nail that coveted place in the group stage of Asia’s premier club competition. A win over the Stags will give the 2016 United Football League titlists a stint in the Preliminary Round 2 against Australia’s Brisbane Roar on the road. If successful in Brisbane, Global will move up to the competition’s Play-off phase against Shanghai Shenhua with a spot in Group E already at stake.

Global aims to sustain its history-making run for Phl football. Before vying in the ACL prelims, it earned the distinction of being the first Pinoy club to play in the defunct AFC President’s Cup and then the second-tier AFC Cup.