Global out to slay the dragon – Singapore’s Rovers in AFC

MANILA, Philippines - Global FC vowed to go all out to break the stranglehold of old tormentor Tampines Rovers FC of Singapore and make its mark internationally when they square off in the AFC Champions League Preliminary Round 1 match on Tuesday at Rizal Memorial Stadium.

The Philippine titlists and the S-League runners-up had met twice last year in the quarterfinals of the Singapore Cup and the Stags won both legs, 2-1 and 3-1. Global eyes payback in their third duel to get the right to face Australian side Brisbane Roar in Round 2 of the qualifying playoffs for Asia’s premier club competition.

“We played them (Tampines) twice and we lost; in the second time we could beat them but we were reduced to 10 men. We’ll do our best and try to come up with good results (on Tuesday) so we can play against Australian club,” Global skipper Misagh Bahadoran told The STAR after training at Rizal.

Global hopes to bank on the homefield advantage to get its objective in its milestone debut at the Champions League.

“This is one of the advantages now. Twice we played them in Singapore and now it’s in the Philippines so it will be great for us to use the crowd and the home advantage to boost our chances of winning the game,” said the Fil-Iranian.

Cebu-based Global makes history as the first Phl club to play an ACL match and Bahadoran said they want to make the most out of it.