KAYA Iloilo will aim for a finals seat in the 2018 Philippines Football League Copa Paulino Alcantara when it battles Stallion Laguna in the one-game semifinal round Sunday at the Iloilo Sports Complex in Iloilo City. Game time is 2:30 p.m.
If Kaya barges into the finals on Oct. 27, it will face the winner in the other semifinal round between Davao Aguilas and JPV Marikina Sunday night in Davao City.
Playing in front of Ilonggos will be an extra motivation for the team to punch a ticket to the finals – where a slot in the 2019 AFC Cup is at stake for the champion team – Kaya head coach Noel Marcaida said.
“It’s been a long while that we have not played in Iloilo, and the Ilonggos are expecting us to come back,” Marcaida told Panay News. “We’re happy, we’re hungry and we can’t wait to play in Iloilo.”
But Kaya will be one man short in the semifinals. Negrense Camelo Tacusalme was serving a suspension after he was sent off for two yellow cards in their 1-0 win over JPV Marikina last Wednesday.
“Melo and Masa (Masanari Omura) are the two center backs that we have. Every time they’re available we make sure they play alongside each other. It will play a big role (Melo’s absence),” Marcaida said.
“But we have players who can play on his behalf. We might see Audie (Menzi), Jalsor (Soriano), or Alfred (Osei) in the middle. We’ll make sure it’s a player who’ll be fully capable,” he added.
This was the first meeting between the two teams this season. In their four encounters during the League conference, Kaya won two matches, drew one and dropped another./PN
