MANILA – Kaya Futbol Club-Iloilo has been bracketed in a tough group in the 2023-24 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League slated to begin this September.
The Iloilo City-based booters are joining Japanese Champions Yokohama F. Marinos, Chinese FA Cup Winners Shandong Taishan FC, and South Korea’s Incheon United FC in Group G.
“We didn’t get any favors, but it will be an honor—a nice and exciting challenge for the players to go up against,” Kaya-Iloilo president Paul Tolentino said in an article posted on the football team’s website.
“Yokohama, Shandong and Incheon all are tough teams. It’s going to be a very difficult challenge—but one we won’t back down from, so nothing changes,” he added.
Kaya-Iloilo will play three home games at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium – Shandong on Sept. 19, Yokohama on Nov. 7 and Incheon United on Dec. 13.
The Ilonggo booters three road games will be on Oct. 3 against Incheon United in South Korea, Yokohama on Oct. 25 in Japan and Shandong on Nov. 28 in China.
“It changes a lot of things because weather and the surroundings come into play. Those are heavily supported clubs so they have big fanbases,” Tolentino said.
“In the Philippines, we’re also hoping that the Filipino football community would be excited to try and watch this level of competition — and to come out and support Philippine football even if they don’t directly support the club,” he added.
Kaya-Iloilo earned the right to represent the country in the AFC Champions League after capturing the crown in the 2022-2023 Philippines Football League earlier this year.
“It would be nice for the Philippine football community to come together and watch,” Tolentino said. “It will hopefully create an atmosphere that makes it a bit difficult for the opponents once they get to the stadium.”/PN
