UFL kicks off; AKTV airs opener live

MANILA, Philippines - The United Football League Cup kicks off today with defending champion Global FC battling the Stallions in an explosive opening day showdown at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium.

AKTV on IBC 13, the first free-to-air sports channel in the country will telecast the games starting at 2 p.m.

The UFL drew a total of 28 teams with the UFL Cup serving as a qualifier for the UFL top flight competition beginning in January.

The teams have been divided into seven groups with the top two squads from each side advancing to the Round of 16. The two No. 3 teams with the best records will claim the remaining two Round of 16 berths.

The parade of teams is set at 2:30 p.m. to be followed by a brief opening ceremony which ushers in the new season.

The Global-Stallions showdown in Group C is set at 4 p.m. The other match, pitting Kaya FC against Team Schwarz in Group D, will be played at the University of Makati pitch at 7 p.m.

Global nipped Air Force, 3-2, for the title last year, while the Stallions reached the quarterfinals of the UFL Cup and wound up second to Nomads in the second division.

Global boosted its roster by tapping Fil-Spanish striker Angel Aldeguer and Japanese midfielder Yu Hoshide, who had stints in Trinidad and Tobago and the US. Aldeguer is expected to team up with fellow national player Misagh Bahadoran and Sudanese striker Izo El-Habbib.

Former national players Ruben Doctora and Jason Cordova banner the Stallions side, backstopped by a number of South Koreans, who trained at Central Philippine University in Iloilo.

Kaya, meanwhile, will be powered by high-profile players in Azkals skipper Aly Borromeo, Anton del Rosario, Nate Burkey and Jason Sabio, while Team Schwarz will be bannered by Hamid Pasyon and brothers Linel and Laurence Gatasi and midfielder Mark Endaya from Laguna.

“We have a very young team, and the UFL Cup is a good test if our team can play in the next level,” said Ake Pastoral, the Schwarz manager. “The good thing about our team is that some of the players have played together for more than 10 years.”