Global FC draws Brunei, enters semis

MANILA, Philippines - Global used a strong start to cushion a faltering finish as it escaped with a 4-4 draw against DPMM Brunei Saturday night to send the Filipino booters to the semifinals of the RHB Singapore Cup at the Jalan Besar Stadium in Singapore.

The 2012 United Football League champions made it to the last four after edging the Brunei club via an aggregate 5-4 victory spiked by the former’s sensational 1-0 victory last Wednesday.

Global will face the winner of the Loyola Meralco Sparks-Tanjong Pagar quarterfinal duel in October, also in Singapore.

Tanjong Pagar leads the duel with the Sparks following a 2-1 triumph the other night.

Carli de Murga unleashed a mighty hat-trick in the first half while Spanish striker Rufino Sanchez, who scored the decisive goal in their first meeting, followed it up with a rocket of his own on the 55th minute as Global erected a commanding 4-0 lead.

But the Global booters celebrated early as DPMM struck back and strung up four straight goals in a 30-minute stretch. Arturas Rimkevicious came through with a brace while substitute Tales delos Santos and Joao Moreira had a goal each with the latter nailing the equalizer on the 84th minute.

Global hung tough enough in the end to hold on to the standoff.

“We’re delighted to be in the semifinals,” said Global coach Brian Reid. “Some of the football in the early part of the game I think was superb, but we got a little naïve defensively in the end.”

Global team owner Dan Palami, who  manages the Phl Azkals team, also praised his team.

“This is our first time to join the Singapore Cup and I’m glad we were able to achieve what another Filipino club has achieved before,” he said. “I hope we will be able to accomplish even more and put ourselves in a position to be in the finals.”

De Murga headed Global’s first goal on the 20th minute off a great cross pass from Jeffrey Christiaens and superb set-up by Delon Yao and Misagh Bahadoran.

He followed it up with a brilliant goal 17 minutes later off a counterattack.

De Murga then took a nice pass from Paul Mulders before exploding into the box and past the DPMM keeper just before halftime to complete the impressive hat-trick.