MANILA, Philippines - Fancied Brisbane Roar of Australia gave Global FC a neat lesson and harsh reality check, hacking out a masterful 6-0 demolition to show the Philippine club the door in Stage 2 of the AFC Champions League qualifiers last night at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane.
Brandon Borello wreaked havoc on the visiting side and rained down an Aussie ACL record four goals (12’, 25’, 30’ and 0’) to spearhead the romp that sent the Roar into the playoff round of the qualifiers against Shanghai Shenhua.
Manuel Arana (37’ and 65’) delivered a brace for the three-time A-League titlists, who also set a new record for goal difference for an Australian side in the ACL.
The loss ended the historic run in Asia’s premiere club competition of Global, which kicked off its debut with a 2-0 disposal of Tampines Rovers in Stage 1 of the qualifiers at home last week.
With its exit from the ACL prelims, Global will now compete in the second-tier AFC Cup, where it is bracketed in Group F with Johor Darul Ta’zim, Magwe and either Boeungket Angkor or Lao Toyota.
“Now we know what the Champions League looks like. This will be a good preparation for the AFC Cup,” said Global skipper Misagh Bahadoran, who was able to conjure a couple of scoring chances in the match witnessed by 3,657, some of them Filipinos.