By ADRIAN STEWART CO
Kaya Futbol Club-Iloilo has formally clinched the Philippines Football League (PFL) championship even with still a match to spare in their 2022-2023 season this weekend.
The Iloilo City-based booters locked in on their first-ever PFL crown after Stallion-Laguna Football Club held Dynamic Herb-Cebu Football Club to a scoreless draw on Wednesday afternoon, May 24, in Cebu City.
Goalkeeper Patrick Deyto was the Man of the Match for Stallion-Laguna after executing crucial saves from Dynamic Herb-Cebu in the highly-physical and highly-emotional encounter.
It was a testy game that saw Stallion-Laguna trimmed to nine people due to red cards and Dynamic Herb-Cebu also went down to 10 players due to ejection. Cebu team’s head coach Mehmer Kakil was also thrown out for excessive complaining.
With Dynamic Herb-Cebu already finished with their 22-game four-round assignment, they settled for second place with 51 points in 15 victories, six draws and one defeat.
On the other hand, Kaya-Iloilo is in top spot with 52 points on 17 wins, one draw and three defeats with still one game remaining in their schedule against Stallion-Laguna at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium this Saturday, May 27.
Kaya-Iloilo head coach Yu Hoshide was thankful for the football club’s first-ever PFL title as it showed that their hard work for the entire season had paid off, but they were still determined to beat Stallion-Laguna in their final game.
“Of course, we’re really excited [about the coronation this Saturday], but what we have to do is the same. We handle training first, then we have to win against Stallion-Laguna,” Hoshide said.
“Football is a sport where you never know what will happen until the game is over. I expect our players to respect the opponent, to fight 100 percent and to play high-quality possession football from start to finish,” he added.
With the championship, Kaya-Iloilo has earned qualification for the 2023-2024 AFC Champions League, while second and third placer Dynamic Herb-Cebu and Stallion-Laguna are qualified for the 2023-2024 AFC Cup./ASC, WDJ