#CPA2022: Matchday Four Preview - The Battle of the Giants

Photo credits: Philippines Football League

Matchday three of the 2022 Copa Paulino Alcantara saw the comeback of the 2020 Philippines Football League champions United City FC after taking a break from the 2021 edition of the cup and they announced their comeback with a strong four-nil victory over Maharlika Manila FC.

With fresh faces, United City FC made sure that the people remembered where they left off in local club football after sending Maharlika Manila FC on their break with a four-nil defeat and helped themselves to the top of the standings.

Everything came into play for the 2020 PFL champions despite just starting their training sessions a couple of weeks before their opening match. Without further ado, let's now talk about the first double-header of the season where the Azkals Development Team are set to open their campaign against Mendiola FC 1991 and then an all-out clash between the defending Copa Paulino Alcantara champions Kaya FC-Iloilo and their rivals United City FC.

1) Filling the gap in ADT

Photo credits: Philippines Football League

Through the offseason, the Azkals Development Team saw their star players signing for various clubs in the PFL making them one of the underdogs of the tournament.

The midfield duo of Oskari Kekkonen and Sandro Reyes are now with Kaya FC-Iloilo alongside forward Jarvey Gayoso and defender Mar Vincent Diano. The other forward Ivan Ouano left the ADT stable and moved to United City FC where he would score in his opening match with his new club.

Joining Ouano in UCFC is Matthew Custodio whose defensive prowess will surely be missed in the ADT. Despite these major losses, coach Norman Fegidero's appointment as the head coach of the U-23 and effectively the ADT should be a welcoming side for the 2021 Copa Paulino Alcantara finalists.

In order to give themselves a fighting chance this season, mainstays Oliver Bias, Dennis Chung, and Yrick Gallantes are all expected to step up for the Young Azkals.

Quincy Kameraad's also expected to improve his game in this upcoming season not only for them to make it back to the finals but also to prepare themselves for the upcoming Southeast Asian Games.

Though winning the competition is just an icing to the cake, it would surely boost the morale of the boys heading into the SEA Games knowing that they have a fighting chance this time for the medals.

2) Bouncing back from defeat

Photo credits: Philippines Football League

They've had the extra man, the possession as well as the desire to win but there was still something lacking as they failed to keep the lead against a 10-men Maharlika Manila FC in their opening fixture of the 2022 Copa Paulino Alcantara.

They will now have to move on from their opening day defeat and focus on the Azkals Development Team whose been tormenting them since the 2019. The history between the ADT and Mendiola FC 1991 traces back to the 2019 edition of the Copa where they first squared off for a semifinal berth.

Photo credits: Philippines Football League

The ADT needed a victory against Mendiola FC 1991 to book their ticket top the semis. It all started off well for the ADT as Chima Uzoka's brace put them on the lead in just 16 minutes. However, Hamed Hajimehdi kicked off the comeback for Mendiola with his header on the 46th minute then it was followed by a 68th minute strike from Ashley Flores giving Mendiola FC 1991 the draw they needed as they finished second in the group.

2021 was a different case though as ADT fired on all cylinders and scored nine goals past the men in red. Gayoso scored five goals while Chung, Christian Rontini, Diano, and Reyes helped themselves to a goal as well making this match the biggest win they've had so far in the competition.

With the ADT kicking off their season against Mendiola FC 1991, the boys from Mendiola can take this as an advantage for that as they already have a feel of everyone and the competition while the young Azkals are yet to find out what they're capable of.

3) Different personnel, same philosophy

If there's anything noteworthy other than the four goals that United City FC scored in their first win in the Copa against Maharlika Manila FC, it is the fact that despite having different personnel this season, UCFC played like vintage Ceres-Negros FC, their predecessors.

Why wouldn't they, Mike Ott now wears the armband for UCFC after Stephan Schröck and as someoone who's known as a pivotal midfielder, Ott can easily bring their Ceres-Negros DNA to whichever team they play for. He also got the help of their new signings Amirbek Juraboev and Ricky Sendra to make things easy for the 2020 PFL champs.

UCFC's confidence level was through the roof in this match thanks to their ever-fluid passing and possession-based tactics. Their players were brimming with confidence to the point that defenders like Dean Ebarle whose used to sitting back in defense found himself acres of spaces to operate past their halfway line.

With their second match of the season being against Kaya FC-Iloilo, they have to up the ante a bit more as the defending Copa Paulino Alcantara holders are on a mission to win its third title.

4) Fluid passing + No nonsense shooting = Success

Photo credits: Philippines Football League

The opening match of the 2022 Copa Paulino Alcantara pitted the defending champions Kaya FC-Iloilo against Maharlika Manila FC. With Maharlika sporting a totally different playing style, Kaya FC came into the match looking for redemption after a dismal four-nil defeat against Sydney FC in their AFC Champions League playoff match.

Showing that they've learned a lot from that defeat, Kaya FC-Iloilo showcased their patience and knowledge to keep the ball and keep it working for them instead of them working for it.

Everything was clicking for them except for one thing, they've yet to break the spell of the woodwork. With a lot of chances coming their way, Kaya FC found the crossbar and the posts more often that the back of the net.

If they are to impose their will against their rivals United City FC, they need to improve on their accuracy as well as break old habits. Kaya FC's known for taking a strike within the six-yard box instead of shooting wherever they are open.

To improve on their shooting stats, Kaya FC-Iloilo must recognize that they have plenty of chances to take a strike from distance as their passage of plays allow them to find the openings that they needed. Should coach Yu Hoshide can see this, they'll definitely find themselves shooting more goalkeeper-testing strikes than what they were used to in the past.

5) The Battle of the Giants

Photo credits: Philippines Football League

With the format of the tournament being a single round-robin amongst the teams, this will be the first and only encounter between Kaya FC-Iloilo and United City Football Club. This also means that this we'll have to wait for the final for the possibility of seeing them square off again.

That being said, it will make things very interesting on and off the pitch. As the fans are slowly being welcomed in the PFF National Training Centre, seeing this fixture in the calendar should attract more fans who were yearning for local football action and be involved in it at the same time.

For years, rivalry matches like this attract a lot of fans in the stadium but with the pandemic still ongoing, getting a decent amount of crowd will already be an achievement for the league and these clubs.

And with their last meeting being conducted behind closed doors, it will surely be a welcoming sight for fans to see two of the biggest clubs in the Philippines go toe-to-toe in this encounter.

United City Football Club will be looking for revenge against Kaya FC as the only blemish in their near-perfect record last 2020 came from their rivals. In the final fixture of the 2020 season, UCFC expected a parade towards their PFL trophy but instead, Kaya FC-Iloilo pulled off a performance worthy to rain on the parade of the eventual champions.

A 2-1 victory made Kaya FC-Iloilo the only undefeated squad in the 2020 PFL season but failed to secure the league title as United City FC went on to win all of their matches prior to their fixture against the Ilonggo-based booters.

With all of that being said, we'll surely be up for an exciting match come 7:15 PM of the 27th of March 2022 at the PFF National Training Centre in Carmona, Cavite for the continuation of the 2022 Copa Paulino Alcantara.