Solitary goal sends Kaya FC-Iloilo to the AFC Champions League Group Stages

The dream of making it to the biggest stage in club football here in Asia is now a reality for Kaya FC-Iloilo after they narrowly won against Shanghai Port FC in their AFC Champions League Play-offs for the last spot in Group F.

All it took was a single goal from Audie Menzi who, on his debut on the Asian stage, Menzi literally rose to the occasion as he headed home the first and only goal that sent them to the AFC Champions League group stages.

The mighty boys of Kaya went out of the gates strong to show their strong intentions of making history for the club and country. They tested Shanghai Port in the seventh minute as new signing Ryo Fujii takes a strike from outside the box only to find it sailing past the crossbar.

They then came close to scoring the first goal as team captain Jovin Bedic's turn and shoot effort hit the corner of the post. With the first half coming to a close, Louie Casas' goal was threatened but he managed to keep the ball out to keep the Chinese squad scoreless in the first half.

The first 15 minutes of the second half showed Kaya's composure as they are fended off any threat from Shanghai. Though the opposition would spend most of the time with the ball, the Iloilo-based booters sneak in a shot or two as they looked for the insurance goal.

On the 67th minute of the match, Kenshiro Daniels and Arnel Amita came in to replace Jovin Bedic and Marwin Angeles. Daniels took no time in showing his aggression as he went on for a run for glory but was then taken down by a reckless challenge.

Horikoshi also took his chance on the 74th minute but his low-fizzing strike was blocked for a corner. As the time ran out, Fujii left the defenders after Shanghai lost the ball in their own half but his effort 10 minutes before the end of the match went wide.

Shanghai Port FC made sure that if they were going down, they will go down swinging as they've won a corner on the 86th minute. With the corner swinging into the box, the ball bounced around the box and a strong strike came but Casas was alert to it and parried the ball away.

The pressure was on as the game entered injury time. Five minutes were added into the game clock and it became the longest five minutes of their lives. One last hurrah from Shanghai Port came on the fifth minute of added time as they won a corner but was then cleared to the jubilation of the Kaya FC-Iloilo family which sent them into the group stages of the AFC Champions League.

With Kaya FC-Iloilo's win over Shanghai Port FC, they made history as the Philippines now have two representatives in the AFC Champions League group stages for the very first time. United City FC got a direct spot to the group stages after winning the 2020 Philippines Football League brought to you by Qatar Airways.

Kaya FC will now join the group of the champions as they will be met by Thai League champions BG Pathum United, V.League 1 winners Viettel FC, and the current AFC Champions League title-holders Ulsan Hyundai.

Photo credits: Asian Football Confederation