SINGAPORE—Global coach Leigh Manson said he’s brought in one of the strongest teams in the history of the club for this year’s Singapore Cup.
Back in the familiar confines of Jalan Besar Stadium, Manson’s players backed up his statement with an emphatic 5-0 victory over Cambodian side Nagaworld Saturday night to clinch a quarterfinals berth in the prestigious invitational tournament.
“The Singapore teams know we’ve come stronger than we were before,” said Manson, who led Global to a semifinal finish in 2015, a year after that team got drubbed 7-1 by DPMM Brunei in the opening round.
“You can let them (S-League teams) know its 14 wins in a row now so we’re in good form at home and abroad.”
Standing in Global’s path to the semifinals and a possible meeting with fellow United Football League side Ceres-La Salle is S-League powerhouse Tampines Rovers, who booked their place in the quarterfinals of the AFC Cup last week.
The two-leg quarterfinals are slated in the last week of June until the first week of July.
Clinical when their chances came, the Filipinos put the Cambodians away early thanks to a couple of early goals from Hikaru Minegishi.
OJ Clarino, Omid Nazari and Daisuke Sato also found the back of the net for a Global side that needed the brilliance of goalkeeper Patrick Deyto to preserve a clean sheet.
Deyto was called into action in the second minute, stopping a close-range effort from Park Yong-jun, before Minegishi opened the scoring in the ninth minute, firing a left-footed volley at the far post off an OJ Clarino cross.
The Filipino-Japanese winger doubled the advantage a minute later with a tap-in after Nazari’s shot hit the post.
Clarino got on the scoresheet in the 32nd minute, heading home a corner from Misagh Bahadoran, who had a penalty attempt in second half stoppage time saved.
Nazari scored in the 77th minute off a Bahadoran assist, before Sato struck a 30-yard drive to punctuate the rout seven minutes from time.
With Amani Aguinaldo out due to suspension, Manson gave Marco Casambre his first international start and the 17-year-old centerback coped well with the speed of Nagaworld’s attacks.