ASSERTING its dominance in the United Football League again, Global can now worry about bigger challenges ahead.
With the United Football League title secured with a game to spare last Sunday, Global, now the most successful club in UFL history, is setting its sights on continental success as the club returns to the AFC Cup next year.
Pika Minegishi and Matthew Hartmann bagged three goals each as Global blanked Laos, 7-0, Sunday to complete the season double and increase its UFL silverware haul to five, following a third league crown and a second Cup triumph.
The title may have been sealed against a shorthanded Laos side, but the match was merely a culmination of a string of relentless performances from April to October.
Global, which drew once—against Ceres—and lost just once in 18 games for 47 points, grew in strength while rivals like Ceres-La Salle, Loyola Meralco, Kaya and JP Voltes wilted in the face of a long, gruelling season.
“It’s been a tough journey, start of the year; we were not the favored team to win the Cup and the League,” said Global manager Dan Palami, noting that Ceres had made the most noise at the start of the season when it signed Stephan Schrock.
“We’re happy that we’re able to prove to everybody that Global is the most successful team in the Philippines.”
Global coach John Burridge said making Global a contender in the AFC Cup will be a priority.
“I don’t want to be in the AFC just to complete the numbers. We want to be there to win it or go as long as we can to make this club famous outside the Philippines and Southeast Asia,” said Burridge, who took over from Leigh Manson in the remaining six games of the season.
“This season we have been able to create a real team,” added Palami.