Teams beef up roster for UFL tourney

MANILA, Philippines - Stalwarts of the top clubs foresee a highly competitive, tight battle ahead when the United Football League ushers in its new season with the League competitions beginning Saturday at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium.

Air Force Phoenix, fresh from its title romp in the Cup play, will have its hands full against rival sides that beefed up their rosters to make a run at the coveted League diadem, led by Loyola Meralco Sparks, Kaya FC, and Global FC.

“The rest of the field strengthened their lineups so Air Force is practicing twice as hard. We’ll do our best to win and give them all a good fight,” PAF forward Ian Araneta said in Filipino during yesterday’s media launch organized by UFL’s broadcast partner AKTV.

Araneta will again join forces with fellow Azkal Chieffy Caligdong, and veterans Yanti Barsales and Edmundo Mercado, who played key roles in the Airmen’s triumph over a Meralco side bannered by Phil and James Younghusband and Mark and Matt Hartmann in the UFL Cup championship game last month.

“Our main advantage is experience and long years of playing together,” said Araneta.

Phil Younghusband, the top scorer (25 goals) in the last tourney, feels it’s a wide-open race.

“If you look at the field, all the teams in the top four (in the UFL Cup) are capable of beating one another. We know that on any day, anything can happen,” said Younghusband, looking forward to avenge the Sparks’ setback the last time.

Younghusband, along with Loyola teammate Hartmann, and Global FC stalwarts Misagh Bahadoran, Angel Guirado and new recruit Carli de Murga, formerly of Spanish third division club Portuensa, made a visit to The STAR office, gamely posing for pictures, as they promote the upcoming League play.

“More players from Europe are coming in and this makes the league stronger; the competition will become more exciting,” Younghusband said.

Kaya, which is bannered by Azkals Aly Borromeo, Anton del Rosario and Nate Burkey and handled by former national coach Juan Cutillas, underwent massive roster buildup in a bid to bounce back from fourth place finish in the Cup.

The competition is expected to be tight as the top 10 teams have been bunched in the first division and 12 teams are in the second division. The teams with the best records after the round-robin competition will be crowned champions in their respective divisions.

Likewise, a relegation formula has been set with the bottom team in the first division being dropped to the second division next time and the second division champ getting promoted to the top tier, according to to Football Alliance’s Santi Araneta.