Global advances to Singapore Cup semis

MANILA, Philippines – Global leaned on a spectacular start to cushion a disastrous finish to escape with a 4-4 draw against DPMM Brunei Saturday night in a result that was enough to send the Filipino booters to the semifinals of the RHB Singapore Cup at the Jalan Besar Stadium in Singapore.

The 2012 United Football League champion made it to the last four after edging the Brunei club via an aggregate 5-4 victory spiked by the former's sensational 1-0 victory last Wednesday.

Global will face the winner of the Loyola Meralco Sparks-Tanjong Pagar quarterfinal duel in October also in Singapore.

Tanjong Pagar leads the duel with the Sparks following a 2-1 triumph the other night.

Carli de Murga unleashed a mighty hat-trick in the first half while Spanish striker Rufino Sanchez, who headed home the decisive goal in their first meeting, followed it up with a rocket of his own on the 55th minute as Global erected a commanding 4-0 lead.

Celebrating early, Global was punished by DPMM for its defensive complacency as the latter strung together four goals in a hurry, or in a span of 30 minutes thanks to a brace from Arturas Rimkevicious and a goal each from substitute Tales delos Santos and Joao Moreira, who nailed the equalizer on the 84th minute.

Global hung tough enough in the end to hold on to the match-clinching standoff.

“We’re delighted to be in the semifinals,” said Global coach Brian Reid. “Some of the football in the early part of the game I think was superb, but we got a little naïve defensively in the end."

Global team owner Dan Palami, who also managed the Phl Azkals team was all praises for his side.

“This is our first time to join the Singapore Cup and I’m glad we were able to achieve what another Filipino club has achieved before,” he said. “I hope we will be able to accomplish even more and put ourselves in the position to be in the finals.”

De Murga headed Global's first goal on the 20th minute, thanks to a great cross from Jeffrey Christiaens and superb work by Delon Yao and Misagh Bahadoran in the buildup.

He followed it up with a brilliant goal 17 minutes later off a counterattack.

De Murga then extricated himself out of a hame and took the nice pass from Paul Mulders before exploding into the box and past the DPMM keeper just before halftime to complete the impressive hat-trick.