Kaya FC taps overseas stars for AFC Cup

MANILA, Philippines - Seeking to pick up where it left off, UFL Cup champion Kaya FC firmed up its roster as it gears up for the UFL hostilities and its awaited debut in the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Cup group stage.

Kaya, which snapped a six-year title drought in the UFL with a triumph in the season-ending Cup play, tapped a number of foreign and local acquisitions to join the holdovers led by skipper Aly Borromeo, Kenshiro Daniels, OJ Porteria, Louis Clark and Jovin Bedic in the crew of coach Chris Greatwich for 2016.

Aussie goalkeeper Matthew Acton and Ghanaian custodian Isaac Annan came on board as Senegalese Robert Lopez-Mendy transferred from Green Archers United.  Fil-Am Antonio Ugarte returned from his stint in Thailand and signed up with Kaya as did Phl Under-23 players Shirmar Felongco and Charlie Beaton, and overseas-based Pinoys Julian Matthews, Sean Keane and Vito Tanton.

“The new signings are a testament to our intentions to strengthen the squad, continue where we left off from last season and start the year with hope and promise,” the club website said.

Kaya is set to compete in Group F of the AFC Cup – Asia’s second-tier club competition – beginning next month. It is bracketed with Hong Kong’s Kitchee, Singapore’s Balestier Khalsa and Maldives’ New Radiant. Kaya is one of two Filipino sides in the tourney, along with UFL League titlist Ceres La Salle FC which is drawn in Group E.

The AFC Cup will also serve as the return to international competition for Borromeo, a former Azkals captain.

Borromeo played a key part when the unheralded Phl team pulled off major upsets and broke through with a historic semifinal finish in the 2010 AFF Suzuki Cup. He was sidelined by an ACL injury in 2011 and managed to return to action in 2014 but so far has not been called up for Azkals duty again.