MANILA, Philippines — League runner-up Kaya FC Iloilo will enter the Philippine Football League’s inaugural Cup competition with extra motivation: To win it for the Ilonggo legend it was named after, Paulino Alcantara.
“It’s an honor to represent Iloilo in the Copa Paulino Alcantara and we want to honor Paulino Alcantara, who was born in Iloilo,” said Kaya coach Noel Marcaida.
The first-ever Copa Paulino Alcantara will be contested by the six teams that battled it out for honors in league play, led by back-to-back champ Ceres Negros FC, which is gunning for a domestic double.
Action starts Sept. 1 at Rizal Memorial Stadium with Iloilo and Global Cebu tangling in a Group B encounter at 4 p.m. and Negros and Davao Aguilas facing off in Group A at 7 p.m.
Completing the cast in Group B is JPV Marikina while Stallion Laguna rounds out what’s largely considered as the “group of death” Bracket A.
The stakes are high in the Copa Paulino Alcantara as the winner clinches a slot in the AFC Cup, the continent’s second-tier international club tourney.
Following its silver medal in league play, Iloilo looms as a favorite to top B Group and advance to the crossover semis but Marcaida stressed the danger rebuilding Cebu and Marikina and come the knockout round, the cast from the other group, in its bid to honor the Iloilo-born Barcelona great by winning the Cup.
“It’s a new tournament. Whatever the result of the league, it doesn’t matter anymore. Going into the Cup, we’ll be playing against teams that will be complely different, especially Global,” said Marcaida. “The approach of Kaya in this Cup is no complacency. We have to approach every game with the intention to play to our full potential.”