Smart National Club Championship q’finals cast is complete

This appears in the Wednesday, January 16, 2013 edition of the Business Mirror.

Smart National Club Championship q’finals cast is complete

by rick olivares

The Smart National Club Championships heat up this weekend in the win-or-go-home quarterfinals with a smaller but no less competitive pool of squads.

The United Football League powers Global, Kaya, Loyola, Green Archers United, Pasargad, and Pachanga advanced to the quarterfinals mostly through routs while UFL Cup revelation, General Trias, outlasted Baguio FC. Booking a quarterfinals seat to Manila is the Bacolod-based Ceres that piped for UFL Cup champion Stallion with a 1-0 win.

Ceres, reinforced by Korean and English players, made the most out of their few chances when midfielder Kim Jung Mook collected a pass from Yeong Byeung Jun to fire it past Stallion keeper Wilson Muñoz.

Ceres also features former Stallion central back Jason Cordova and Green Archers United defender Lemuel Unabia. They also have in the lineup national striker and former Kaya player Joshua Beloya.

The Freddie Nazarito-coached Ceres will go up against top-ranked Global on January 19 at 4pm at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium. Global which placed second to Stallion in the UFL Cup, won in its debut with Scottish head coach Brian Reid, 2-1, over injury-plagued Nomads.

Also playing on January 19 will be Kaya and Loyola who both dispatched it Round of 16 foes with relative ease. Kaya crushed M’Lang, 5-0, while the Sparks, destroyed Flame United, 8-0, with its mix of Dolphins United and Arellano University players.

The following day, Sunday, January 20, Pachanga and the Chieffy Caligdong-reinforced Green Archers United face off at 4pm while Pasargad, survivors of a highly physical 2-1 encounter with Army, take on General Trias at 630. The games will likewise be played at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium.