2021 ACL Group Stage: Kaya FC-Iloilo vs. BG Pathum United Match 5 — Kaya looks to return the host's favor by taking the points off their hands.
Kaya FC-Iloilo will once again face Group F’s host club BG Pathum United, kickoff is scheduled for July 8, 6pm Philippine time. The Thai champions soundly won their first meeting 4-1, providing a warm welcome to top flight Asian football for the Preliminary Knockout winners. Kaya will be coming off an intense series against last year’s AFC Champions League winners Ulsan Hyundai FC, to which Coach Harvey Graham spoke on the players’ recovery and current mindset.
“Very good session yesterday, the boys played well, and everybody is fit. The only spot of danger for us is Marco (Casambre) with the cut over his eye. He had to have stitches after the game against Ulsan. He’s in good spirits, but the whole squad were in good spirits themselves—very happy and excited for the game.”
Even though they currently sit at the bottom of the standings, the players have continued to find their form through each of the matches. Kaya made significant headway in their last match, albeit in an exhilarating and hard-fought 2-1 loss to the reigning ACL champions. Switching his focus to what’s ahead, Coach Harvey noted the strides the team has made so far in the tournament.
“We know—playing against teams of this quality—that we’re gonna at times have to be very disciplined when we do not have the ball. As we’ve progressed, we’ve been harder to score against in each game, and we’re still an attacking threat,” he said. “Overall at the moment, we’re happy with how we’ve progressed but we really want points — to satisfy all of our souls and to make sure that this trip here is really worthwhile.
Those points will have to come in the club’s final two fixtures. The rematches with the Thai and Vietnamese champions (Viettel FC) will be crucial for Kaya to continue to take steps forward. When asked about the team’s added pressure to perform, Coach was confident in his response.
“When we look at the qualities of BG—and they have a lot particularly with the ball—we know that we need to make sure we’re organized. But we’re very confident that we’ve got some attacking options there to really try and expose some areas of weakness.”
A key member of Kaya’s attack, Maco’s very own Arnel Amita has come off the bench to help fuel the offense in every match so far in the group stage. Seemingly unfazed despite this being his first time competing in the Champions League, Arnel was focused solely on the task at hand.
“You know, playing in the AFC Champions League, it’s the top league. We play against BG tomorrow and we’re ready, I hope we get the win.” He also had a message for other homegrown players like him in the Philippines, “Always believe in your yourself, do not lose any hope. As you can see, even if I’m small, I can compete on the biggest stage in Asia.”
The Champions League’s expansion to 40 teams played a key part in Kaya getting the opportunity to play at this level. Coach Harvey offered his thoughts about the impact this decision has made for similar clubs all over Asia.
“It’s excellent, it gives countries such as ourselves an opportunity to play against the best. For us, it allows us to go back to Philippine football and not only play better for ourselves, but also to improve the level of football within the Philippines,” he stated.
“I think the knock-on effect across Asia as a whole continent is that by having more competition, more clubs are exposed to higher levels,” Coach added. “When you look at the staff and the amount of quality that Ulsan have with them, we can take these experiences back and try to improve Philippine football. For us to go back and learn from what the Koreans have done and what the Japanese do is a really big opportunity for us to push our country forward.”
