Kaya FC Kicks Off Round 4 with Crucial ADT Matchup PFL 2023 — With five games left in the season, the PFL title race enters its final stretch for the LBC-backed club.
Kaya FC-Iloilo vs Azkals Development Team
Saturday, April 15, 2023 | 4:00 PM Kickoff
Rizal Memorial Stadium, Manila
With only five games remaining in the 2022-23 Philippines Football League season, every fixture is pivotal and each point is invaluable. Kaya FC-Iloilo find themselves second in the standings with a game in hand on current league leaders Dynamic Herb Cebu FC—making this weekend’s rematch with the Azkals Development Team that much more decisive.
Head Coach Yu Hoshide remains confident in the squad’s readiness for the final round of games, noting the team’s high spirits coming back from the break. He also credits their consistent quality in training throughout the recent four-game winning streak, as well as having a clear picture of where improvements need to be made.
“The players have all had a good Holy Week break,” stated Hoshide. “We’ve been practicing at a very high quality level from the first session of the week, just as we’ve had for the last five games.”
“In the third round, we had more slow-start games compared to last year’s first and second rounds, so we are working on improving that area of our game in practice everyday,” he added.
Iloilo finished Round 3 winning four out of five games, building on the prior two rounds while integrating new arrivals Dylan Nobiraki, Milad Behgandom, and Tamon Horikoshi. For Round 4, Coach Yu is looking forward to working with the club’s latest addition: 19-year-old Kaya FC Academy standout Julian Romero.
“I am happy to be able to pull him up from the academy to a professional team. Of course it is due to the efforts of the player, but the coaches at the academy are also working hard for the players everyday,” Hoshide noted.
“[Julian] still needs to grow in the technical and positioning side of the game, but he has motivation and a good mentality—both of which are necessary as a football player so I am looking forward to the future.”
In the present, Kaya must prepare for a hungry ADT side that’s looking to avenge last game’s 3-1 result. Iloilo stormed back to win after conceding an early opener to the Young Azkals.
“We’ve focused on practicing our offensive and defensive transitions this week, and I hope to be able to show our improvement in that part of the game on Saturday,” Coach Yu explained. “ADT is a really good possession team, so I would like for us to aggressively fight from the beginning without conceding any goals.”
As the season enters its home stretch, the road to a first PFL title remains in the hands of the LBC-backed club. On Saturday, at the Rizal Memorial Stadium, Kaya FC–Iloilo hope to make a triumphant start to their final push.
“In the last game, we were able to come back from a goal down to win, and we showed that we have grown as a team,” praised Hoshide. “We have been able to practice with a good sense of quality, that means of course the players are aware of the title.”
Tickets are available at the gate, for P200 and P100. All Kaya Academy players are 50% off, and children under 7 years old enter for free. Kickoff’s at 4:00 PM, and you can also catch the livestream on the PFL’s Facebook and YouTube pages!
