Porteria comes back home to United City

Originally published by Tiebreaker Times

One of the country’s top football players is making his way home to the team and the league that has made him into one of its stars.

Reigning Philippines Football League champion United City has announced that OJ Porteria is set to join the team anew for the upcoming top-flight campaign.

“UCFC is happy to announce the return of OJ Porteria for the upcoming PFL season,” read the brief statement.

“Welcome home and great to have you back.”

Porteria returns to the country’s premier football competition after a short stint with Thai League 1 side Ratchaburi Mitr Phol, which he joined after being part of United City’s championship procession in the 2020 PFL bubble tournament.

The 27-year-old winher adds another weapon in coach Jason Withe’s arsenal as United City plots to seal a fifth consecutive domestic crown after a difficult 2021 AFC Champions League campaign in Uzbekistan, where the team finished at third place in Group I with a win against China’s Beijing Guoan, and lopsided losses at the hands of Japan’s Kawasaki Frontale and South Korea’s Daegu.

The 5-foot-7 midfielder started to make his name in Philippine football with Kaya-Iloilo with whom he won the 2015 United Football League Cup. He then transferred to Ceres-Negros in 2017 and won three PFL crowns and became a member of the squad that won the ASEAN Zonal title in the 2017 AFC Cup.

There is still no word as to when Porteria and the rest of United City can defend their title against the likes of Kaya, Stallion Laguna, Maharlika Manila, Dynamic Herb Cebu, Mendiola 1991, and the Azkals Development Team as the upcoming PFL season has been postponed indefinitely due to the worsening COVID-19 pandemic.