United City FC begins ‘drive for 5’ in PFL 2022

Originally published by Panay News

United City Football Club aims for its fifth straight Philippines Football League championship as the 2022 season kicks off this Sunday night at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium.

The United City FC will open their campaign against Maharlika Manila Football Club at 7 p.m. after the curtain raiser between two-time Copa Paulino Alcantara champions Kaya Futbol Club-Iloilo and Azkals Development Team at 4 p.m.

The franchise has been a dominant force in the PFL the last four seasons, including three when it was still known as Ceres-Negros FC, but a lot has changed from its championship roster.

Spanish striker and naturalized football player Bienvenido Marañon has since left the squad, same with former team captain Stephan Schrock, Mike Ott, Matt Silva and Amirbek Juraboev.

The squad, however, remains formidable with national team mainstays Anthony Pinthus, Kenshiro Daniels, Hikaru Minegishi, Mark Hartmann, Ivan Ouano, Curt Dizon, and Jordan Jarvis.

Kaya Futbol Club-Iloilo, on the other hand, is looking to continue its championship ways after ruling the last two Copa Paulino Alcantara tournaments with its vastly-improved roster.

The Iloilo City-based football club even got a boost this offseason with the return of Marwin Angeles and Marco Casambre from their loans in Indonesia and Thailand, respectively.

Bannering the squad were Ilonggos Jovin Bedic and Jan Melliza, Mar Diano, Jarvey Gayoso, Robert Lopez-Mendy, Simone Rota, Quincy Kammeraad and reinforcement Carlyle Mitchell.

Three more teams are part of the PFL in Mendiola 1991 FC and Stallion-Laguna FC, which will face off at 4 pm on Monday, and Cebu FC, which is scheduled to play next weekend.

The seven clubs will play a quadruple round robin tournament or a total of 24 matches each with the top team after the matches be declared as champion, according to commissioner Coco Torre.