In perhaps the first time in Philippine football history, a Filipino club figured in an international friendly match against a foreign club, as United Football League’s leading side Global FC faced Perth Glory FC of Australia’s top-flight A-League, Wednesday at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium.
Despite ending with goose eggs on the scoreboard after the 90-minute tussle, the match had some moments.
The visiting squad dominated early on, with highly accurate passing that pierced through the gaps in the formation of the 2016 UFL Cup champions. Nevertheless, Perth Glory FC could not find the creativity to pick out a chance and bother Global’s keeper Patrick Deyto.
The biggest chance from the A-League team happened in the 20th minute from Josh Risdon, but Milan Nikolic denied the attempt. Minutes later, Amani Aguinaldo also stopped Mitch Oxborrow’s free kick.
After playing on the back foot for almost 12 minutes, Global FC started to become dangerous, despite skipper Misagh Bahadoran not starting. The People’s Club tried to attack from the left side with Paolo Bugas, Arthur Kouassi, and Omid Nazari getting their groove; only they could not convert.
Finally, in added time, Global almost clinched the lead. Bugas suddenly freed himself from the defense and sent the ball to Nazari. The striker blasted the ball towards Nicholas Feeley, but missed the goal by mere inches.
In the second half, Global Head Coach finally gave in and fielded in Bahadoran. Manson shared that the Azkal had been a bit under the weather. “Misagh has been struggling with some sickness so he wasn’t in training yesterday. [However,] he felt good enough for a run, so might as well, play him on.”
The insertion of their captain paid dividends, as Global found a sense of urgency in the early goings of the half. Another decent passing sequence in the 54th minute from Matthew Hartmann, Nazari, and Bugas could have ended with a goal, if only Bugas had hit the ball more conservatively.
In the 74th minute, Bahadoran took matters into his own hands when he glided past the defense in search of an opening for a shot. Unfortunately, it was fired wide as well.
After several attempts to snatch the ball and after playing defense, Perth Glory FC found Chris Harold one-on-one against substitute guardian Nick O’Donnell. The Australian’s attempt was too strong and sailed over the bar.
With the game well into the eleventh hour, Bahadoran had two attempts for a late winner. First, the midfielder lost his marker and shot towards goal only for Feeley to collect the ball. Seconds after, the Azkal tried from almost the same distance, only the Perth Glory keeper tipped it out for a corner. Global FC could not convert off the set piece as time ran out.
Kenny Lowe, Perth Glory FC’s Head Coach, remarked that his players had been somewhat affected by the weather conditions and fatigue. However, Lowe said, “It was great, we enjoyed it. It is pretty good opposition to play against as well.” He also added that he felt the team played better in the second half as they were able to control the ball when it was on their side.
The visiting Perth Glory FC will take on the UFL All-Stars on Saturday, July 23 at 3:30pm for the UFL All-Star Weekend.
