THE signing of brothers James and Phil Younghusbands from Manila-Meralco FC and other acquisitions of veterans like Simon Rota, Jason De Jong and Mark Hartman have bolstered the chances of the Davao Aquilas of winning the Philippines Football League (PFL) inaugural title despite of languishing right now at the bottom.
The Aquilas are now second from bottom of the 10-team nationwide club competition leading only by two points from cellar dweller Ilocos United FC.
But mathematically, the Aguilas can still catch up with the leaders if they win all their remaining eight games and might finish fourth when the regular season ends.
You see the PFL is a unique competition compared to the other leagues abroad where the top team immediately wins the title. The PFL has still a semis round where the top four teams will compete for the two places in the championship.
Kaya FC-Makati, Meralco Manila, Global Cebu, and Ceres Negros are the top four teams with Kaya, and Meralco tied on the top spot with 27 points each while Global and Ceres are third and fourth place respectively with 25 and 22 points each.
If the Aguilas win all their matches, they will pile up 29 points and hope other teams will falter to assure themselves of a fourth place finish.
The addition of the Younghusband brothers and the other veterans in their lineup have raise the hopes of the Aquilas fans all over Mindanao.
Team owner Jeff Cheng might make a miracle here. If the new signings perform well and the Aguilas start and do not stop winning, then history might just happen in December.
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(l.biantan@gmail.com)