GLOBAL Cebu FC is thrilled to finally get to play a real home game in the Philippines Football League (PFL).
After having the Rizal Memorial Stadium as its adoptive home pitch for its first few home matches, Global Cebu FC finally makes its much-anticipated debut at the Cebu City Sports Center tonight against no other than its rival, Ceres Negros FC.
"Of course we are happy to be here. We are going to play our first home game here in Cebu and the situation that a lot of people will be here to support us will give us the best push we need especially at this point of our season. It's like a new motivation for us to perform well and get the win," said Global Cebu FC goalkeeper Patrick Deyto.
Hordes of Cebuano fans are expected to support Global Cebu FC in its Cebu debut based on the ticket sales.
Global Cebu FC is coming off a 2-2 draw with Kaya FC Makati last Sunday. But despite the result, Global Cebu FC head coach Marjo Allado assured that the team is focused on the difficult task at hand against one of the best clubs in the tournament.
"Against Kaya, it wasn't the result that we wanted but it's still a positive result because we gained one instead of dropping three points. Our focus now is with Ceres, so everybody knows that Ceres is the favorite, they have strong players, they have a lot of talent that can play both ends. Lately they are winning against their opponents easily, and it shows one thing, that they have good players who can dominate and score. For us, we have strategies to break the lines and get the points. The purpose is to win the game in front of a hometown crowd," he said.
Global Cebu FC has already played against Ceres Negros F once in the league and it was a 0-1 loss because of a late goal.
It will be a sort of homecoming for Deyto because it was in this stadium that he made his debut as the Azkals' starting goalkeeper against Malaysia in a friendly back in 2014. He made a huge play by deflecting a penalty kick by prolific scorer Safee Sali that forced a scoreless draw.
"It's always nice to come back to this stadium. There are good memories here personally for me. Hopefully I can replicate that performance or even better, not just me but my teammates as well. Our whole squad has to be a hundred percent because we need it," he said.
Ceres Negros FC head coach Risto Vilakovic, however, expressed his concern for the safety of his players after a survey of the pitch, which has undergone rehabilitation.
"The field doesn't look like a football field. I don't know what kind of football you can play there," he said.
Vidakovic said that his squad will try to survive the bad condition of the pitch. (EKA)