Games today:
(Rizal Memorial Football Stadium)
4 p.m. — Kaya FC-Iloilo vs Stallion Laguna FC (Agg. 2-1)
7 p.m. — Cebu FC vs Davao Aguilas-UMak (Agg.0-1)
Cebu FC looks to flip the script as it faces Davao Aguilas-University of Makati in the second leg of the 2024 Copa Paulino Alcantara which goes underway today at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium.
Kickoff is at 7 p.m. as the Gentle Giants attempt to stage an upset and make it to their first Copa final.
As it stands, Davao holds a 1-0 score on aggregate thanks to a goal from Troy Limbo in their last encounter back on 21 October.
Cebu needs to score at least two goals against Davao and win the second leg to get to the final.
Meanwhile, Kaya FC-Iloilo and Stallion Laguna FC do slug it out at 4 p.m. to determine which team will enter the final.
Kaya leads on aggregate after winning the first leg, 2-1, over Stallion last 21 October.
With Cebu pulling off a 1-0 win over Myanmar’s Shan United in the Asian Football Confederation Cup last 26 October, head coach Joshua Schirmer is hoping this will give them the momentum it needs to finally reach the Copa final for the first time since the club was established in 2020.
The farthest stage the Gentle Giants had in the Copa was in 2021 in the semifinal where they lost 1-0 to Kaya.
“It’s always a much better feeling in the locker room after the win. Everything is so much better and people are just excited to be there and hopefully, it builds some momentum going into the next matches and we get the results we wanted in the next game,” Schirmer said.
Forwards Ken Murayama and Arda Cinkir will be the main men on attack for Cebu along with Chima Uzoka and Rintaro Hama providing more attacking options.
