Kaya FC-Iloilo overflowed with pride following a hard-fought 1-1 (4-3) victory over Davao Aguilas-UMak FC to clinch the 2023 Copa Paulino Alcantara crown late Saturday at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium.
Lions head coach Colum Curtis heaved a sigh of relief after they hung tough despite the tough challenge thrown at them by the Eagles en route to winning their third Copa crown.
“I’m glad someone else saw it and it wasn’t just us, the coaching staff. To be honest, when the decisions were going against us, we thought it was not going to be our night,” said Curtis, the Irish tactician who won his first trophy with a Filipino football club.
“Credit to the players, they kept on going and they thoroughly deserved to win it. We have our hands on the trophy, I don’t care how we got it as long as we get it.”
Kaya has been the toast of Philippine football after winning the Philippine Football League and the Copa to emerge as the winningest club in the country.
But clinching the Copa title wasn’t easy as it had to overcome the Lions in a gritty 120-minute of action highlighted by a dramatic penalty shootout.
Yannick Tuason opened the scoreboard with a header in the 45th minute for Davao.
Then, Arnel Amita scored one back for Kaya in the 65th minute to equalize the match at 1-1 and the score stayed the same up until the 120th minute.
With the shootout tied at 3-3, Justin Baas initially had his penalty saved by Davao keeper Dini Tato Ouattara before he was instructed to retake the penalty.
As soon as Baas’ penalty went in, the Lions were in a frenzy, knowing that they had already sealed their second title of the year.
Baas, who is part of the national team pool, admitted everything went by so fast as he took his penalty kick.
“Everything happened so quickly. I was disappointed I missed the penalty and then the referee told me I should do it again,” Baas said.
“If you get a retake, you have to get it and that’s what I did.”
Curtis said the celebration will not be long as they have to go back to work in preparation for the Incheon United FC in the Asian Football Confederation Champions League.
So far, the Lions already lost five games in Group F, putting them in a must-win position against the Korean club on Wednesday at 4 p.m.
“For sure, there’s pressure on us to win this trophy. The Champions League is a really different prospect so tonight, we’ll enjoy a little bit and go back to training tomorrow in preparation for a really difficult game on Wednesday,” Curtis said.
Philippine Football Federation president John Gutierrez and PFF Executive Committee member Lovely Tabada handed out the individual awards to Davao’s Paolo Bugas (Best Midfielder), Kaya’s Simone Rota (Best Defender), Kaya’s Abou Sy (Best Striker), Kammeraad (Best Goalkeeper) and Kaya’s Daizo Horikoshi (Most Valuable Player).
