UFL preseason tournament to kick off this weekend with U23 Azkals in the mix

The UFL has put together a preseason competition beginning this weekend at the Emperador Stadium. With the aim of getting the teams some competitive games going into the UFL Cup, the tourney features seven First Division and seven Second Division clubs, as well as the Philippine National U23 team.

Format

The tournament begins with three groups of five teams playing round-robin. The two teams per group with the best record then move on.

Those six qualifying teams will then be split into two groups of three for the second group stage, which will also see round-robin play. From there, the top two teams of each group will be drawn into the semifinals, with pairings to be arranged at a later date.

Group A
Manila All-Japan
Union Internacional Manila
Laos
Global
Green Archers United

Group B
Dolphins United
Nomads
Loyola
Philippine Army
Cimarron

Group C
Kaya
U-23 Azkals
Stallion
Philippine Navy
Forza

Group C is getting most of the early attention with 2012 UFL runners-up Kaya, strengthened by recent signing Emmanuel Mbata from PSG, going up against reigning UFL and UFL Cup champions Stallions. The U23 Azkals will compete against the two UFL powerhouses, with at least one of the three big names sure of elimination.

Global will be up against Second Division team Laos in Group A, and they're expected to comfortably make it to the next round with the Archers. In Group B, Loyola is the group favorite with Nomads looking to put on a good show to reach the last six, and their head-to-head with Army is sure to put on a physical show.

The U23 Azkals

The addition of the U23 Azkals is an exciting component of the competition. Looking for competitive experience ahead of their likely SEA Games participation, the preseason could be a great way for the younger players to get some matches under their belt.

The prerogative for selection though remains with the clubs who can release their eligible players to the U23 squad, or not, depending on how they’re looking at the season.

Having signed Amani Aguinaldo and U23 captain Mark Hartmann, the biggest decisions will be for Global, who have a stacked line-up. As the foreigner rule will not be implemented until the UFL Cup, this could allow all of Global’s squad to get regular competition, but it’s still a tricky decision given that Brian Reid is both head coach of Global and the U23s. Either way, it’s a good headache to have for a team.

Line-ups and schedule

Teams are allowed a squad of 30 for the competition, which will be cut down to 25 ahead of the UFL Cup. They will also be allowed to swap out players, even while the tourney is ongoing due to the transfer window being open, but it's assumed players moving from one club to another during the preseason tournament will be cup-tied for the remainder of the preseason and only eligible in future contests.

Global, Stallion, and Loyola will all be in action on the first gameday, this Saturday. Six games will be played on with the rest of the fixture list still to be released.

0800 – Green Archers v UIM
1000 – Global v Laos
1400 – Cimarron v Nomads
1600 – Army v Loyola
1800 – Forza v U-23 Azkals
2000 – Navy v Stallion


- AMD, GMA News