Kaya FC beefs up lineup for UFL Cup
“It's a squad that represents the type of Football that Kaya wants to play” says coach David Perkovic of his new-look Kaya team.
Like every team in the off-season, Kaya has reloaded and refreshed its roster. The team's loyal fans hope that this is the year when their four-year title drought finally comes to an end. Kaya last won a major trophy in 2009 when they captured the UFL League crown.
In a press conference on Thursday at Skinny Mike's sports bar in BGC, several new signings were paraded.
The biggest addition is Emmanuel “Dinho” Mbata, a huge pick up from Pasargad who will be expected to address Kaya's seemingly perennial lack of firepower. Mbata is a Nigerian striker who disturbed the nets twelve times in sixteen games for Essie Sedigh's club in the 2013 league. He replaces Nate Burkey, who, along with AK Alu, has transferred to Pachanga-Diliman.
Another new player is Australian Scott Baginski, who can play either defensive midfield or centerback. The Brisbane-born native is fresh from a stint in Thai second-tier club Saraburi FC.
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An interesting signing is Andrew Liauww Soen-Tjoen, the son of a Surinamese-Dutch father and a Filipina from Bohol. The 26-year old left-sided player recently plied his trade in VOC Rotterdam in the third tier of Dutch Football.
He and I had a great chat about another Dutch-Surinamese athlete we were both familiar with, MMA Bantamweight Melvin Manhoef. According to Soen-Tjoen, other well-known members of the Oranje (the Dutch national side) like Edgar Davids and Patrick Kluivert actually hail from Surinam.
Soen-Tjoen has played with Filipino-Canadian-Dutchman Jonathan De Guzman, who he describes as a “fantastic player.” De Guzman has already played for the Netherlands at the senior level and can no longer suit up for the Azkals.
While Soen-Tjoen is taking lessons in Tagalog, he proudly noted that he speaks a smattering of Cebuano, which his mother speaks to him in “when she's really angry at me.”
Barotac Nuevo's Joven Bedic is also in Kaya after playing for Stallion in the 2013 league, where he was actually on loan from Pachanga-Diliman. The center midfielder should be an asset in attack.
I kidded David Perkovic, an Aussie of Croatian descent, that he could bark out instructions to Bedic in the Serbo-Croatian language. Last April Fool's Day Rick Olivares released a blog entry on Bleacher's Brew that pretended that Bedic was Fil-Croatian.
The brother of Jason De Jong, Danilo, is also suiting up for Kaya. Like Soen-Tjoen, he is finalizing his Filipino citizenship.
The other new addition is Mati Alvarez, a holding midfielder from Argentina.
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These six will help fill the void from the departure of a passel of players. Apart from Kigbu and Burkey, Kaya also bid adieu to Aussie CB Daniel Zeleny, who is reportedly either headed back to India or to Bahrain, and Junior Munoz, now with Stallion. Kross Ubiam, Nico Bolzico, Jonah Romero, Eric Dagroh, Alex Obiang, Dario Dakic, Sean Iliff, Jiggs Cruz, and Vinny De Ocampo are also moving on.
But Perkovic admits he isn't done building his squad yet. The coach says that there are still two more slots open before the UFL Cup begins in October.
It appears that the earliest Kaya fans can see Aly Borromeo back in action will be in the 2014 league. The former Azkal skipper is still convalescing from numerous knee issues in Australia.
Recently Perkovic and Kaya official Paul Tolentino ventured to Cagayan De Oro to scout a 7-a-side festival there. Perkovic says that a couple of players have been invited to train with Kaya soon, and that it is possible they could be called up if they impress the coaching staff.
Kaya certainly needs to up their game if they are to erase the memory of recent heartbreaks. In 2011 they memorably lost the UFL Cup semifinal to Loyola 5-4 even though they led 3-0 at the half. In 2012 they fell agonizingly short of the League title, getting pipped by Global on goal difference.
The 2013 league saw a maddeningly inconsistent Kaya side that seemed to show up for the big games, (they swept the season series against Global and defeated Meralco in the second round) but stumble against easier opposition. Kaya is a full-time professional outfit that somehow managed to draw both games against the largely amateur Nomads Manila team. Kaya finished fourth in the league behind Loyola and just above Pachanga-Diliman with nine wins, six draws and three losses.
On Saturday Kaya will hold its annual Kaya Reunion match in Emperador stadium. This year's clash will involve two teams composed of its current squad, the Kaya U17 team that won its age group in the UFL youth league, and former Kaya players like Alvin Ocampo and Rudy Del Rosario. Del Rosario will coach one team while Perkovic will helm the other.
The press con was held in Skinny Mike's sports bar, which according to proprietor Ian Palabyab, is fast becoming a mecca for Football fans on Saturday and Sunday nights, when top flight European Football matches are aired. The UFL says they plan to hold more events in Skinny Mike's.
Follow Bob on Twitter @bhobg333.
