UCFC fires warning shot

After pulling out of the Philippines Football League (PFL), United City FC will be starting fresh as it sets its sights on claiming its fifth league title.

New UCFC head coach Marian Mihail of Romania said he wants other teams to take them seriously despite missing out the remainder of the PFL last season and the Copa Paulino Alcantara.

In the ongoing PFL season, Golden Boys finally got a win after posting a 3-1 victory over Philippine Army FC over the weekend to grab the 10th spot with a 1-0-1 win-draw-loss record.

“I am here to help this club rebuild from scratch because the expectation is high. United City is a big club in Philippine football,” Mihail said, who led Steaua Bucharest to Liga 2 and the Supercupa României titles in the 2000-2001 season before signing with UCFC last February.

“We will take it step-by-step and we hope to be in a good position at the end of the season and gain some confidence for the next season.”

UCFC is poised to defend its title last year after a strong finish in the first half in which it finished second behind a 4-2-0 win-draw-loss record with 14 points behind Kaya FC-Iloilo, which won all six games in the first round.

Unfortunately, the club had to withdraw last February due to financial issues and dropping their title chances, paving the way for Kaya to clinch its maiden PFL title.

The offseason saw UCFC recruit top players for this year’s PFL, including Paolo Bugas and Marvin Angeles of Davao Aguilas-UMak FC and Ricki Sendra of Kaya.

Mark Hartmann, who was hailed as the Man of the Match in the club’s first win this season, said they had to conduct tune-up matches to stay competitive after missing out on the Copa last year.

“It’s lucky that the league was pushed back a bit so that we were able to train together. We had a few friendly games in-between,” Hartmann said.

“Game by game, we’re getting stronger. I’m really glad for the players and we’re all here to win.”