Kaya FC-Iloilo will use their experience from playing in the continental meets to help it shoot for a third straight Philippines Football League (PFL) title.
Kaya head coach Yu Hoshide said after their 2-0 win over Lion City Sailors of Singapore last Thursday that going up against tough teams outside of the PFL gave them a new perspective on how they will approach the game.
Kaya made history as it won its first Shopee Cup, also known as the ASEAN Club Championship, match at the Biñan Football Stadium in Laguna.
“Actually for most of the game, we are not that patient. Even the small mistakes that we made could mean a goal against us,” Hoshide said.
“We have to fix that. That’s really, really hard from that point.”
Lucas del Rosario and Janjan Melliza scored in the 65th and 71st minutes, respectively, as the Filipino club finished sixth with a 1-0-4 win-draw-loss record in Group B.
Kaya is set to face the PFF Youth National Team today in the PFL at 4 p.m. at the same venue.
Kaya needs to finish within the top four to qualify for the two-legged semifinals and win the final to add another PFL crown.
Del Rosario said they want to consistently be competitive up until the final match of the season.
“I think all of us just have that mentality to always prove ourselves and improve in every game. We always want to win,” del Rosario said.
“We just kept that mentality throughout the whole season.”