KOKOY'S SOCCER BLOG: Nothing Else Matters - Kaya Iloilo FC vs Yokohama F Marinos in the AFC Champions League

By Kokoy Severino

Kaya Iloilo FC vs Yokohama F Marinos @ Rizal Memorial Stadium, Manila 8:00 pm Tuesday November 7, 2023

The last time a northeast Asian club with a Brazilian corps of forwards came to take on Kaya Iloilo FC at Rizal Memorial Stadium, the Visayan defense got perforated with three goals, each scored by a different Brazilian. It remains to be seen how many of the four Brazilian players on the Yokohama roster are included in Tuesday night's match, since not the entire team traveled to the Philippines for this big AFC Champions League tie. But it took three to overcome the Ilonggos during the first meeting last month in Japan - Elber, Yan Matheus, and Anderson Lopes who scored the icer in added extra time.

That first AFC Champions League game against Chinese FA Cup holders Shandong Taishan now seems like eons ago, with so much football having been played since then.

In between ACL outings, Kaya has been on a roll domestically, overcoming a resistant Stallion Laguna FC last Friday to capture another berth in the Copa Paulino Alcantara final, preserving their streak as the only team to have played in every single championship match of the nation's top pro tournament. Kaya's next Asian Champions League opponents, Yokohama F Marinos, have likewise been busy with quality performances in their own domestic competition, firmly holding second in the J League table and knocking on the door of a back-to-back trophy, what would be their third over the last five seasons.

But their respective domestic campaigns are the furthest thing from the minds of both Coach Collum Curtis of Kaya and Marinos Coach Kevin Muscat. They have both implored their charges to forget all other competitions, including past and future Champions League games, and focus on the here and the now about to transpire on the RMS pitch Tuesday night.

"The rest is not important," Coach Muscat said in the press briefing Monday. "The only thing we can affect is tomorrow, so that is our sole focus."

Coach Curtis was just as clear with his players to "forget about the Copa, first and foremost; Yokohama is a different animal than what we are coming up against domestically."

Halfway through the group cycle, it's crunch time for teams in the top pan-Asian tournament, particularly in Group G, which currently sees a three-way tie in points between Shandong, Yokohama, and South Korea's Incheon, representing three of the biggest and most competitive leagues in the continent, with identical records and just one goal separating them in the differential column.

"As we always do, we'll focus on ourselves in being aggressive to attack at every opportunity," Coach Muscat explained, something he admitted the Marinos need to improve upon coming off the first meeting with Kaya in Japan two weeks ago. "We have a better understanding, and there are certain moments we have identified we can do better in creating better options and better opportunities."

Coach Curtis holds no delusions about Kaya's chances in the Champions League at this point. He takes a pragmatic teacher's view of the development of his players, focusing on performance rather than outcome.

"If the players execute the gameplan and they did everything to implement it, we look back at the performance. We lost three-zero [in the first match against Yokohama], but I was very very pleased with the performance."

Under this light, Coach Curtis may have already succeeded in achieving the objective for Kaya's remaining Champions League matches. For him, it's about leaving a strong legacy to represent Philippine football in the final ACL under the current format, before the tournament is split into three levels. He was also very direct about what it will take for a Philippine club to get back into the top continental division in the future - more games at a higher competitive level, player development, money, and lots of hard work.

This is perhaps where Coach Curtis and Coach Muscat part ways. The former focuses on performance and development with a holistic pragmatism. Given the tight race Yokohama is in, the latter has an exact measurement of what would be a successful trip to the Philippines - going home with nothing less than three points.

Coach Muscat is very clear about the outcome Yokohama is here to achieve, "Our energy and focus is on Kaya."

Rizal Memorial Stadium is readied for the AFC Champions leagfue match between Kaya Iloilo FC and Yokohama F Marinos on Tuesday November 7, 2023 (photo by Kokoy)

Kaya-Iloilo FC results and fixtures in AFC Champions League Group G (all kickoff times local at venue):

September 19 – Kaya Iloilo FC 1, Shandong Taishan 3 @ Rizal Memorial Stadium, Manila

October 3 – Incheon United 4, Kaya Iloilo FC 0 @ Incheon Football Stadium, Incheon, South Korea

October 25 – Yokohama FM 3, Kaya Iloilo FC 0 @ Yokohama International Stadium, Yokohama, Japan

November 7 – vs Yokohama FM @ Rizal Memorial Stadium, Manila 8:00 pm

November 28 – vs Shandong Taishan @ Jinan Olympic Stadium, Jinan, China 8:00 pm

December 13 – vs Incheon United @ Rizal Memorial Stadium, Manila 4:00 pm

Dynamic Herb Cebu FC results and fixtures in AFC Cup Group F:

September 21 – Cebu FC 0, Phnom Penh Crown 3 @ Rizal Memorial Stadium, Manila

October 5 – Macarthur 8, Cebu FC 2 @ Campbelltown Sports Stadium, Sydney, Australia

October 26 – Cebu FC 1, Shan United 0 @ Rizal Memorial Stadium, Manila

November 9 – vs Shan United @ Thuwunna Stadium, Yangon, Myanmar 6:30 pm

November 30 – vs Phnom Penh Crown @ Smart RSN Stadium, Phnom Penh, Cambodia 7:00 pm

December 14 – vs Macarthur @ Rizal Memorial Stadium, Manila 8:00 pm

Philippine Women's National Team results and fixtures in AFC Olympic Qualifiers Group A

October 26 – Philippines 4, Chinese Taipei 1 @ HBF Park, Perth, Western Australia, Australia

October 29 – vs Australia @ Optus Stadium, Burswood, Western Australia, Australia 3:00 pm

November 1 – vs Iran @ HBF Park, Perth, Western Australia, Australia time TBA

Stallion Laguna FC results and fixtures in AFC Cup Group G

September 20 – Stallion Laguna FC 2, Bali United 5 @ Biñan Football Stadium, Biñan, Laguna

October 4 – Central Coast Mariners 9, Stallion Laguna FC 1 @ Industree Group Stadium, Gosford, Queensland, Australia

October 26 – Terengganu FC 2, Stallion Laguna FC 2@ Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin Stadium, Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia

November 8 – vs Terengganu FC @ Biñan Football Stadium, Biñan, Laguna 4:00 pm

November 29 – vs Bali United @ Captain 1 Wayan Dipta Stadium, Bali, Indonesia 8:00 pm

December 13 – vs Central Coast Mariners @ Biñan Football Stadium, Biñan, Laguna 4:00 pm

Kokoy Severino is a career educator and Secretary of the Football For Peace Movement in the Philippines. He has coached junior high school soccer in the public school system of the Greater Houston area for over 20 years. He holds a National Youth Diploma and a Goalkeeping Coaching Certification from the National Soccer Coaches Association of America and United Soccer Coaches, two coaching certifications from the United States Soccer Federation, and a Master's in Educational Leadership from the University of St. Thomas in Houston, Texas. His research focuses on the relationship between interscholastic competitive soccer and the academic success of at-risk economically disadvantaged students. Kokoy returns regularly to his native country of the Philippines and works with fellow soccer coaches to conduct training sessions for underserved youths in impoverished neighborhoods. He is also a member of Initiatives and Hearts for Indigenous People, a collective of soccer coaches in the Philippines who use the beautiful game to mentor youths out of poverty, particularly focusing on marginalized indigenous communities.

Kokoy is a lifelong traveler and has been documenting soccer matches through photographs in his native country of the Philippines, his adopted home state of Texas, as well as in Singapore, Vietnam, and Washington State, plus more parts of the world to come.

Check out The Adventures of Kokoy - A Travel Guide.

Read and view Coach Kokoy's blog about implementing the beautiful game as an academic and social-emotional intervention at an inner-city junior high school for new immigrants to the United States - Coach Kokoy's Las Americas Soccer Blog.