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| Yu Hoshide and Kaishu Yamazaki pose with the football ahead of its last Shopee Cup match. Ivan Saldajeno |
BIÑAN—The Iloilo Sports Complex in Iloilo City and the Campo Alcantara in Pavia are still not fit enough to host an AFC-sanctioned event, so Kaya Iloilo had to choose the Rizal Memorial Stadium in Manila as its temporary home for the AFC Champions League 2 and Shopee Cup.
However, with Rizal Memorial undergoing renovations, Kaya Iloilo had to find another venue to play its last game in the Shopee Cup, and it chose the newly fixed Biñan Football Stadium here.
Interestingly, the Biñan Football Stadium is home to Stallion Laguna, one of Kaya Iloilo's fierce rivals for the PFL title.
Despite that, coach Yu Hoshide said the familiarity with the field would still be a factor for them, even if Kaya Iloilo is technically playing on the road.
"Usually, during the preseason, we have a match against Stallion here, so we're used to playing against Stallion here plus sometimes the PFL as well, so I cannot say this is our away game," Hoshide said during the pre-match press conference on Wednesday night at the said pitch.
With that said, Hoshide is hopeful that the football fans here would still show up to cheer for Kaya Iloilo even if they have to play its last Shopee Cup match against Lion City Sailors in Stallion Laguna's territory.
"We are playing for the Filipino fans not only for Kaya Iloilo fans. Hopefully, we will get support from the Biñan fans as well," Hoshide further said.
Both already out of semifinal contention, Kaya Iloilo and Lion City Sailors will look to finish its Shopee Cup campaign strong at 8:30 p.m. Thursday.
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