Everything counts: Four talking points on the PFL "bubble"

With a booming vengeance after seven months of being locked down and locked out, football is back when the fourth season of the Philippines Football League had kicked off in their bubble at the PFF National Training Center in Carmona, Cavite last Wednesday.

Newcomer United City and veteran Kaya-Iloilo scored contrasting 1-0 wins against the Azkals Development Team and Maharlika Manila who are game to battle in a sprint, in which six clubs will each play five matches in a truncated season due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Those five matches are vital for everyone as every tackle and kick of the ball matters.

Thanks to a three-year deal with Qatar Airways to be its title sponsor, the PFL had intensified its hype as they went aggressive on social media as well as having a broadcast deal with EXPTV, their first since the inaugural season.

As the second matchday being played as of today with a tripleheader, we take a look at the four reasons why this season means so special.

1. A chance to play with Asia's best

The past decade saw Filipino clubs get into action internationally since 2012, when Loyola barged on to the last four of the Singapore Cup but it was the following year that the AFC have given them a spot in the President's Cup when the former Global played as the champions of the old United Football League, an honor Stallion Laguna were cruelly denied of.

Fast forward to 2015 and it was the same Global side that were given a debut into the AFC Cup proper. But it was in the inaugural season of the PFL in 2017 when it reached its peak as Ceres-Negros took the ASEAN Zone Title, scalping Malaysian juggernaut Johor Darul Ta'zim at its path.

Now then, with the now-hibernating Busmen inched closer twice to the prestigious AFC Champions League in that stretch, Filipino football fans are looking forward to this season, as the champion of the PFL will have a huge change to slug it out with the likes of Chinese powerhouse Guangzhou Evergrande and Saudi top dog Al Hilal in 2021, thanks to our consistent performances in the AFC Cup.

2. The bubble nearly burst. But it didn't.

For this season, the league housed its staff and all of the teams in their temporary home at Seda Nuvali in Sta. Rosa Laguna, in line with the guidelines approved by the IATF just to keep the season going as it hopes to get the spread of coronavirus. This includes the referees, in contrast to their original plan to put them in a separate facility.

It was a plan that raised a lot of concerns for the league commissioner Mikhail Torre. Last September, Kume Coco said in the PSA Forum that they are not wanting to put all the eggs in a single basket because of the contagion.

The bubble nearly burst the day before its original Sunday kick-off where a total of nine people were found out to have the virus after a series of tests. But upon confirmatory tests, they were cleared of it. So it's game on.

3. League vets should pounce with Ceres out

With Ceres-Negros taking a break from the game, the PFL trophy is up for grabs as all of six clubs are raring to stake its claim to the title of national champions.

With the Busmen out, the onus is on Kaya-Iloilo who were runner up in the past two seasons and had been at the wrong end of a double last year. Will third time finally be a charm?

Also, do not count out Stallion Laguna and Mendiola who came in last season with the most stable roster apart from Yu Hoshide's outfit, with the former looking to end their seven-year title drought and the latter hoping to follow up their Copa run by banking that same Bedan bond.

4. Newcomers hoping to make a name right away

Not only the seasoned vets in the league can stake their claim as the best in the league, with the newcomers are led by United City,  Maharlika Manila and the guests from the Azkals Development Team.

With sixteen former Busmen in tow in the club owned by the consortium of Eric Gottschalk including Azkals skipper Stephan Schrock, United City are hoping to continue its winning tradition, despite football purists' claim that they are not the three-time league champions.

Borne after their run at their own Southeast Asian Games last year, the ADT will bank on former Ateneo talisman Jarvey Gayoso to prepare themselves not only for the squad, but also for the future as well.

To conclude

With all things said and done, the league is hoping that you, Filipino footballl fan, to follow the league whenever you are when you watch the matches both on TV and on stream. So that everyone has that drive in daring to rise this season.

PHOTOS: PFL