After the Singapore Cup, then came the Azkals friendlies and now the Cup season is upon us!
Later we will have the semi finals of the Singapore Cup, The Philippine Peace Cup, Middle East Friendlies and Finally the AFF Suzuki Cup. So Lets Savor the 2012 UFL Cup as its dawns upon us!
It is indeed a great moment to be a Filipino football fan.
Stage 1 of the 2012 UFL cup will feature 8 matches which will serve as the qualifiers for the Stage 2, wherein the 8 winners of this straight eliminations will face the 6 qualified teams in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao
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| UFL Stage 1 pairings |
Forza FC VS Internacionale FC
Team Socceroo VS International PHL
Manila All-Japan VS Gen Trias
Union INT. VS Sta. Lucia
Laos FC VS Cavite FC
Dolphins United VS Bluegards
Agila FC VS Brightstar
Mendiola FC VS FC Masbate
Final schematics of the 2012 UFL Cup:
Stage 1 will involve the 2nd Div clubs and the new clubs. 2nd Div clubs have twice-to-beat advantage. Ten clubs go on to Stage 2.
So Stage 1 is more of the "weeding-out-the-weak" stage. This will happen between Sept 15 - 30.
Stage 2 involves the 10 1st Div clubs plus the 10 winners from Stage 1. They will be bracketed into 4 groups of 5 & play single round robin.
In Stage 2, the top 2 from each group advance to the QF where they will play a crossover knockout. Winners advance to SF.
Stage 2 is like the format of the previous season. We just added Stage 1 to "weed out the weak" and hopefully avoid blowouts.
-Ritchie Gannaban
