Audie Menzi still in awe after winning goal for Kaya-Iloilo in AFC Champions League playoffs

Audie Menzi said his winning goal that sent Kaya-Iloilo to the group stage of the AFC Champions League had plenty of meaning.
It turns out that Menzi’s 17th minute header that beat Shanghai Port, 1-0, in their playoff match held Wednesday, June 23 in Pathum Thani, Thailand was his first since debuting for Kaya back in 2016.
“Napakasaya ko dahil yung goal ko ang dahilan na nakagawa kami ng history,” Menzi said in a video posted by the club on its social media accounts.
“Ito rin ang pinakauna kong goal sa club kahit nandito na ako for almost five years, and ang sarap lang kasi dito pa sa big stage nangyari,” added the Benguet native.
Menzi debuted for Kaya during the final season of the United Football League in 2016 before opting to finish out his final year of UAAP eligibility with Far Eastern University the following season.
He returned to the club in 2018 for the second season of the Philippines Football League and became part of Kaya’s victory in the inaugural Copa Paulino Alcantara in 2019.
But it wasn’t until the Champions League playoff where Menzi found the back of the net wearing the black and gold shirt, a feat that allowed Kaya to reach Asia’s biggest club competition.
Menzi, however, can’t be too content with such feat as Kaya prepares for Group F of the ACL against defending champion Ulsan Hyundai of South Korea, Thailand’s BG Pathum United and Vietnamese champion Viettel.
“Mataas din level ng Shanghai and ngayon mas mataas ulit since kalaro natin champion ng Champions League which is the Korean team at may malalakas din na team which is yung Vietnam at Thailand kaya ineexpect namin na mas bakbakan to,” he said.