Marañon, de Murga sign with Malaysian team Johor Darul

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

Two of the most celebrated football players in the Philippines will be taking their talents to the Malaysia Super League.

National team members Bienvenido Marañon and Carli de Murga will be reinforcing the Johor Darul Ta’zim professional football club currently competing at the top division of the Super League.

The football club revealed its blockbuster acquisitions after posting a video clip of Marañon and de Murga signing their contracts with the caption: “WELCOME TO THE HOME OF THE SOUTHERN TIGERS!”

Marañon, the country’s naturalized player, is fresh off a stellar outing during the AFF Suzuki Cup and made history as the first Filipino to achieve a hat-trick against Myanmar.

Also, the recently turned Filipino citizen was the main gunner of the United City FC (formerly Ceres-Negros FC) and provided 65 total goals during his stay with the Philippines Football League (PFL) champions.

Meanwhile, de Murga will set up a highly-anticipated reunion with Marañon as former teammates in Ceres-Negros.

The versatile defender/right midfielder is coming off a decent outing with Malaysian team Terangganu and helped the team to a fourth-place finish in the Super League.

Marañon and de Murga first shared the pitch together on the same team way back in 2017 when they powered the Ceres-Negros team to the AFC Cup ASEAN Zonal championship.

The dynamic duo did not only help raise the Philippine Flag during the 2017 AFC Cup but also dominated the PFL where they would end up winning championships together.