Azkals to grace opening of PFF Suzuki U-23 Cup kick-off on March 30

Azkals to grace opening of PFF Suzuki U-23 Cup kick-off on March 30

The Philippine Football Federation Suzuki Under-23 Cup kicks off to great fanfare at the University of the Philippines Los Baños campus this Wednesday, March 30, 2011 with members of the Philippine Men’s National Football Team as guests. The tournament, which is sponsored by Suzuki Philippines, will serve as a breeding ground for reinforcements to the national squad that will see action in the coming Southeast Asian Games in Indonesia.

The Under-23 tournament initially brings together 23 squads from Luzon and Mindanao in the first wave of knockout competition before the winners advance to the regionals where teams from the National Capital Region and the Visayas await them.

The top two teams from Luzon, Visayas, Mindanao, and the National Capital Region will be paired into two groups and battle it out in a single-elimination format for a home-and-away semifinal match to determine the finalists. The finals will take place on May 15 of this year.  

Also gracing the kick-off in Laguna will be Suzuki Philippines President Satoshi Uchida, PFF President Mariano V. Araneta and other football officials. Uchida, who is a huge football fan and was impressed with the Azkals’ performance in the last Suzuki Cup said, “We consider the Suzuki-PFF U23 Cup as a local adaptation of the AFF Suzuki Cup, aligning the efforts with how Suzuki Motors Corporation, our mother company, supports football in all of Asia. We see this effort in a long-term basis. Expect that we will be continuously supporting football in the Philippines as part of our efforts to help promote Philippine sports, especially now that Suzuki Philippines launched its ASTIG campaign, football seems a very apt representation of that image.”

Preceding the opening ceremonies will be a motorcade at 2pm featuring PFF and Suzuki officials as well as the Azkals.


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Cluster competition for U23 tournament

North, Central and South Luzon:

Host team: Laguna

Participating teams: Baguio City-Benguet, Laguna, Quezon, Tarlac and Rizal

Dates: March 30-April 3 at UP Los Baños

Southeast Luzon

Host team: Naga City-Camarines Sur

Participating teams: Camarines Norte, Naga City-Camarines Sur, Legaspi City-Albay Federated, Masbate, and Oriental Mindoro

Dates: March 30-April 3

North Mindanao

Host team: Cagayan de Oro-Misamis Oriental

Participating teams: Butuan-Agusan del Norte, Iligan-Lanao del Norte, Cagayan de Oro-Misamis Oriental, and Surigao del Norte

Dates: March 29-April 2

South Mindanao

Host team: Davao

Participating teams: Compostela Valley, Davao, and Davao del Norte

Dates: April 1-3

Central Mindanao

Host team: North Cotobato

Participating teams: Maguindanao-Cotobato City and North Cotobato

Dates: April 1-2

West Mindanao

Host team: Misamis Oriental-Ozamis

Participating teams: Misamis Occidental-Ozamis, Zamboanga, Zamboanga del Norte-Dipolog, and Zamboanga del Sur-Pagadian

Dates: March 25-27