This appears in the Monday, January 16, 2012 edition of the Business Mirror.
Those
increasingly memorable Loyola games
by rick olivares
In the early stage of the 2011 UFL
Cup, the Loyola Meralco Sparks coasted through a series of laughers; routs if
you will. But once in the quarterfinals, they played three memorable games that
have at once shown the firepower at their disposal and their propensity for
near meltdowns.
To open 2012 league play, it was like
history repeating itself. Only in reverse. A little over a month ago, the
Sparks came back from 3-nil down against Kaya in the semifinals of the 2011 UFL
Cup to win 5-4 and advance to the finals.
This time, it was Loyola who posted a
3-nil lead against the undermanned Green Archers United who roared back to life
with two late second half goals. Were it not for a missed penalty, they coulda,
woulda, and shoulda drawn level.
Even before the match, Green Archers
were dealt a bad hand when team captain Patrick Bocobo was ruled out with a
groin injury, leading scorer Tating Pasilan sidelined after an appendectomy,
and starting keeper Martin Villaflor unavailable due to work.
Loyola on the other hand was minus
striker Mark Hartmann who was out with an injury and midfielder Matt Hartmann
who had just arrived from England. Midfielder Anto Gonzales, acquired on loan
from Diliman, was unable to start because of his UAAP football duties.
Fearful of Loyola that had led the
league in scoring with 43 goals during the cup competition, Green Archers went
out with an ultra-defensive 5-3-2 formation. The alumni team of La Salle had
made a name for itself by playing suffocating defense. The first time they
conceded was at the end of the cup group stages when Pasargad knocked in the
equalizer in injury time. In their next match, Air Force bombed them out of the
tournament.
GAU had looked somewhat disdainfully
over at the buildup of other clubs most notably of Loyola, Ateneo de Manila’s
alumni team that had morphed over the last two years into a more cosmopolitan
club with a gaggle of Fil-Brits, Fil-Dutch, Italians, Japanese, and Koreans.
Green Archers on the other hand, kept their lineup intact for the second
straight year. They finished sixth place in the then seven-team division one
last year but this season, pointed out team manager Monchu Garcia, “We’re
trying to go for third place. Then next year win it.”
The game plan was to challenge every
ball and pressure Loyola. And true enough, they had the first two chances to
score but the volleys clanged up the crossbar sending a message that, “we may
be missing some pieces but we can take the fight to you.”
But one can only deny the Younghusband
brothers James and Phil for so long. Their dogged determination and talent
alone have time and again demonstrated why they are some of the best in the
business of scoring goals.
The gnashing losses in the Smart Club
Championships and UFL Cup have been forgotten; consigned to the recesses of the
mind until such time they face those who have dispatched them in the past. Loyola
eventually got going and the cross of Byeong Yeol Jeong from the right wing
found Phil Younghusband whose superb one touch volley brought to mind Franco
Borromeo’s dazzling strike from a similar cross by Angel Guirado in last year’s
cup that allowed Global to survive Pachanga’s onslaught.
Younghusband’s 35th minute
goal swung the momentum Loyola’s way. And just when a minute was added to the
first half of play, older brother James won a penalty when he drove in but was
tackled by GAU’s backup keeper Ivan Fraire. Phil took the PK and his shot was
true.
The reeling Green Archers at the end
of the first half conceded a second and painful goal.
Green Archers looked to be in a deep
hole when Jake Morallo put on some nifty footwork against Arvin Soliman and
Gabe Oloweyeye before finding Jeong with a nifty throughball for a third goal
in the 54th minute.
The green and white caught a break
when Loyola’s returning Japanese midfielder Taku Yoshioka reckless tackle of Shapay
Johnson led to a penalty. It was Yoshioka’s second yellow card of the match and
it reduced Loyola to 10 men.
But the Sparks dodged not one but two
bullets or penalties as Pasinabo missed his spot kick as he sent it wide right.
Referee Wilfredo Bermejo ordered a re-take of the penalty shot as a Sparks
player was called for encroachment. This time it was Dong Villareal who stepped
to take the shot but he too missed as he sent it wide left. Loyola keeper Ref
Cuaresma couldn’t believe his luck.
However, two minutes later, in the 67th
minute, Pasinabo fired a laser from some 22 yards out that skirted just beyond
the reach of Cuaresma. Ten minutes later, Pasinabo launched a cross inside the
box that Villareal headed into the back of the suddenly reeling Sparks’ net. It
was now 3-2 and the missed penalties shots were suddenly huge (as was
Yoshioka’s being sent off).
In the January transfer window, the
Sparks brought in some help but it to augment their midfield. But as it was
during the cup finals, it was their defense that gave way. Defender Eli
Fabraoda’s poor pass led to the Villareal goal.
Suprisingly, Loyola head coach Kim
Chul So opted not to substitute until the late stages of the game (Dexter
Versario came in for Fabraoda in the 86th minute). In the semifinals
against Kaya, it was his second half replacement of Matthew Hartmann for Jayson
Cutamora that sparked Loyola to its now famous comeback win. In the finals
against Air Force, So sent in midfielder JP Merida to play central defender, a
position he does not normally play. And the Airmen made Loyola pay when Yanti
Barsales picked Merida clean before chipping a shot over the flailing arms of Cuaresma.
Green Archers abandoned their five
defensive back alignment to send in attacker in the form of Gerald Pacquiao and
Enrqiue Romero-Salas. The substitutions clearly galvanized their side.
In the final minutes of play, Phil
Younghusband found some room to operate and perhaps score a fourth goal for his
side but the top striker slipped and Green Archers went on the
counteroffensive. Loyola repelled one last attack as they survived a vigorous rally
to win 3-2, and collect the three full points of the match to join opening day
winners, Kaya.
“We survived,” said a harried Phil
Younghusband post-match as if he had just woken from a nightmare. “No more
blowouts. This is Division One football. As I said before, any team is capable
of beating anyone on any given day. What this means is we still have a long way
to go as a team if we want to win the league. And you know what they say about
games like this – they build character. And a win – is a win.”
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