National U-23 tournament kicks off to great fanfare

This appears in the April 1, 2011 edition of the Business Mirror.

National U-23 tournament kicks off to great fanfare

by jae bolando, mia domingo, brosi gonzales and rick olivares

LOS BANOS -- The University of the Philippines Los Baños played host to the North, Central and South Luzon leg of the very first staging of the PFF Suzuki U-23 National Cup last Wednesday, March 30, 2011. Promising football players in this tournament will likely be tapped to join the Philippine contingent to the 2011 SEA Games in Palembang, Indonesia this November. 

The football tournament of the SEA Games remains the most prestigious one in the region although the biennial Suzuki Cup has begun to give the former a run for its money in terms of prestige and popularity.

The Philippine Men’s National Football Team, fresh from their successful run in the qualifying stage of the AFC Challenge Cup in Myanmar, joined the parade around the UPLB campus that preceded the opening ceremony on board their personalized Azkals bus. The nationals, who were without Neil Etheridge, Jason Sabio, Aly Borromeo, Anton del Rosario, and brothers James and Phil Younghusband, were led by new recruit, Fil-Spaniard Angel Aldeguer Guirado, who scored two of the three goals against Bangladesh last week.

The kickoff to the first Under-23 national tournament in years was graced by PFF President Mariano “Nonong” Araneta, Suzuki Philippines President Satoshi Uchida, national team head coach Michael Weiss, and national team manager Dan Palami. Weiss, who aside from coaching the senior national squad will also be minding the U-23 team to the SEA Games.

In the lone game of the day, Laguna FA defeated Baguio-Benguet FA 4-2. Laguna striker Kevin de Castro scored a hat trick with midfielder Jim Flores adding to the host town’s final tally. For the visiting team, Alvin Aoas scored a brace.

Said winning coach Aquilino Pastoral III of his team’s satisfying start, “Karamihan ng players ko naglalaro sa Manila, yung advantage ng team namin ay yung experience na nakukuha nila sa Manila ay nadadala nila dito sa Laguna.”

In the press conference after the kickoff, PFF President Nonong Araneta said that this is the first time that Suzuki is sponsoring an event like this. The Japanese automotive company wanted to show its support for football with the recent surge of the beautiful game’s popularity following the Azkals’ stirring 2010 Suzuki Cup run.

Araneta also mentioned that only three provinces are not represented in competition. “We have a wide participation from the football associations. So, all in all, we have 30 teams competing in this maiden voyage of the Under-23,” said the president who once also donned the national colors during his playing days.

Azkals Team Manager Dan Palami added, "One problem of the team that we want to address is that, the locals are being overshadowed by the foreigners. The lack of available talents enabled us to stage a competition like this and fortunately, Suzuki stepped in to give their all out support. We encourage not just those under-23 years old to join but even the young ones who are interested with the sport can start early in order to develop their craft."

Palami cited caution in the formation of the national team, "It's a long and complicated process but I am optimistic that we'll be able to find valuable Under-23 talents in this competition to represent us in the Southeast Asian Games this November. Actually, my policy as team manager is that, if there's not much difference from the foreign-trained Filipinos and the locals, I'd rather choose and develop the local talents."

Said Weiss of the tournament, “We’re always looking for quality players who are physically strong, who have a good technique, who have a good sense to play football anyone who can prove their selves have a chance to tryout. I’m not sure, I don’t know about the level of game that they have here, my coaching staff are looking for possible talents and we will have try outs on May and then we will see if they can play or not.”

Suzuki Philippines President Satoshi Uchida, himself a huge football fan who was impressed with the Philippines’ run in the last Suzuki Cup said, "This is a good start for the partnership of Suzuki and the PFF. We are hoping this will grow and based on the reaction of the crowd today and with the turnout of the kickoff, the people are really enthusiastic about the sport. I think we can look forward to a yearly PFF U-23. And just to add, we are avid supporters of football. We hope to continue and to be supportive of the PFF's plans for the development of football in the country. 

“Actually, the plan of the Federation is to stage an Under-23 competition every other year because we are just following the calendar for the SEA Games,” clarified Araneta. “Next year, we'll be having an Under-21 competition. And also, just to give you an idea, the last Suzuki Cup [last year] was the most successful [tournament] in the whole of Asia, even better than the Asian Cup."

As the North, Central and South Luzon kicked off their leg today, games were simultaneously played at Naga City-Camarines Sur for the Southeast Luzon Leg. Both Luzon legs will run from March 30-April 3 2011. The North Mindanao leg, which is hosted by the Cagayan De Oro-Misamis Oriental Football Association, kicked off their leg yesterday, which will last until April 2, 2011, Saturday. The West Mindanao leg, where it was hosted by the Football Association of Misamis Occidental-Ozamiz kicked off last March 25 until last Sunday, March 27. Zamboanga Del Norte-Dipolog topped the West MIndanao cluster, thus they advance to the next stage.