Suzuki U23 Cup semis preview

This appears in the Friday May 13, 2011 edition of the Business Mirror.

Suzuki U23 Cup semis preview

by rick olivares

After over a month of competition, the PFF Suzuki Under-23 National Cup is down to four teams – Bacolod, Davao, Iloilo, and the National Capital Region.

Two teams from the Visayas, one from Mindanao, and one from the capital. Nearly one team from every geographical division is represented. Laguna, from Luzon, nearly advanced but in their overconfidence, ran into already ousted NCR Team A that played their best football of the tournament.

And almost fittingly, the hotbeds of football in the country are duking it out for the championship and bragging rights in the first national tournament in five years.

Bacolod and Iloilo, long time rivals finished first and second respectively in the Visayas regionals and look to be on a collision course for the title.

Bacolod topped their quarterfinals group in their home city with 2 wins and 1 draw while Iloilo had also finished with the same record in the Laguna group quarterfinals.

Davao, the Mindanao leader, finished second to Iloilo who soundly beat them 4-1 in the final playing day of their group stage.

NCR, playing their first game of the competition, got their feet wet against Bacolod which scored two early goals. Although NCR outplayed the Bacolodnons the rest of the way, they could only muster one goal in a 2-1 loss.

Host team Iloilo will play NCR at Central Philippines University in Iloilo City while Bacolod goes up against Davao in Barotac Nuevo.

The semifinals will be played on May 15 and 16 in Iloilo but the games will be drawn during the managers’ meeting on May 14 in Iloilo City.

Iloilo (4-1-1) vs. NCR (2-0-1)

The Ilonggos have arguably the best midfield in the tournament with Francis Gustilo, Glester Sobremisana, Shirmar Felongco, and Romeo Martinez. Their passing, creativity, and ground game has long been the hallmark of their style of play that one is almost tempted to remark rather lavishly that it is “almost Brazilian.” The favorites to win it, this team will go as far as Gustilo will take them. Their mercurial playmaker can make or break them. With him off him game, the ball does not swing to Sobremisana -- deadly on the cross and attacking inside -- on the wings.

NCR Team B is the outsider that could actually win it all. If name players were enough to win a title, then largely because its players see action in the UAAP and the UFL, they should win it. Unfortunately for their foes, they are strong not just on paper. The team actually got better as the tournament progressed. Whether because of fresh legs (other teams went through the clusters and regional’s while NCR went straight to the quarterfinals), talent, or both, these guys are good.

Bacolod (5-1-0) vs. Davao (3-2-1)

Bacolod boasts of the best attacking offense of the tournament. Head coach Norman Fegidero Jr. was a fearsome striker in his day and he constantly preaches to his team to score more and more. His teams have three of the  tournament’s top scorers in Joshua Beloya (12 goals), Jovin Bedic (five goals), and Aldrin Dolino (four goals). The trio are not only smart football players but also gifted passers who are blessed with speed with great ball control. They place immense pressure on opposing defenders. Iloilo, in their Visayas regionals match up chose to play them with three defensive backs and Bacolod made them pay for it as they zinged Ilonggo keeper Wilson Muñoz with shots all match long. Masbate showed opponents on how to stifle them by marking Bacolod’s overlapping players while challenging Dolino’s crosses inside the box.

Davao is perhaps the most inconsistent team of the lot. As the Mindanao regionals progressed their performance dipped. And that surprisingly continued into the Laguna quarterfinals. Their success lies in keeper Rufino Mantos who directs their defense but whose bane is his temper, and Enrique Romero-Salas who drives their engine. If he has his way in the middle, they will be a handful.

Enrique Romero-Salas vs NCR Team A in Laguna.