A lesson
on composure
Down a goal. Down a man. Yet
somehow, Ateneo isn’t the one in trouble and they stun FEU with a late
goal to stay atop the UAAP Men’s Football standings.
by rick olivares
Games are won because of different
factors – (in no particular order) talent, heart, intimidation, breaks of the
game, experience, deep benches, excellent coaching, adjustments on the fly, leadership,
and of course, there’s this thing called ‘focus’ or ‘composure’.
I cannot for the life of me understand
coaches (once more I am not referring to anyone in particular but should one
feel he is being alluded to then perhaps he/she is guilty) who overcoach; who
shout on every possession as if people are robots with every play and trick in
the playbook hardwired into their system. Actually, you don’t have one coach –
you have about a dozen of them, teammates included. Sometimes when the halftime
break comes, you are not sure if you want to go to the bench or wish the game
was ongoing. All the noise can be distracting. If you were ever a player
before, you do what you can to tune out the coach and teammate who yell as if
yelling were going out of style.
And that brings me to the second round
meeting between Ateneo and FEU.
FEU’s Eric Giganto put the Tamaraws
ahead in the 12th minute with a nifty shot off a cross and lay off
inside the box, the Ateneo Men’s Football Team stepped on the panic pedal.
It is never easy to be down a goal
more so two. More often than not, you switch to Plan B – assuming you have one
– to get your game going. The Blue Booters really couldn’t mount any serious
offense – the first touch was bad, they didn’t win too many first balls, and
cleared the ball with no sense of direction or for quick counters. In short,
they played at a quick pace, just like the Tamaraws like it.
The Blue Booters do not have the ball-handling
wizards that FEU has. They do not have the players who are quick to fill in the
spaces for a forward pass or a cross.
When you are being pressed you tend to
make hasty decisions on the ball. If you step up the offensive and threaten
more, opponents will be less willing to commit players to attacks.
What Ateneo did was to organize the
attack better and to send the midfield up high (in a 4-4-2 formation) for
support. When on defense, there was always a stopper in the midfield (as FEU
likes in central mid play) to track back immediately. It was just as important
to hold FEU and not concede another goal.
Upon the resumption of the game,
Ateneo took the game to FEU and that resulted in several scoring chances right
away. That as expected, forced the Tamaraws to leave a few players behind. FEU
wasn’t fully able to regain control of the game as the Blue Booters were more
composed (although the finish could use some real quality).
Even as freshman center mid Eric
Figueroa was sent off with a straight red card leaving Ateneo with 10 players
on the field, the offensive did not abate one iota. Val Calvo who usually plays
up front stayed in a holding midfield position then when the opportunity
presented itself, he did as instructed which is to link up with the attack.
Incredibly, FEU wasn’t able to take
advantage of their manpower advantage. Maybe in stoppage time but not much
during the second half.
In the 89th minute, Mikko
Mabanag launched a cross from the deep right side. All match long, the crosses
were either long or the attackers failed to head or volley the ball in. You
know what they say about the law of averages. Carlo Liay rose about his
defender to head it past keeper Michael Menzi for the equalizer.
With both La Salle and UP praying for
an Ateneo loss to be able to inch closer to the top two seeds, Ateneo managed
to stave off their first loss with a massive 1-1 draw.
The Blue Booters conceded their second
goal but once more denied striker Jon Melliza an opportunity to find the back
of the net. Melliza has scored against every team this season save for Ateneo.
The blue and whites stayed atop the
UAAP standings with a 7-3-0 record that gave them 24 points. FEU stayed behind
by two points, with 22, staying just a head above La Salle that dusted off NU
on the final match of the day. UP ousted UST from championship contention for
the first time in four years.
While the final four cast is complete,
the placing or seeding is not.
During the halftime break, right
before the players reentered the field, I had a brief chat with three Blue
Booters. I reminded them about leading by example and maintaining one’s
composure in the face of FEU’s attack. One of them got entangled with a FEU player
and rightfully should have been carded for his second motion. He escaped it and
it was crucial. I told him afterwards that the implications of the game would
have bearing on the next few matches. Retaliation doesn’t prove anything. It’s
keeping a cool head to be able to make better decisions with the ball. It’s not
exactly a chewing out but more of constructive criticism. Hopefully, this is
well learned.
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