Cebu Football

ITS another season and another chance to renew the rivalry between youth powers Paref Springdale and Don Bosco Technological Center (DBTC) as the Aboitiz Cup kicks off with the Boys 12 and 15 tournament on Oct. 8-9 at the Cebu International School (CIS). DBTC defeated Springdale 3-0 to win the 10th Milo Olympics elementary football crown before Paref returned the favor as they booted out the Bosconians in the semis en route to winning the Aboitiz Youth Festival last Sept. 18. "Murag grudge rematch na ni," Springdale coach Mario Ceniza quipped. Rikko Cedric de Guzman will lead the charge for the Bosconians as they seek to add another crown. De Guzman was named the Most Outstanding Athlete for football in the Milo Olympics. "We will be fielding the same team (in the Milo) and they have been practicing regularly under coach Joselito Bono," DBTC athletic director Bro Mari Aberasturi said. However the two schools won't have a clear road to the finals as the other te...

MULBACHS FC defied the odds as it fished out a third-place finish in the 21st Iligan Fiesta Football Festival at the Global Steel Football Field in Iligan City last Sept. 24-25. Arriving just after noon on the first day, the team had to forego lunch to catch up with the schedule and despite hunger pangs managed to stay undefeated in four matches. Madille Salina's strike in the fourth had Mulbachs 1-0 over Marawi, while Vasti Morong scored the lone goal in another 1-0 win over Iligan. Mulbachs ran out of gas in the third game to settle for a 0-0 draw, and Angelica Cabias’ last-minute equalizer had it 1-1 against Cagayan de Oro as it clinched a semifinal spot with eight points. Mulbachs’ luck, however, ran out in the semis as it lost before regaining composure and outlasted another Cagayan team in a tough shootout in the battle for third, with first-time keeper Salinas coming up with the big plays. Team captain Angelica Cabias said she was satisfied with her team's performance, c...

MULBACHS FC defied the odds as it fished out a third-place finish in the 21st Iligan Fiesta Football Festival at the Global Steel Football Field in Iligan City last Sept. 24-25. Arriving just after noon on the first day, the team had to forego lunch to catch up with the schedule and despite hunger pangs managed to stay undefeated in four matches. Madille Salina's strike in the fourth had Mulbachs 1-0 over Marawi, while Vasti Morong scored the lone goal in another 1-0 win over Iligan. Mulbachs ran out of gas in the third game to settle for a 0-0 draw, and Angelica Cabias’ last-minute equalizer had it 1-1 against Cagayan de Oro as it clinched a semifinal spot with eight points. Mulbachs’ luck, however, ran out in the semis as it lost before regaining composure and outlasted another Cagayan team in a tough shootout in the battle for third, with first-time keeper Salinas coming up with the big plays. Team captain Angelica Cabias said she was satisfied with her team's performance, c...

Another generation of footballers will get to pick up the game with the holding of the Thirsty Players 6 Cup on Nov.Judging from the P6 finals of the Aboitiz Youth Festival at USC-TC, it will be a slambang affair with the action off the field just as exciting as the action on.

BOB Marley in action: Pass the dutchie from the left hand side, I say pass the dutchie from the left hand side. No 13. "Not the balls, please not the balls" DANCESPORT: Imagine a gown on the USC player and a tuxedo on Number 3, and you have Cha-cha. Photos by Allan Cuizon

UV striker Junard Aguilar falls after a hard tackle by a UC defender in their 3-1 win yesterday at SHS-J. Sunstar photo by Allan Cuizon IT SEEMS the mantra of invincibility of the University of San Jose-Recoletos has been lifted. The four-time Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. (Cesafi) football champion dropped its second straight match, 1-2, to the surging University of Southern Philippines Foundation yesterday at the Sacred Heart School Jesuit-field in the Ayala Business Park. On the other hand, the undefeated UV Grenbooters defeated the University of Cebu Webmasters, 3-1, for their fourth straight win. It was only the second loss for the USJ-R Jaguars since the Cesafi started. Last week, they lost to UV, 0-2. "The last time USJ-R lost was in 2000, in a penalty shootout against USC (University of San Carlos)," said USPF assistant coach and former USJ-R keeper Jesus Singson Jr. Since then, USJ-R has not dropped a match and has ruled collegiate football in dominating fas...

JUST as their hardcourt brothers suffered their first defeat in five years, the University of the Visayas Greenbooters are poised for a perfect elimination round as they face the University of Cebu today at the Sacred Heart School-Jesuit field in the Ayala Business Park. The UC Webmasters ended UV's 57-game win streak with a 88-76 win at the Lancers’ homecourt last Thursday. Today, the UV Greenbooters, cruising on a three-game win streak, will have the chance to get even with the Webmasters as they go for win No.4 before trying for a perfect season against winless Cebu Institute of Technology in their final assignment next week. The Greenbooters’ morale is currently at an all-time high as they are fresh off dealing the defending champion University of San-Jose Recoletos its first loss in years with a 2-0 win last Sunday. Top-striker Junard Aguilar scored both goals, tallying eight goals already in UV's first three wins, and is expected to play with the same intensity today. Jus...

MARIO Ceniza is inviting all footballers born in 1992 and 1993 to join the second trials for the Center For Football Excellence (CFE) at 2 pm today at the San Roque Parish Football Field. "The kids should bring their birth certificates or in the case for those who have dual citizenship, their passport," Ceniza told Sunstar. The kids will undergo one-on-one drills and passing exercises and will be pitied against each other in small-sided games to gauge their skills. "After this we will conduct a third phase and from there we will select 22 to 25 players who will join the CFE," Ceniza said. After the selection of the CFE pool, Ceniza will be conducting the regular training of the kids and will pass periodic reports to the Philippine Football Federation. Ceniza, whose former wards in Carmen National School, Michael Casas and Arnie Pasenabo is now with the national team, has been tasked by PFF to run the Cebu CFE. The other CFEs are in Dumaguete City and Dipolog. The P...

AFTER the two-day football fiesta at the University of San Carlos-Technological Center, the ninth Aboitiz football season goes full blast with a series of tournaments for the different age groups next month. The city's football scene is expected to be even busier with the upcoming Cebu Football Association (CebuFA) referees' seminar on Oct. 7-9. "We will first launch the Boys 15 tournament in the first weekend of October and then the Girls 15," CebuFA president Jonathan Maximo said. After the two tournaments, the Boys 12 follows, while the Aboitiz Men's League will start after the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. (Cesafi) football tournament ends on Oct. 23. "The Boys 12 will be in preparation for the Cebu City Olympics in November," Maximo said. Meanwhile, the B15 tournament is in preparation for the Philippine Football Federation Under 17 Championships in May next year, which CebuFA is bidding to host. "We are pretty strong in that age group...

THE University of San Jose-Recoletos' bid for a fifth straight Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. football crown suffered a temporary snag after a 0-2 loss to the University of the Visayas last Sunday at the Sacred Heart School-Jesuit field. It was UV's third straight win in the Cesafi season, putting it comfortably on top with a 3-0 mark. Speedy striker Junard Aguilar scored both goals for the resurgent Greenbooters as they handed the Jaguars their first defeat in years. Since the Cebu Amateur Athletic Association (CAAA) was re-christened as the Cesafi, USJ-R has won all football crowns and also went undefeated last year to win its four straight crown. "I think since the Cesafi started, it's USJ-R's first loss," UV assistant coach Francis Ramirez said. However, USJ-R coach Joselito Bono says otherwise, "Dili oy. napildi pud mi sa una, di lang ko kahinumdum (No, we were also beaten before, I just don't remember who)." USJ-R will close its 2005...

sunstar photo by Ruel Rosillo Practicing under a huge “torch” must work wonders for one’s game. Kids Football Center-Pomeroy, a squad of “extras” whose practice venue is under the Olympic urn of the Cebu City Sports Center, turned a lot of heads as it topped the Players 6 division of the 9th Aboitiz Youth Festival at the University of San Carlos-Technological Center with a 4-3 win over Paref-Springdale. “They play regularly at the Sports Center under the torch, so we decided to field them in the tournament,” said team manager, Dondon Ramos, whose squad was bankrolled by Karl Veloso. And play they did, toying with Pabol B, 9-0, in the eliminations en route to topping their group and overcoming Pabol A in the semifinals to move to the finals match. The final, which drew a huge crowd, saw pint-sized MVP Kurt Cuizon put the energizer bunny to shame as he kept on going and going, scoring all four goals. At the other end, girl goalkeeper Andrea Pelicano proved she could play with the boys as...

FOR the Cebu International School Girls 12 team, it pays to play with the boys. For CIS' Girls 17 team, it pays to be just plain talented. Playing for the first time in an all girls tournament, the CIS Under-12 players showed who's the better team as they whipped Bright Academy, 4-0, with Gabby Aboitiz scoring all four goal in the P12 division finals of the 9th Aboitiz Youth Football Festival at the University of San Carlos-Technological Center yesterday. "Previously they played with the boys in the Players 10 (division) and it's good that now, they get to play against their own," CIS athletic director Brian Bedford said. In the Girls 17 division, despite CIS splitting up its talent pool into two teams, both still made it to the semifinals against Dumaguete City teams Foundation University and Silliman University. "I was asked why we didn't make one strong team and a weak one so we can be assured of winning the title. We split the talent - one went into t...

THERE is one reason why football in Cebu is growing - Aboitiz. "Without the Aboitiz sponsoring (us), there would be no cornerstone for building football in the city," Cebu Football Association board member and Cebu International School supervisor Mark Bretherton said during the launching of the 9th Aboitiz season yesterday. According to AGFI executive vice president the initial grant of for the first tournament nine years ago was P20,000 while this year it has ballooned to P200,000. This year, the Cebu Football Association organized Aboitiz Cup has gone regional with four teams joining the Youth Festival this week end plus new divisions for the coming Cup competitions while a two-division Men's League will be launched on Oct. "The Aboitiz Group Foundation Inc wanted us to go regional this year," CebuFA president Jonathan Maximo said. For the weekend tournament, teams from Silliman University, Foundation University, Dumaguete FC will send representatives. On th...

IF PLANS push through, Cebuanos may have something the rest of the country doesn't - a football show. The Cebu Football Association is planning to put up a football show in the city together with Dexter Araquel, a producer of the only football show in the country, "Soccer Showdown," which closed down a few months ago. "We are planning to put it up within this year so we can feature our local tournaments and players," CebuFA president Jonathan Maximo said. Maximo is currently canvassing at the local channels on how much it would cost to air a weekly one-hour show. According to Maximo, the CebuFA will provide the technical management and tournaments while Araquel will provide the production outfit. "Hopefully, it will materialize and we could get sponsors for the show," Maximo said. The soccer show would be the next big step for the CebuFA as it brings football to one of the bigger stage - broadcast media - and they can now attract more sponsors. "W...

THE Cebu Football Association has a problem these days - albeit one that they welcome. A record number of teams, including those from outside of Cebu, have signed up for the Aboitiz Youth Football Festival on Sept. 17-18 at the University of San Carlos-Technological Center. The huge turn out, some 1,000 players in 100 teams, is proof of the impressive growth of youth football in Cebu, which started only in 2002. "This is what's giving me head aches these days," CebuFA president Jonathan Maximo said, "how to accommodate all the teams in the schedule." Aside from the local teams, teams from Foundation University and Silliman University of Dumaguete have also signed up along with San Carlos City and Liceo de Cagayan, in the event which will de divided into the Players 6, P8, P10, Boys12, B14, B17, Girls 12 and G17 divisions. "I didn't expect the turnout to be this large; some 105 teams. But we will find ways to accommodate everybody, said Maximo, who add...

BASED on their showing in Pre Southeast Asian Games tournament, national coach Aries Caslib expects bigger things in men's football in the biennial meet on Nov 27 to Dec 5 at Bacolod City. The Philippine team finished third in Group in the Pre Seag tournament in Bangkok Thailand with losses to Myanmar and Malaysia and a convincing 4-1 win against East Timor with Peter Jaugan, Jose Ombos, Jerome Orcullo and Emilio Caligdong scoring. "It has really been a long time when we scored big, and it is positive just coming before the SEA games," Caslib wrote in an email to Sunstar Cebu. A search in the Asean Football Federation data base of results showed that the last time the Philippines scored more than a goal in a match was a 2-3 loss to Laos in the Brunie SEAG in 1999 while no results shows the Philippines scoring more than three goals in a win. "Although we were badly beaten by Myanmar, it must be noted that in all our matches we scored and I believe this is one of the f...

Goalkeeper Paolo Pascual came up with the big stops yesterday to book Paref-Springdale a semifinal spot after a 4-2 win over UV-Compostela at the SHS-J field. After a 2-2 deadlock at the end of regulation, the match went to a shootout where Pascual came up with two big saves, while RJ Sembrano and Timothy James Mateo converted their spot kicks for Paref's win. Springdale got its first two goals from Miko Garcia and Carlos Veloso. They will next face the dangerous Abellana National School (ANS), which scored a 9-1 rout over Pope John Seminary, while the other semis will pit Don Bosco College against SHS-J. DBTC earlier dumped Cebu City National Science High (CCNSH), 9-2, while SHS-J showed no mercy to Camp Lapu-Lapu National School, 19-2, following their 23-0 blowout against Talisay. In the Elementary division, rivals DBTC and Springdale also arranged a finals meeting after scoring identical 6-0 wins yesterday. DBTC blanked out Cebu City Central School while Paref defeated Bright Ac...

(when was the last time you read a headline like this?) THE RP Men's football team finally bagged a win in the Pre-Southeast Asian Games tournament in Bangkok, Thailand, scoring a 4-1 bashing of Timor Leste in its final match. The former whipping boys of Southeast Asia finished third in Group A behind Myanmar, which beat the Filipinos, 2-6; and Malaysia, which slipped past RP, 2-1. Cebuanos Oliver Colina, Arnie Pasinabo and Jhuniel Bapor are with the squad, who are gearing up for the 23rd SEA Games football tournament in Bacolod City on Nov. 27 to Dec. 5. Meanwhile, Pasinabo's former coach in Carmen National School, Graeme Mackinnon, was elated with his ward's stint in the national team. "Arnie has always showed great potential but he did not have the passion to want to train in Manila like Michael (Casas) did. I hope that this trip to Thailand will give him the urge to rethink and to play again for the national team because he is only 19 and would have a long career w...

RJ Sembrano get past University of San Carlos' Joushua Suarez for Springdale's final goal in their 6-3 win in the Milo Little Olympics. Sunstar Photo by Allan Defensor

Paref keeper Paolo Pascual fails to stop a USC goal while TJ Matteo watches. A collission in the second half forced Pascual to sit out for a few minutes in their 6-3 win. Photo by Allan Defensor PAREF Springdale had to dig deep into their arsenal to beat a surprisingly tough University of San Carlos 6-3 in the 10th Milo Olympics football at the Sacred Heart School Jesuit. After taking a 3-1 lead, USC managed to level the count early in the second half behind Aries Opiniano and Kyle Tongson. However, RJ Sembrano cut short USC's jubiliation as two minutes later, Sembrano left footed a strike from the half court line past keeper Joushua Suarez for a 4-3 Paref lead. Burly defender Timothy James Mateo got into the scoring act and took a shot also from midcourt to increase the lead to 5-3 with five minutes left and Sembrano punctuated their win with another goal in the dying seconds. Meanwhile, Sacred Heart School-Jesuit toyed with Talisay City High School, 23-0, while University of the ...

THE RP Team stumbled yet again and dropped its second straight match, losing to Malaysia, 2-1, in the Pre-Southeast Asian Games football tournament in Bangkok, Thailand. Still Filipino fans can take comfort in the reduced goal deficit after the team's 2-6 defeat to Myanmar the other day. The loss also booted the Philippines out of the hunt for a semifinal spot as it has only one game left, against Timor Leste tomorrow. The Filipinos will again hope for a repeat of the 2-1 win over Timor Leste in the Tiger Cup last year, where they also lost, 0-1, to Myanmar and to Malaysia, 1-3. Meanwhile, national coach Aries Calsib told Sun.Star Cebu that former Carmen National School goalkeeper and Tiger Cup goalkeeper Michael Casas of Cebu was cut from the Thailand tournament as a disciplinary measure. Casas, a former ward of Australian football guru Graeme Mackinnon, was the youngest starter for the national team in the biennial meet last year at 18. "Michael Casas was cut because of disc...

THE Philippine Men's football team suffered a 2-6 loss Tuesday night to Myanmar in the Pre-Southeast Asian Games tournament's opening match in Bangkok, Thailand. Still, national coach Aries Caslib says the final outcome doesn't show the changes the team has made. The team trailed, 0-3, going into the second half before substitutes Ian Araneta and Emilio Caligdong scored in the 57th and 77th minutes. Then Myanmar, which owns the Seag record of five straight football titles, scored two more goals. The Philippines was playing Malaysia at press time and will close its campaign against newcomer Timor Leste tomorrow. In the Tiger Cup last year, Myanmar scored in injury time for a 1-0 win, while Malaysia defeated the Philippines, 3-1, before the Filipinos won their first match against Timor Leste, 2-1. In a post on philfootball.info, a forum for Pinoy football fans, Caslib reported the positive signs during the match. "The players wanted to win and they have shown superb char...

Because of the atmosphere of basketball in the country, chances are there will be no basketball in the SEAG - ironic for a basketball mad country. Two years ago, the big wigs of Philippines sports decided not to send a football team to the SEAG and early last year, there were plans to scrap the sport in the SEAG. Do I here anybody say karma?