Negros booters win Suzuki Cup

source: By FRANCIS SANTIAGO

 BACOLOD CITY, Philippines  – Spurred by an enthusiastic home crowd and a favorable off-pitch win, the Negros Occidental, powered by a hat-trick from Gino Palomo, dominated Iloilo booters, 9-0, in the second leg of the home-and-away title series to win the 1st Philippine Football Federation-Suzuki Under-23 National Cup Sunday at the Panaad Stadium.


Aside from Palomo, also shining for the Negrenses was Joshua Beloya who stuck a brace to emerge as the tournament’s best striker with 14 goals.


In all, Negros bagged the crown on a 12-1 aggregate counting its 3-1 win in the first leg, a result that sparked a huge controversy.


The PFF competitions committee reverted the 3-1 result to a 1-1 draw Saturday afternoon following a protest by Iloilo that stemmed from the holding of extra time after regulation ended in a tie in the first leg.

But after a series of meetings later that day by both teams, the PFF and Suzuki officials, the PFF eventually restored the 3-1 result as Iloilo withdrew its protest upon the prodding of PFF president Mariano Araneta Jr who is also the former chief of the Iloilo FA.


Ecstatic over the good news, Negros took control early on the wet and goldslippery pitch, closing the first half with a 4-nil edge before shredding Iloilo, which proved an easy target minus goalie Wilson Munoz.

Munoz, who was replaced by midfielder Chester Braga, served a one-game suspension after being booked in the opener in Iloilo for deliberate handball.


“The score (9-0) will speak for itself,” Negros coach Norman Fegidero Jr said when asked if there were still doubts about their contentious first leg win.


“The team’s morale was high following the reversal of decision. That really motivated the players to really win the game,” added Fegidero, whose squad, feared for its attacking prowess, went undefeated and drew only once in nine games, while finishing with league-best 43 goals.

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Azkals coach happy with Beloya’s game in PFF Under-23 Suzuki - inquirer

source: Philippine Daily Inquirer

BACOLOD CITY, Negros Occidental, Philippines -- Joshua Belayo continued his tournament-long brilliance by tallying five goals in an 8-1 rout of Dipolog to book Bacolod a trip to nearby Barotac Nuevo, Iloilo for the semifinals of the PFF Suzuki U-23 National Cup.

The Filipino American, who was born in Olongapo but who grew up in the United States and Sweden, only recently moved to his mother’s hometown of Bacolod. Beloya, who roots for Liverpool FC, has compiled 12 goals in a mere five matches. An astonishing strike rate of 2.4 goals per match. What makes the feat even more incredible is that it’s only in the last two games of Bacolod that he was inserted in the starting eleven by head coach Norman Fegidero Jr.

Fegidero, who knows a thing or two about goal scoring as he was a fearsome scorer during his heyday, showered his prodigious player with praise: “He has a great feel for the game and is very dangerous in the and around the box. I think however that his mental toughness is his biggest asset.”

The home team isn’t all Beloya. It has striker Jovin Bedic who has five goals in five matches. Fegidero also has two players who are former national players in defender Lemuel Unabia and midfielder Aldrin Dolino, who were in the Azkals team that played in the 2008 AFC Challenge Cup qualifiers held in Iloilo. Dolino, who hails from San Carlos City, has four goals in the tournament thus far.

The trio of Bedic, Beloya, and Dolino have formed such a fearsome strike team that Bacolod has employed at times an unorthodox 2-5-3 attack formation to accommodate their capabilities.

“Now that we’ve qualified,” said Fegidero, “our next goal is to top our group. And I will encourage my players to score more goals.”

National football team assistant coach Edwin Cabalida was at the Panaad Stadium to scout players who could try out for the Under-23 team that will compete in the Southeast Asian Games this November in Indonesia.

Word has it that aside from Beloya, he has been taking a look at National Capital Region goalkeeper Patrick Deyto and Dolino, whom tournament Organizing Head Red Avelino describes as “the next Chieffy Caligdong.”

Bacolod was the first team to qualify for the quarterfinals after it swept the Visayas Regionals that included a 1-0 win over arch-rival Iloilo.

The final day of the quarterfinals in both the Laguna and Bacolod groups all have bearing.

Over at the University of the Philippines-Los Baños, Iloilo, Davao and Laguna are all looking to win their final matches in order to qualify for the two available semis seats.

In Bacolod, NCR Team B and Masbate not only need to win their respective matches against Dipolog and Bacolod but to score goals as well. Both NCR and Masbate are tied in points but Masbate is ahead on goal differential.

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Bacolod, Davao head Suzuki Cup quarterfinal cast - philstar

source: (The Philippine Star)

Manila, Philippines - Fancied Bacolod and Davao topped their respective groups to lead the cast in the quarterfinal round in the Suzuki Under-23 National Cup slated May 6-10.

Bacolod gained the top seeding in the group composed of the National Capital Region Team 2, Mindanao leg second placer Dipolog and Luzon elims topnotcher Masbate. They will vie for the semis berths at the Panaad pitch.

The Davaoenos, on the other hand, heads the other group that includes Luzon second placer Laguna, National Capital Region Team I and Visayas No. 2 seed Iloilo. They will play at the UP-Los Banos pitch.
The event is the first major national football tournament in years with the organizing Philippine Football Federation hoping to discover talents who could beef up the country’s U-23 squad seeing action in this year’s SEA Games in Indonesia.

The current senior team has few players who are eligible to compete in the region’s top football competition.

National team head coach Michael Weiss and team manager Dan Palami will be overseeing the team’s campaign in Indonesia.

Current national players seeing action in the tournament include NCR’s Yannick Tuason and David Basa, and Dipolog’s Jerry Barbaso while a number of players are playing for their respective schools in the NCAA and UAAP as well as the United Football League.

“Suzuki hopes to be a long term partner in the development of football here in the country. If we are able to strengthen our national team and in our growth as a football nation then it’s a worthy investment, said Suzuki Philippines PR officer Eileen Esteban.”

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Cebu routs Dumaguete in Suzuki Cup regionals

source: abs-cbnNEWS.com

MANILA, Philippines – Cebu pulled off a 5-2 win against Dumaguete in the conclusion of their Philippine Football Federation (PFF) Suzuki Under 23 (U-23) National Cup Visayas regionals campaign.

The Cebuano squad took advantage of the home team’s sloppy defense in Silliman University to post 2 early goals courtesy of Jessie Roy Melgo and Joseph Rodriguez.

But Dumaguete came back strong near the end of the first half as Remelito Tabuñag scored in the 36th minute and Morris John Tulang converted a penalty shot in the 40th minute.

Cebu coach Eleazar Toledo adjusted his team’s defense to meet the high balls of the Dumagueteños.
"Don't let them put the ball in the danger zone," he reminded his players.

The strategy worked and Dumaguete's attacks went largely uncoordinated in the second half.

With time running down, Rodriguez slipped right through the last line of defense and went one on one with the Dumaguete keeper. He sent him one way only to boot the ball to the right for his team’s 3rd goal in the 82nd minute.

That strike brought down the confidence of the home side, allowing Cebu‘s Joelito Lucañas and Laurel Reyes to score 2 more goals in succession to complete the 5-2 rout.

"Kulang sa puso," lamented losing coach Pere Siennes. "’Di ba bale, meron naman next time."
Dumaguete’s loss meant an automatic qualification for Iloilo into the quarterfinals along with leader Bacolod.

Cebu claimed third spot on a 2-2 record while Dumaguete fell to fourth with a 1-2 slate. Leyte is last with a 0-3 record.

The quarterfinals of the PFF Suzuki U23 National Cup begins in May.

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Negros Occidental beats Iloilo booters in PFF Suzuki Cup Under 23

source: By Cedelf P. Tupas
Philippine Daily Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines—Negros Occidental nipped regional rival Iloilo, 1-0, on Monday, to virtually seal top honors in the Visayas eliminations of the PFF Suzuki Cup Under-23 Championship at the Silliman field in Dumaguete City.

Amid sweltering conditions, San Carlos City-born midfielder Jay Baguiro scored the only goal at the stroke of half-time to settle the tight contest between the five-team tournament’s only remaining unbeaten teams.

“It’s a real rivalry,” said Negros Occidental coach Norman Fegidero, who handled the national team in the AFC Challenge Cup in 2008.

The heated match saw eight players getting slapped with yellow cards and an assistant coach sacked from the bench.

“It’s pretty physical. We expect nothing less from them (Iloilo), which was the same way they expected from us.”

It was Negros Occidental’s third straight win after earlier similar 3-nil victories over Cebu and host Negros Oriental.

They are favored to breeze past winless Leyte in their final assignment on Tuesday and formally secure one of the two berths at stake in the eight-team semifinals.

Iloilo, bannered by standouts from the UAAP and NCAA, earlier prevailed over Leyte (8-0) and Cebu (2-0).

But the Ilonggos rammed into a stronger and well-drilled Negros side, which was boosted by the presence of 6-foot-2 central defender Lemuel Unabia, who had played for Green Archers Orient Freight in the United Football League a day earlier in Manila.

Unabia and goalkeeper John Mendoza kept Iloilo attackers Glester Sobremisana and Christian de Juan at bay with timely headers and challenges.

Joven Bedic, a crafty striker born and raised in Barotac Nuevo but plays for Bacolod since he studies at West Negros University coached by Fegidero, tormented his home province by sending the cross that led to Baguiro’s goal in the 44th minute.

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