Borlongan celebrates his early goal. Image copyright Bob Guerrero.

The Pinoy youngsters succumbed to a technically superior Indonesia Red Dragons side on Saturday at the Rial Memorial Football Stadium 3-1. But the visitors got a big scare from a fiesty home team.

It's the fourth loss in as many games for the Philippines in the FAM (Football Association of Malaysia) – Frenz ASEAN Champions Trophy.

Frenz United is a Football academy in Pahang, Malaysia that trains young Footballers. It is bankrolling this tournament for fifteen year-olds in the ASEAN region.

Each nation fields a club or academy team but the Philippines was allowed to enter its U15 national squad. The Philippines is in Group B alongside Indonesia Red Dragon (also referred to as Frenz Indonesia), Lao Toyota, Myanmar's Mandalay FC, Frenz Malaysia B and Brunei's NFABD U15.

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The sparse crowd at the Rizal Memorial Football Stadium had hardly settled into their seats when the home team took a shock second-minute lead when striker JB

Stallions exult in the stands at final whistle. UNAUTHORIZED COMMERCIAL USE OF THIS IMAGE PUNISHABLE BY LAW. Image copyright Bob Guerrero.

Recaps of Thursday's Division One matches in Emperador Stadium.

Kaya 3, Global 2.

They didn't kick a single ball, make a single pass, or execute a single tackle. But on Thursday night the handful of Stallion Sta. Lucia players who took in the Kaya-Global match in the Empy were the big winners.

As soon as the whistle blew on Kaya's come-from-behind 3-2 victory, Rufo Sanchez, Hector Zaghi, Kim Hyo Il, Joaco Cañas, Jeremy Hohn, Diego Barrera, Park Bo Bae, Lee Joo Young, Guilherme Hasegawa, Jessy Martindale and Kim Won Hyung got the party started in the grandstand, with high-fives, hugs, and Football supporters' chants.

“Ecstasy” said Cañas, when asked what he felt at that moment. “We suffered on Tuesday and suffered some more today, but it was all worth it.”

Stallion Sta. Lucia finished the league on 46 points after last Tuesday's 1-1 draw with Loyola. A win that night would have given them the trophy outright, but the tie gave Global a chance to win the title on goal difference.

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Rufo Sanchez anguishes over what might have been. Image copyright Bob Guerrero.

Recaps from Tuesday's Division One action at Emperador Stadium.

Stallion Sta. Lucia 1, Loyola Meralco Sparks 1.

Stallion's coronation as league champs will have to wait another day.

In an absorbing encounter under heavy rain, Loyola's homegrown second and third stringers were equal to Stallion's foreign stars, holding them to a draw.

The Sparks denied Stallion a win that would have given them the league title. Instead, Global has been thrown an unlikely lifeline in the championship race. The defending champs can win via goal difference if they defeat Kaya then Army by enough goals.

Lee Joo Young's eighteenth minute score was negated by James Younghusband's 48^th minute first half header.

Loyola keeper Ref Cuaresma earned Man Of The Match honors with a career performance comprised of several magnificent saves, most on Stallion dangerman Rufo Sanchez.

Cuaresma. Image copyright Bob Guerrero.

While Stallion started with ten foreigners and just one Filipino in Matthew Nierras, Loyola's starting XI featured only two foreigners,

Terry Trebilcock with Ray Young, KOTC Philippines Chairman. Image courtesy KOTC.

Another Mixed Martial Arts promotion is set to inject even more excitement into the country's seething fight scene, when King Of The Cage comes to the Philippines.

On July 5 in the Mall of Asia Arena, KOTC will unveil its first Philippine fight card with two title fights as co-main events.

Hawaiian Lowen Tynanes will stake his KOTC Junior Welterweight (160 lb.) belt against Joe “The Technician” Condon, also of the USA. Middleweight (180 lb.) champ Sean Strickland will also defend his title against Japan's Yuske Sakashita of Japan. Tynanes is one-fourth Filipino.

Eight undercard bouts will feature Filipino pugilists who earned the right to fight at the KOTC qualifiers last May 19.

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KOTC founder Terry Trebilcock was at the press conference in Ultimate Fitness Gym in Metrowalk last Saturday and waxed lyrical about the skill of Filipino fighters.

“They are phenomenal strikers” said Trebilcock, who founded KOTC in 1998. “They have better

Pasilan (left.) UNAUTHORIZED COMMERCIAL USE OF THIS IMAGE IS PUNISHABLE BY LAW. Image copyright Bob Guerrero.

The Green Archers United Globe's' purple patch continued last Saturday with a fine win over Pachanga-Diliman at Emperador stadium.

Goals from GAU captain Tating Pasilan on either side of halftime helped United extend their unbeaten streak to five games. A late strike from Pachanga's Ernest Appiah was not enough to avoid the loss.

Green Archers played a high-tempo game with quick 1-2 passes to dominate the midfield and get the lion's share of chances.

The victory means Green Archers, once a relegation-threatened club, are firmly entrenched in Division One's middle class. With 21 points they are locked into sixth on the table. They finish their season against Nomads on Tuesday.

PD, also with one match left to play, are in fifth, three points behind Kaya.

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GAU were missing centerback Jake Hugo from the starting lineup on account of accumulated yellows. Dodong Villareal was his replacement.

Chieffy Caligdong nearly put United ahead

Younghusbands with Chelsea coaches. UNAUTHORIZED USE OF THIS IMAGE PUNISHABLE BY LAW. Image copyright Bob Guerrero.

On a hot Thursday afternoon in Tribeca, in Paranaque, a group of Football-mad youngsters were privileged to receive a dose of world-class Football instruction.

Five vastly experienced coaches from storied English club Chelsea FC were there to impart their knowledge.

David Stewart, James Lambdon, Russel Banyard, Steve Winnett, and Tom Bird were in town as part of an Asian tour to support Chelsea Soccer schools in the region.

The mentors were in Asian for two weeks, visiting Chelsea outposts in Japan, Korea, and other Asian countries. They stayed in the Philippines for five days and worked with Pinoy kids in Chelsea Soccer School for two. The event in Tribeca was also supported by Adidas.

Coaches teach kids. Image copyright Bob Guerrero.

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“The technical level of the kids is good” said Winnett. “And there is a great willingness to learn.”

All five of the coaches have UEFA “B” Licenses and have taken Youth Modules to help teach kids more effectively. Bird played for Chelsea in his

Younghusband (left) and Hartmann. UNAUTHORIZED COMMERCIAL USE OF THIS IMAGE IS PUNISHABLE BY LAW. Image copyright Bob Guerrero.

Recaps of Thursday's Division One games at Emperador Stadium.

Loyola Meralco Sparks 2, Global 0.

Global's hopes of retaining the UFL league title suffered a devastating blow on Thursday when Loyola, out of the title race, played the role of spoiler in beating them 2-0.

Mark Hartman struck in the eleventh minute, then supplied Phil Younghusband with an assist in the 72^nd that led to the Spark's second.

Global remains at 40 points in the table, five adrift of Stallion Sta. Lucia. Stallion has one game left in their season, against Loyola next Tuesday, while Global has two games to go, against Kaya and Army.

A Stallion win on Tuesday gives them a first league title, while a draw offers Global a shot at winning the league via goal difference.

The Sparks played loose with a makeshift lineup while Global were perhaps too affected by the pressure of the title race.

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Global, without Ben Starosta and Jason De Jong to injury, nearly took the lead

Screen grab of starting XI. Image by the author.

FT: Hong Kong 0, Philippines 1. (James Younghusband, '33)

Neil's heroics masked a rough second half by the defense. Etheridge trotted out one of his finest performances ever as an Azkal. This after being left off the roster of eighteen in the Azkal's last game against Turkmenistan. A performance like this should once and for all cement his status as our number one keeper.

Neil made four extraordinary saves in the second half and one palm-away in the first. His penalty save on Chan Siu Ki was a marvelous piece of quick thinking.

Chan should have kept it simple, aimed for a side and let fly. He tried to go cheeky by driving it down the center in the hopes that Etheridge would leap out of the way. It's a tactic that succeeds often, but Chan's mistake was to punch it low, where Neil's legs were. If he banged it higher then Etheridge would never have saved it.

But credit nonetheless to Neil for not only alertly stopping the shot, but also following up by clearing the ball even though he