Random Thoughts on UAAP Season 76 Football Opening Day
Day 1 Results, Men's Seniors Football
November 23, 2013
UST 2, DLSU 0
UE 2, UP 0
FEU 2, NU 0
The FEU Diliman Field is mostly good news for the league. This pitch, the home for UAAP Football this season, is one of the few in the country that is 68m by 105m, the proper international size. In contrast, I am told Emperador is just 60m by 97m, meaning FEU Diliman, if my math does not fail me, is 1320 sqm larger. That is a lot of room.
On Saturday, I caught the replay of the match between FEU and NU, and the players, mostly pint-sized homegrown fellows from the province, looked like ants on that vast pitch.
Having a full-size field is good, because players can get used to what they will play on if they ever make it outside of the Philippines. It also theoretically makes the players fitter since they have to cover more space.
The artificial grass held up well in the rain, and since it will always be smooth, we should see some attractive Football this season. The two-tone green color was also pleasing to the eye.
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This pitch uses beige and green infill granules that don't absorb heat like the black stuff used in other installations in town. FEU Athletic Director Mark Molina says this allows players to play comfortably near midday. In other artificial pitches, play two hours before or after noon and you will feel the heat seeping through your shoes.
UST coach Marjo Allado complained about the venue before the competition, saying that his players were not used to the surface. Well, they got used to it quick, scoring within minutes of kickoff and winning over La Salle 2-0.
Then there's a little bad. There is not enough allowance room on the sides. Maybe three meters, perhaps a bit more. It gets very dangerous on the end near the school. The field is cut into a gentle slope, so there is a wall there. It is imperative that coaches tell players not to slide into that area when going for a ball. It just isn't worth it. Perhaps padding would help? I really hope no one gets hurt this season.
There is very little seating, save for some stone bleachers cut into a slope on one end, and no lighting. I think there is room for bleachers on the end near the school entrance.
One thing is certain: FEU Diliman is loads better than what Rizal Memorial is now. Take a look at this picture taken on November 10 by Araceli Socorro, an Azkals fan who lives nearby. Apparently the transition to artificial turf is not going on as planned, and the grass has been brought back after being taken out. It doesn't look pretty.
JhanJhan Melliza is a smart, quick-thinking player. FEU's Melliza was the most experienced player on the field in the FEU-NU encounter, and one play showed just why. In the 45th minute Eric Giganto swung a cross to Melliza, who also plays for Green Archers United Globe in the UFL.
Melliza, who was defended on the play, must have spied keeper Bulldogs keeper Elijah Aban a few meters off his line. Then he somehow he knew teammate Nicolas Ferrer was to his left near the far post. Melliza then redirected the ball to Ferrer, who was wide open. Ferrer headed in very nicely from an acute angle for 2-0.
UAAP Football is often scrappy, but it's quality goals like this, from clever players like Jhanjhan, who keep us watching the league.
Jhanjahn's next project should be to fine-tune his weaker right foot. He had a couple of attempts with it that did not work out. One hooked weakly across the goal frame, the other went straight to Aban.
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FEU wins, but its a bit of a pyrrhic victory. Far Eastern is a young, talented team that can contend for a while. They've also mostly played together since high school. They got off to the right start, but there are issues with their central defenders.
Joshua Mulero from Nigeria takes over from the departed Amani Aguinaldo, who is now in UP and will serve a one-year residency. He can play for the Maroons if he wants to in 2014, because FEU signed his release. (He thus does not have to serve a two-year residency like I originally reported in my blog a few days ago.)
But Mulero dislocated his left shoulder in the second half. It's a really unlucky injury that could have him sidelined for a while.
Things got worse when Reymart Cubon, Mulero's decently tall centerback partner, went down in injury time of the second half, clutching his right knee in agony. I was told afterwards that it wasn't serious, but that was not an official statement.
Coach Kim Chul Su will be happy with win, but he needs his centerbacks healthy if he wants to bring a title to Morayta for the first time since 2010.
UP is off to a bad start. Again. Anto Gonzales, the UP coach, is without Deo Segunial and Boiboi Fernandez, his twin towers in the central defense from last year. Now youngsters Alfonso Ancheta and Mark Besana must step up.
The Maroons fell to UE 2-0, with Fitch Arboleda getting on the scoresheet. Arboleda got hurt early last year, missed almost all of Season 75, but is now back in form, apparently. UE, which was one of the weakest teams in the league last season, must now feel they have a legit Final Four shot.
“I think the first game jitters got the better of Mark and Alfonso” said Maroons GK coach Tyrone Caballes.
But Gonzales might not be too worried. After all, his team was routed early in Season 75 by FEU, only to roar back and exact revenge on them in the Final Four.
Players to watch for in the future. I noticed that Ace Villanueva, UP's second-year goalie, has beefed up from last year. The 5'11” Marist High School product deposed the graduating Caballes as the UP first-choice keeper midway through last season, and shone as the Maroons marched to the finals.
Caballes told me that neither of the UE goals were Villanueva's fault, and that he played solidly. Ace was also in the U19 NT squad that played in the qualifiers in Surabaya last September, but he sat on the bench behind the highly-rated Ronilo Bayan from Benilde.
There is a dearth of young, tall, quality Filipino goalies based in the Philippines. After Patrick Deyto, Nick O'Donnell, and Bayan, the cupboard gets a bit bare. I'm hoping that Villanueva has a stellar season so that he can get on the radar of the national team.
NU may have lost 2-0 to FEU but Arnel Casil stood out in the central defense, making plays left and right, including one terrific sliding tackle in the first half that could have prevented a goal.
On the FEU side it was a fine outing for Ferrer, who scored twice. His header in the 45th was the better of the two strikes. But props also to Eric Giganto. Unlike the other kids in FEU, Giganto is not willowy, with a strong frame, and looks about 5'8”, give or take an inch or two.
The best moment of the FEU-NU match came when Mark Marcaida, who is deaf, came on for the Bulldogs. Great to see NU give him a shot at playing college ball in spite of his disability.
Follow Bob on Twitter @PassionateFanPH.
