Team Phil thumps Team James 5-1 in Clear Dream Match.
There were celebrity sightings, plenty of slipping and sliding, and more substitutions than a Basketball game.
But when the dust, or shall we say mud, cleared, Phil Younghusband's defensive-minded approach worked against his older brother's squad in the Clear Dream Match.
Phil struck in the 18th, 22nd and 94th minute to lead his side to a 5-1 rout on a soggy Saturday night at the University of Makati Football stadium.
Pachanga's Ousseynou Diop delivered the finest goal of the night, a curler from long-range in the 42nd minute for Team Phil, while Kaya striker Yannick Tuason produced a composed finish in the 71st minute for Phil as well.
James drilled the ball home from an acute angle in the 62nd minute for his team's only score.
The match was sponsored by Clear Shampoo of Unilever, with both teams selected in a draft by the two brothers from a pool of players chosen by fans on Clear's Facebook page.
Phil Younghusband was obviously the more defense-oriented of the two, selecting Saba Garmaroudi of Kaya to be his goalkeeper, as well as veteran defenders like Pachanga's Yves Ashime.
In contrast, James started with a defensive line composed of one veteran, Anton Del Rosario of Kaya, and three youngsters; Boiboi Fernandez of Diliman Victory Liner, Andrew Santiago, and UST's Ronald Batisla-ong.
Phil's moves paid dividends early on, as his team controlled the early possession.
In the 11th minute James unleashed a strike on target off a free kick but Garmaroudi, an Iranian third-year dentistry student from the University of the East, made an acrobatic save.
Seven minutes later Phil's team was one up. Captain Phil artfully chested down a pass from Davide Cortina, his teammate at Loyola, and slammed the ball home past Ref Cuaresma, another Loyola Spark.
Phil doubled his team's lead minutes later when he collected the ball off a defensive error from team James, and fully 30 yards away from goal, spotted Cuaresma off his line. His ensuing lob was inch-perfect, just beyond the fingertips of the keeper and just under the crossbar.
Ousseynou Diop made the score 3-0 when he found space outside the penalty box, and as the James FC defense dithered, slotted home into the bottom corner.
At the half James inserted Nico Bolzico into the game for Andrew Santiago and that seemed to settle the defense. The Argentinian from Kaya is the boyfriend of Solenn Heusaff and she was seen supporting him from the grandstand.
Seventeen minutes into the second half James pulled one back to make it 3-1. He found room on the right flank just outside the six-yard box and seeing second-string keeper Michael Menzi failing to seal his near post, rifled it into the roof of the net.
But the three-goal advantage was restored in the 71st when Phil stormed into the penalty box then cleverly backheeled back to Tuason. The Kaya striker, recently returned from a European sabbatical, calmly waited and slotted home into the corner past Patrick Deyto.
"I had to be patient" said Tuason. "It was against Patrick so I really had to place it."
The Green Archers goalkeeper replaced Cuaresma at the half. The game was played with unlimited substitutions, with players being allowed to come in and out of the game.
Only a handful of players played the whole match, most notably left back Roxy Dorlas for Team Phil.
Even Phil took a break at the half, only to return later on.
Several young players made an impact in the match, such as Ateneo's diminutive Mikko Mabanag. His blazing speed and work rate was noticed by his captain, James, who said he "electrified" his side.
Batisla-ong was solid in the first half, neutralizing Phil for much of the period.
Deyto also got a piece of Phil, coming out and stoning the all-time leading Azkal striker on a one-on-one in the 92nd miniute.
But it was the midfield of Phil's side that carried the day, with Anto Gonzales and Davide Cortina both being very influential. James admitted that his Loyola clubmates played a "big difference" in his team's downfall.
Several non-Footballers played their role in the match, none better than Philippine Volcano Andrew Wolff, who looked like a Football player on the pitch and even headed wide in the 46th minute for team James.
This was in contrast with the lumbering figure of Eric Tai, who struggled with the speed of the game and mangled one attempt to control a high ball.
Daniel Matsunaga and Fabio Ide contributed some minutes to the delight of the female fans in the crowd of 2,800, as did Paolo Bediones, resplendent in blue rec-specs.
Boys Night Out's Tony Toni and Slick Rick also made cameo appearances in the second half and actually collided in one challenge.
Former national team players Alvin Ocampo and Rudy Del Rosario also played and showed flashes of brilliance.
In a touching scene, team James fielded Azkals physiotherapist Wally Javier with seven minutes to play.
Conditions were dire all throughout as the bumpy Umak pitch, softened by rains, made life difficult for all the players. Nico Bolzico could be seen slipping twice on one play.
Jonah Romero, another Kaya player who suited up for James, described the game as "mud wrestling."
To make matters worse, the two separate light towers conked out during the game, with both eventually operating at reduced capacity until the final whistle.
At the postgame press conference it was revealed just how serious Phil's preparation was. A few of his team mates revealed that he had even made a Power Point presentation to explain certain tactics.
"We took the game seriously and we were as professional as we could be" said Phil. "I really had a strategy to build a strong defense in the draft."
Individual awards were given after the match, with Diop winning Best Striker, Mabanag taking Best Midfielder honors, and Garmaroudi adjudged best keeper. Park Min Ho, yet another Loyola regular, got the overall MVP award playing for team Phil. The brothers were not allowed to be named for any of the individual awards.
Tai grabbed the People's Choice award.
"I have to be careful about winding up Phil now. He has bragging rights now" lamented James. "But I'm already thinking of next year's game."
