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| c/o UAAP Media Team |
Matches Saturday at the UP Diliman Football Stadium
4:30 p.m. — FEU-D vs SRG (boys semis)
7 p.m. — UST vs DLSZ (boys semis)
DEFENDING champion Far Eastern University-Diliman and challengers University of Santo Tomas, De La Salle Zobel, and PAREF Southridge clash in the UAAP Season 87 Boys’ High School Football Final Four today (Saturday) at the UP Diliman Football Stadium, with spots in the March 29 final at stake.
The top-seed Baby Tamaraws, seeking a 13th straight crown, will take on the fourth-placed Admirals at 4:30 p.m. while second-placed Junior Golden Booters and third-placed Junior Archers will face off afterward at 7 p.m. with the winners of both matches heading to the final.
FEU-D is coming into the semifinals in impressive form, winning nine of its 10 elimination round assignments.
The only time it dropped points, though, came against Southridge last February 22 in a 1-1 draw, which denied the reigning princes of the pitch an outright ticket to the big dance.
Moreover, the Diliman-based school has rookie striker Jerriemy Biton, who is leading the league’s goal scoring table with nine goals.
After seeing his Baby Tamaraws wrap up the eliminations with a 3-2 victory over last season's final foils Junior Golden Booters last Saturday, FEU-D coach Jake Morallo says that it’s back to the drawing board for his team as they prepare for Southridge.
“I think para samin, i-pre-prepare nalang namin,” said Morallo.
“I think the teams have their own strengths. Siguro yung winning mentality kailangan ibalik namin. We will (have to) play as a group again. Yung mga problems namin sa game, yung finishing namin, yung attacking pace, kailangan namin i-improve.”
(“I think for us, we just need to prepare. I think each team has its own strengths. Maybe we need to bring back our winning mentality. We will have to play as a group again. The problems we have in our game—our finishing, our attacking pace—those are the things we need to improve.”)
Southridge, one of two guest schools invited for the first time in the league, is eyeing to extend its impressive debut campaign in Season 87 behind the efforts of forward Francis Poticano and goalkeeper Polo Tansingco.
Aside from holding the Baby Tamaraws to a draw, the Admirals’ impressive second round performances saw them earn wins against the Junior Archers and fellow guest team Claret Red Roosters, and formally enter the Final Four last Saturday by drawing the Ateneo Blue Eagles in one of the season’s most competitive matches.
Dethroning the Biton and the rest of the Baby Tamaraws may be a daunting task for most but the Admirals are on a great run and are eager to harness their momentum to extend this breakthrough campaign of theirs.
“We will try to prepare for them,” said Southridge’s Ghanaian coach Sam Bonney.
“It is what it is. Definitely, we want to go to the final. So we'll do our best and see how the game will go. Once we get there, we will know what to do.”
Whoever wins between FEU-D and Southridge will eagerly anticipate the next match between UST and La Salle.
Next to the Baby Tamaraws, the Junior Golden Booters have been this season’s most consistent team, winning seven matches, drawing once, with their two losses this year at the hands of the defending champions with Spain-bound midfielder Joshua Moleje providing inspiration in the attacking third.
Despite seeing the Junior Golden Booters remain unbeaten against the Junior Archers in both elimination round duels this season, UST assistant coach David Basa wants his players to focus and not feel complacent so that they could make the final for the second straight season.
“Feel ko prepared naman na yung boys namin,” said Basa.
“May pina-rest kami para getting ready kami for the semis. Naghahanda na kami talaga sa semis. Syempre score more goals ang need namin ma-practice this coming week then yung build nila as a team. Dapat talaga andun yung concentration.”
("I feel like our boys are already prepared. We gave some players time to rest so we can be ready for the semifinals. We're really preparing for the semis. Of course, we need to practice scoring more goals this coming week, as well as their build-up as a team. The concentration really has to be there.")
Compared to FEU-D, UST and Southridge, La Salle is entering the Final Four on the back of a horrible second round that yielded only one win — the second round opener against archrival Ateneo — and four straight losses to the rest of the competition.
Bannered by defender Bacchus Ekberg, the Junior Archers still have a chance to set things right and achieve an unlikely appearance in the final by upsetting the Junior Golden Booters. They may be the underdogs this time around, but it would be dangerous to count them out.
“Moving into the semifinals, I think we need to prepare,” said La Salle’s Ghanaian coach Ayi Nii Aryee.
“We need to start our preparation as of now to get things done right to be able to match up to UST. They already know what is ahead of them so our preparation would be quite tougher than previous trainings. We have to really prepare well for these semis because it's only one game.”
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