Tuesday, April 10, 2007 Negros XI acquires seven ex-RP players By Henry C. Villalva
THE Negros Occidental men's football squad that will see action in the April 24-29 Philippine Football Federation (PFF) Men's Open National Championship has at least seven former national team campaigners in its lineup.
They are forwards Normaan Fegidero, Jr., and Ali Rojas Go, midfielders Arnie Pasinabo and Jayson Panhay, defender Wilson dela Cruz and keepers Archie Bayquin and Edward Sacapaño.
The team is currently undergoing the final phase of its preparations for its title retention campaign in the PFF event which the Negros Occidental Football
Association (NOFA) will host here at the Panaad Sports and Recreational Park pitch in Barangay Mansilingan.
Go and Pasinabo were members of the RP team during the 2005 Southeaast Asian Games played here while Sacapaño and Go went on to likewise see action for the national team during the last Asean Football Championship qualifiers also at Panaad.
Bayquin joined the same squad during the second qualifying leg in Thailand.
De La Cruz saw action for several youth teams in international competitions while Panhay recently joined the 21-Under squad that competed in a Bruie
tournament.
Fegidero, the most senior former RP team standout in the current lineup is the most popular, having spent almost eleven years with the RP men's team.
He keyed the Philippines' historical victory over traditional football power Malaysia with his lone goal during the 1991 Southeast Asian Games in Manila.
The said goal eliminated Malaysia from the SEG for the first time ever in the history of the biennial games.
Negros Occidental is the defending champion in this annual PFF centerpiece event. The Negrenses defeated National Capital Region to take the title last year in Iloilo City folowing its semi-final win over traditional regional rival Iloilo.
