THE Philippine Olympic Festival-bound Team Cebu City Football finished third in the Pintaflores Football Festival in San Carlos City the other day.
A third-place finish may be a respectable achievement, but Coach Mario Ceniza says they still have a lot of work to do if they are to compete with the traditional powerhouse Iloilo in the POF later this year in Cagayan de Oro City.
Not all members of POF-TCC joined the San Carlos City event, while Iloilo sent its full squad and eventually defeated San Carlos City Team A, 4-1, to rule the event.
“Condition-wise we are okey but we still have to work on our defense, and offensive movement also. Grabe ang Iloilo, manglihok tanan,” said Ceniza of TCC, which finished second to Don Bosco Victorias in the elimination round.
TCC started the event with only 15 players and eventually ended their campaign with only 12 after two went home early for personal commitments while Jayphunneh Pelanio got injured.
Second
After finishing second in the group, POF Cebu went to the second group stage and faced Victorias and San Carlos City in their bracket. After drawing Don Bosco Victorias in their morning game, 1-1, which mirrored their 3-3 draw when the two faced in the first group stage, POF Cebu had the breaks of the game going against them in their second match against San Carlos City.
A win would have booked the team a place in the finals and Team Cebu City was leading 1-0 when the home squad equalized in controversial fashion. San Carlos only needed a draw to advance after beating Victorias in its first game.
“The linesman has already raised his flag because San Carlos City was offside but the referee ignored it and they were able to score,” said Ceniza.
In the battle for third, Dumaguete and Team Cebu were tied in regulation and in the first penalty shootout. In the sudden death shootout, Dumaguete missed its first attempt, while Bran Miles Go converted his shot for the win.
The team, which missed the services of five key players in the event, will still have one more month to prepare for the POF.
“I’m really preparing the team’s defense. Iloilo is really very good, but at least, I’ve seen their weaknesses, and we already know how to attack them.
We still have one month to prepare,” said Ceniza. (ML)
