I ALMOST fell off my seat when I saw the scoreline of the Don Bosco Technological Center vs. University of San Jose-Recoletos match in their Cesafi high school football match.
27-0. Twenty-seven goals against nothing.
That's the most lopsided win involving a Cebu team in years. The last I remember was the 36-0 win registered by a Cebu ladies open team in the national finals a decade ago but that was against a team of newbies.
That lopsided win, I'm sure, is going to ruffle some feathers. Should Don Bosco have taken it lightly against an overmatched team? Should they have taken a break at 15-0, 20-0? But they sort of did take USJ-R lightly, by fielding their bench playes in the first half.
And of course, whenever the bench gets the chance, whether it's against the weakest or the strongest team, they play to win, to show their strength or to show the coach that they belong in the starting lineup. Should DBTC have take it easy in the second half? Well, during one really lopsided win in the UFL Cup (36-0, was it?) Meralco said that taking a team lightly was an insult.
Sure, I do believe that there should be times that teams shouldn't fatten the scoreline, but this is the Cesafi, not a 7-Under tournament featuring beginners.
Anyway, I also shared the photo online and the reactions were just as incredulous. One pointed out other instances in the past when teams scored more than 30 goals against an over-matched foe.
This reminds me of the Aboitiz Cup's desire to go national and of a niche that they can serve. Ever since the Coke Go For Goal went kaput, there has been no national age group tournament, save for the Palaro teams.
Perhaps it is in this age group that the Aboitiz Cup can step in. The foundation is planning to hold a tournament in their new location in Luzon and perhaps they can start small, with a high school and men’s open divisions.
Then they can have the champions in Cebu and in their Luzon tournament face off in a Champions League sort of affair.
Aside from that, there’s also another interesting mini-tournament the Aboitiz Group can hold should it want to go national. Having the collegiate and high school champions from Manila, Davao, Cebu and Bacolod face each other to determine the best team in the country.
That tournament, I’m sure, won’t feature any 27-0 scoreline.