Limpag: Cesafi football

WILL the University of San Carlos win anew or will a new champion emerge in the 2019 Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. football tournament, which kicks off on Sept. 8, 2019 at the Cebu City Sports Center.

USC has been practicing at its own stadium for the past few months to prepare for its title defense as it is aiming for its fourth straight title. USC head coach Allan Medalle got his marching orders after completing a grand slam last year as he was told that he has to keep the title at USC for 10 straight years.

That’s unprecedented as the longest title run in the Cesafi was four, achieved by the University of San Jose-Recoletos in the first four years of the Cesafi.

USC won’t have a game in the first matchday as it will be the University of the Visayas (UV) against the University of Cebu (UC) at 1 p.m. and the University of Southern Philippines-Foundation (USP-F) against the University of San Jose-Recoletos (USJ-R) at 3 p.m.

I think this year, USJ-R will be aiming for a finals slot after narrowly missing last year. USJ-R was placing USC in the final game of the elimination round and erroneously thought it only needed a draw to advance and celebrated like crazy when it scored an equalizer. USC, which at that time was on the verge of panic after seeing USJ-R celebrate, had a better goal difference and advanced to the finals against UV.

This year, I hope no team will be making such mistake.

On the other hand, this year’s high school contest is also going to be very interesting as all four teams are contenders. It’s only USC-Basic Education Department, USJ-R, defending champion Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu and Don Bosco Technological Center as USP-F is taking a rest for three years.

USP-F coach Eleazer Toledo told me that he’s skipping the next three years in the high school division, reducing the field to four.

All four, in my opinion, are contenders for the title and with the high school division adapting a double round robin format, every game will be crucial. Last year, Ateneo defeated USJ-R for the title, tanks to a wonderful free kick by Leo Maquiling, and the Magis Eagles this year I think have an extra motivation to defend the crown.

USC-BED has been slowly building its team and of course DBTC is always a contender and will be aiming for another title anew.

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