FOUR of the best youth teams in the Visayas and Mindanao areas are kicking off their campaign in Group B Philippine Football Federation (PFF) U-19 Boys National Championship 2024 - Division 1 on May 21, 2024 at the Dynamic Herb Sports Stadium in Talisay City.
Central Visayas Football Association (CVFA) and Camiguin-Misamis Oriental Regional Football Association (CMORFA) in the first match at 3 p.m. followed by Panay Football Association (PFA) against Zamboanga-Dipolog Football Association (ZANDIFA) in the second match at 7 p.m.
CVFA and PFA are coming into the group stage as the favorites after advancing to the final stage last year. PFA finished third, while CVFA had a fourth-place finish.
"Most of our players are from Don Bosco and they had a hectic schedule. Some are having OJT but despite that, they still were able to attend our morning and afternoon training," said CVFA assistant coach Julius Tapia in the PFF U-19 Boys National Championship 2024 - Division 1 Group B press conference on Monday, May 20, at the Dimes Restaurant. "We'll do our best and play fair. We'll [give] the other teams a headache."
Even though PFA defeated CVFA last year in the third-place match, PFA head coach Tommy Escoltero still believes that the home team is still the team to beat in the group stage.
"I know Cebu (CVFA) is a powerhouse. We will give them a good challenge and display quality football," said Escoltero, who has former Azkals star Ian Araneta as his assistant coach.
Coming in as huge underdogs, CMORFA and ZANDIFA promised to give CVFA and PFA a run for their money.
"CMORFA, this time, will give a good fight and play a good game. We have solid players that come from Hugala Football Club," said CMORFA head coach Jeremy Jablo.
"We'll play hard in the tournament and hope to reach the top two. We have trained hard for this tournament," said ZANDIFA head coach Sofronio Maglangit Jr.
The top two teams with the most points in Group B will meet the top two squads in Group A in the final stage of PFF U-19 Boys National Championship- Division 1 from June 7 to June 10, 2024. (EKA)