Crunch time in the AFC Cup and UAAP football

Bob Guerrero

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Crunch time in the AFC Cup and UAAP football
It's time to stand and be counted for Global, Ceres, UP, FEU, Ateneo, and UST in their respective competitions

AFC Cup Group Stage
 
Tampines Rovers vs Ceres Negros
7:30 pm, Wednesday May 3
Jalan Besar Stadium, Singapore
LIVE on Fox Sports 3
 
Global Cebu vs Boeungket Angkor
8:35 pm, Wednesday May 3
Rizal Memorial Football Stadium
LIVE on Fox Sports
 
 
UAAP Men’s Football Final Four
 
3:00 pmThursday May 4
Rizal Memorial Football Stadium
ADMU vs UST
UP vs FEU
LIVE on ABS-CBN S+A and S+A HD
 
Championship match
3:00 pmSunday May 7
Rizal Memorial Football Stadium

LIVE on ABS-CBN S+A and S+A HD

This week, there will be little room for error and no time for excuses for 6 Filipino teams. In the AFC Cup, Global and Ceres need wins to ensure passage into the knockout stage. In the UAAP, knockout semifinals will be needed to produce a finals cast for Sunday

AFC Cup 

It’s more complicated in this year’s second-tier international club competition for Asian clubs. In the past you could finish in the top two of your 4-team group and be assured of a spot in the knockout stage. 

But this year some groups have 4 teams and others just 3. Not all second-placers will make the cut, but all group winners will. The competition will remove the games against the last placers in the groups of 4 to settle who gets in. 

That means Wednesday’s games are, to be safe, must-wins for the two Filipino clubs participating this year.

Global may entertain Boeungket Angkor without Misagh Bahadoran, who has been out with a meniscus problem since the last FIFA window. It seems like it will be a game time decision whether the pacey center forward will take part in the action. 

Matthew Hartmann is suspended on accumulated cards, meaning Marco Casambre may have to take his place on the left side. That might not be a problem for Global, since Casambre assisted in the recent win over Magwe, but it could be one for UP, since Casambre is also slated to suit up for the Maroons in the UAAP the very next day. 

Global’s Brazilian defender Wesley Dos Santos gashed his head in a training mishap the other day but he will likely be good to go. The team needs his no-nonsense defending in the middle alongside Amani Aguinaldo. 

Global defeated Boeungket 2-0 when they played in Cambodia in March. They will need a similar result to ensure a playoff berth. Second place side Johor Darul Ta’zim is tangling with Magwe of Myanmar in the other group F match on Wednesday. Global are atop the group standings with 12 points, two clear of the Malaysians. But if JDT wins and gets to 13 points, Global cannot afford to lose or even draw. A tie puts both teams at 13 points and JDT, the 2015 AFC Champs, have a better goal difference. If Global finishes second, they will be at the mercy of other results in other groups. 

It’s a similar situation for Ceres in Group G. The Busmen are tied on top of the table at 8 points against Hanoi. Fortunately the Filipinos have a much better GD at +6 compared to Hanoi’s +1.

If Ceres completes a season sweep against Tampines, (they walloped them 5-0 in March), they will finish atop the group barring a video-game score victory by Hanoi against Felda of Malaysia. If Hanoi and Ceres both draw, Ceres is still in good shape. But a bridesmaid finish in this group and Ceres will go to the calculators and other results in other groups to see if they will make it. 

Ceres will take heart from the recent 6-2 demolition of Hanoi in Panaad two weeks ago. But one absence will be an area of concern for Hristo Vidakovic’s side: Super Herrera, their Spanish centerback, is suspended on yellow cards. Japanese acquisition Kota Kawase will likely supplant the Spaniard in the middle of the defense. 

Tampines will be playing in front of their home crowd and will know that a win could get them into the playoffs via the back door. Their league form has also been good, with a 1-0 triumph over Brunei DPMM followed by a 2-0 victory over Balestier Khalsa. Ceres takes this game lightly at their peril. Tampines are currently second in the S League table behind Albirex Niigata. 

UAAP 

Sean Patangan of UP. The Maroons will attempt to reach a sixth final in 7 seasons. Photo by Bob Guerrero/Rappler

League-leading Ateneo will try to return to the UAAP Final by defeating UST on Thursday. Jaypee Merida’s team is at full strength with no injuries nor suspensions. The Blue Eagles’ reward as the top seed is this date with fourth seeded UST. 

Ateneo’s Jarvey Gayoso leads the entire league with 9 goals, but his vision and passing will also trouble UST coach Marjo Allado. (Incidentally, Allado is also the assistant of Toshiaki Imai of Global, so it will be a very busy week for the Barotacnon.) Gayoso scored once and assisted twice in the Blue Eagles’ 5-1 first round win over UST. 

But the Growling Tigers are a team with momentum on their side. They are undefeated in the last four matches, including a 2-1 win over FEU that helped secure their second straight appearance in the UAAP final four. Their last loss was to Ateneo, a 1-0 setback off a very unlucky own goal by Marvin Bricenio 8 minutes from time.

The centerback pairing of Ian De Castro and Darryl Regala will be crucial to UST’s hopes. They must coordinate a staunch defense against Gayoso and the other threats from Ateneo, namely Enzo Ceniza and Jordan Jarvis. Regala is playing his last year of eligibility and wants another game before hopefully joining brother Darwin in the pros. For Ateneo it’s Carlo Liay, the only holdover from the Season 75 championship team, who wants to exit the UAAP a champion again. 

Ateneo and UST also meet in the women’s stepladder semifinals on Thursday morning at 8:00 am, also in RMS. The winner plays DLSU, who went a perfect 8-0-0 this season, on Sunday.

In the second men’s semifinals UP wants to make their sixth final in seven seasons and win a second successive UAAP crown. They need to upend their Diliman rivals FEU.

The Maroons have the finest possession-based midfield in the league. Daniel Gadia, Sean Patangan, Christian Lapas and JB Borlongan simply don’t let you have the ball much, and that is partly why they have only allowed 8 goals this season, second best in the league. 

A concern for coach Anto Gonzales is Marco Casambre, who may start or play extensively for Global less than 20 hours before the Thursday kickoff. That could leave the Azkal with precious little in the tank for the semifinal versus the Tams. Casambre, who recently missed action with a quad strain, can play either center back or left back. 

If Casambre is too weary to play on Thursday then look for Gonzales to tap John Abraham’s shoulder and get him to partner Ian Clarino in central defense. 

Borlongan leads State U with five goals but he will be looking to feed King Miyagi, the UP center forward who will look to add to his season total of 4 goals. 

Third-seeded FEU has two experienced players unavailable for this match. Chy Villaseñor is injured and Michael Menzi, on his last year, is out on yellows.

Coach Vince Santos, with the help of assistant Bo Bae Park, has abandoned the Korean tiki-taka philosophy of former coach Kim Chul su. In its place is a more pragmatic style of play that often includes long passes from the back. 

Alex Rayos and Rico Andes have been the Tams top scorers with 4 goals apiece this season. Andes is a speedster on the flank while Rayos is a poacher who operates from the middle. Audi Menzi, Michael’s brother, is a threat on free kicks.

A passel of players who formed the core of FEU’s back-to-back titles in 2014 and 2015 will exit stage left at the end of this season. Pao Bugas, Michael Menzi, Reymart Cubon, and Val Jurao will be desperate to defeat UP and gun for another title before bidding adieu to their collegiate careers.

There is plenty on the line for all of these sides, and it will be interesting to see which teams and players rise to the occasion. – Rappler.com

Follow Bob on Twitter @PassionateFanPH.

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