Cebu U13 falters against Iloilo, 3-2

THE Cebu Elite boys 13-Under team lost steam and bowed to Iloilo in the Visayas regional qualifiers in San Carlos City yesterday.

Iloilo avenged an earlier 6-1 thrashing at the hands of Cebu by bouncing back with a close 3-2 victory in the championship match.


�I don�t want to make excuses but we had plenty of chances we weren�t able to execute.


The game wasn�t for us,� Cebu Elite 13-Under coach Mario Ceniza told Sun.Star Cebu.

Iloilo scored the first goal but Enzo Ceniza, the son of Mario, tied the match with a penalty shot. Iloilo then scored another goal, which was countered by a magnificent goal by Bertram Musni outside the penalty box.

With the game tied at 2-2, Cebu conceded another goal by Iloilo for a 3-2 win for the latter.


Cebu crushed San Carlos City, 3-1, and Dumaguete, 4-2, to earn a slot in the finals.


Despite the loss, Mario was satisfied with the performance by his team even though they are missing two key players--strikers Vincent Lovitos and Moiselle Alforque of Don Bosco Technology Center. The two didn�t suit up for the championship match because both went home for their graduation.

�We were very good collectively. We were the darling of the crowd here because of the way we played. We were just unlucky,� said the older Ceniza. �I�m very contented with their performance despite missing two players.�


Lovitos and Alforque, according to Mario, were among the best strikers of the team.


Regardless of losing in the final match, nine players from Cebu were named in the All-Star match, which was ongoing as of press time. However, Mario believes more players from Cebu should have been chosen in the All-Star match, which he believes would be the basis of the scouts on selecting the players in the training pool for the RP 13-Under Boys team.

�I was expecting more (players) based on how we played,� he said.

The RP 13-Under Boys squad or �Little Azkals� is scheduled to compete in the Asian Football Confederation Festival of Football in Malaysia in June.


Published in the Sun.Star Cebu newspaper on March 27, 2011.