DON BOSCO begins its defense of its four titles when the 15th edition of the Thirsty Football Cup kicks off this afternoon at the Cebu City Sports Center.
The football festival, one of the biggest in the Philippines, will start with three of its 14 categories: the Mix Open, the 38-Above and the Boys Under 19.
The Boys U19 was one of the categories that Don Bosco ruled along with the Boys U17, Boys U13 and the Mix U9.
Aside from Don Bosco, also back to defend its title is the University of San Carlos (USC) Boys High Alumni in the 38-Above category.
The title of the Mix Open, which is on its second year, however, will be up for grabs as inaugural champions ERCO BRO was not able to register for the tournament, failing to make a reservation according to team manager Rodney Orale.
This year, organizers limited the number of entries to prevent games from finishing late into the night.
In the past, some of the finals were held as late as 2 a.m.
The Boys U19 attracted a total of 16 teams divided into 4 brackets with the top 2 teams in each bracket advancing to the quarterfinal round. The winners will then advanced to the semifinals then to the finals.
Don Bosco will have to get past SWU Kicking Cobras, Estudyantes A and Cazador FC in Group 1 to get into the knockout stage.
The 38-Above only has two groups with 5 teams each, which means that the top 2 teams in each group will advance to the semifinals and the winners to the finals.