University of Cebu (UC) Webmasters collegiate football team head coach Gaudito “Jun” Taneo looks on as his scorers Kurt Cuizon (No. 10) and Noah Benjie Suico (No. 4) take a water break during their second game against University of San Carlos (USC) Warriors in the Cesafi collegiate men’s football tournament. CDN Digital photo | Brian J. Ochoa
CEBU CITY, Philippines—Experience.
This will be the biggest advantage that the six-time defending champion University of San Carlos (USC) Warriors will have against the University of Cebu (UC) in the men’s finals of the Cesafi football tournament.
“Dako sila ug advantage kay beterano na sila sa finals, so confident sila,” says UC Webmasters head coach Gaudito “Jun” Taneo.
(They have a huge advantage because they are veterans in the finals, so they are confident.)
The USC Warriors will be gunning for their fourth straight Cesafi men’s football title and seventh overall when they face UC on Sunday, November 10, 2019, at the Cebu City Sports Center.
The last time that UC won the title was in 2015.
Not only is USC the six-time Cesafi defending men’s collegiate football champion but also a Private Schools Athletic Association (PRISAA) national men’s football champion twice.
The winners in the Cesafi will represent Cebu in the PRISAA regionals, and Central Visayas in the PRISAA nationals.
“Kana nga six-time champions sila, grabe na nga pressure sa mga bata so medyo ubos ang morale sa team. Pero ako na sila storyahan pirmi nga di mag-ing-ana kay niabot ta ug finals so kaya ni nato,” said Taneo.
(The fact that they are six-time champions, that is too much pressure on the players, thus the team’s morale is low. But I keep telling them that they should not be acting that way, that we can do this because we’ve reached the finals.)
According to Taneo, most of his players are first timers. None of them were around when UC won the title in 2015.
The team has actually improved a lot. Last year, they finished at the bottom rung.
“Double time mi ani, dako mi ug adjustment nga pagahimoon,” quipped Taneo.
(We need to work overtime as we need to make a big adjustment.)
Aside from facing a team that has a wealth of finals experience, Taneo said that USC also has a very solid lineup.
He cited USC defender John Reevo Jumawan as very good in managing USC’s backline and they also have a very solid forward in Christian Keen Agot.
Despite faring well against USC in their two elimination games, Taneo said they should not be complacent against them.
In their first meeting last September 25, USC barely managed to squeak past UC for a 3-2 win. But in their second meeting, UC was finally able to hold off USC for a 2-1 win.
Taneo said though that he won’t be banking on this win, they still have to find a way to break USC’s defense and stop their offense.
He said that they have started training last Sunday, but they haven’t had a complete lineup because some have yet to arrive from spending All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day in their respective hometowns.
Barring a complete first 11, so far, what they have done since Sunday was work on their strength and conditioning as they need to have a hundred percent endurance against USC.
Taneo said that once the other players arrive, they will be training daily from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. in preparation for the championships. /bmjo