14 teams vie in Puma soccer tilt

Fourteen teams nationwide have confirmed their participation in the Puma invitational street soccer tournament — the main event of the PUMA football festival slated June 1-3 at the Glorietta Activity Center.

Five out of 14 teams will come from Metro Manila including Ateneo, Xavier Football Club, Mendiola FC — San Beda, Japanese Football Club and La Salle Greenhills. Teams from the provinces will include: Los Banos Football School, Masbate, Baguio City Football Association, Rizal — Rodriguez, Rizal — Taytay, Camarines Norte — Vinzons Pilot High School, Camarines Norte — San Vicente National High School, Los Banos Eagles and Cagayan Misamis Oriental Football Association.

Open to players under 15 years of age, each team is composed of seven players. The team will be divided in two groups, which will play single round robin series, with the top four teams in each group advancing to the cross-over quarterfinals. The winners enter the semifinals where knockout games will be played to determine the finalists.

The opening ceremony will kick off the three-day event on June 1 followed by an exhibition match of the National women’s teams and the first day of the elimination round of the Puma invitational street soccer tournament. Elimination round will continue on June 2 while the quarterfinals, semi-finals and finals will be played on June 3.

Presented by Puma, the Puma Football Festival is also supported by Burlington, Philippine STAR, National Sports Grill, Planet Sports, The Athlete’s Foot, Puma Eyewear, Destiny Cable, Tokyo Tokyo and 103.5 K Lite.