U-14 booters finish third in Borneo Cup

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines U-14 team, made up for players of the Global FC and Laos FC’s youth squads, bagged third place honors in the Borneo Football Cup at the Penampang Stadium in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia recently.

Jill Pillora of Iloilo, Nicolai Abalos of Laguna, Josh Asignar and Tristan Enad of Cebu and Drexler Valencia of Dumaguete and Gregory Tacondong bannered the Pru-Life UK-backed squad, which included discoveries from the grassroots development program.

It was the country’s highest finish since the Phl joined the annual event, organized by the Football Association of Malaysia through its member Sabah Football Association, in 2013.

Pillora, Abalos, Asignar, Enad and Valencia were scouted in their hometowns in 2013 and brought to the UK for elite training by the British Council and Pru Life UK, while Tacondong was a standout at the Football for a Better Life event in Gingoog, Misamis Oriental.

Alfredo Ray Estacion and Richard Jay Alipar served as coaches of the team backed by Spears FC and the Azkals Foundation whose participation was also sanctioned by the Philippine Football Federation.

“The PFF affiliate clubs, Global FC and Laos FC, have been joining the Borneo Cup for two years to date. The teams these local clubs send are not national teams, although may have players who are in the national team pool,” said PFF sec-gen Edwin Gastanes.