PFF U-15 national tiff Final Four begins

MANILA, Philippines – The search for the Stars of Tomorrow has reached its climax as the PFF Under-15 Boys National Championship 2019 enters its final round, which is slated from February 26-28 at the PFF National Training Center in Carmona, Cavite.

The teams from National Capital Region FA, Mount Apo RFA, Davao-South RFA, and Negros Occidental FA will contest for national pride beginning in the semifinals to be played on February 26, for the right to play in the final on February 28.

The four remaining teams confirmed their participation in the final round after finishing in the top two of their respective groups in the National Championship Round held in Carmona for Group 2 from November 11-19 and Davao City for Group 2 from December 13-18, respectively.

Group 1 winner National Capital Region FA will face Group 2 runner-up Mount Apo RFA, while Group 2 victor Davao-South RFA will take on Group 1 runner-up Negros Occidental FA. The semifinal losers will face off in the battle for third while the winners of the two semifinal ties will clash in the final.

The teams

Team from NCR FA (Group 1 winner)

The best attacking team in the tournament showed why by scoring 74 goals: 42 from their unbeaten campaign in Luzon Group B, and 32 from their Group 1 campaign.

They have gone 10 matches unbeaten, winning their first eight convincingly before drawing with Negros Occidental FA in a 3-3 draw last November 17, finishing on top of the group with a superior goal differential.

Armed with international experience, the boys of coach Richard Leyble is looking to extend their streak as they lean on the dynamic duo of skipper Dominic Tom and Matthias Xavier Lozano who led the team with combined total of 28 goals, with the former scoring 7 goals in the National Championship Round.

Team from Negron Occidental FA (Group 1 runner-up)

Coming from the Visayas Group of Death, Ronald Treyes’ men showed their resolve as they secured qualification by placing second each time.

Despite an absence of a go-to-guy, NOFA showed how make the team work by having 16 different goal scorers. Dominic Dreyfus, Leoven Gatungay, Kent Bacolocos and Ryan Monares all netted four goals apiece.

Apart from their goal-scoring, their defense is one of their assets, picking up all but one clean sheet out of their four fixtures in the National Championship Round.

Their six-goal thriller against the team from NCR last 17 November showed their poise in big matches when they lost their halftime lead, before Syreal Magbanua’s equalizer had them share the spoils.

Team from Davao-South RFA (Group 2 winner)

Davao will face its biggest test as they take on the team from Negros Occidental FA in the semifinal, with them qualifying as the top team in a tough Group 2 where it was a four-horse race for the coveted two spots on the final day.

A 2-2 draw with the team from Mount Apo RFA sealed their qualification as they ended up with seven points, eliminating the teams from Panay FA and Zamboanga Del Norte-Dipolog FA, which were a point behind.

Midfielder Uriel Dalapo woke up from his slump in the Regional Group Stage to be instrumental to their run to the final round after scoring four goals in the Group 2.

Team from Mount Apo RFA (Group 2 runner-up)

The boys from North Cotabato rounded up the quartet of the qualified teams, and it will be a challenge to recover from their slump in the National Championship Round having scored only six goals after trailblazing the Regional Group Stage with 61 goals.

However, they claimed huge results down the stretch despite losing to Panay FA, winning against Zamboanga Del Norte-Dipolog and drawing with Davao-South to book their place in the semifinal, where NCR awaits them on the horizon.

This is a perfect chance for Harold Calandria to return to the spotlight after struggling in Group 2, where his goal scoring exploits saw him top the charts in the Regional Group Stages with 22 goals.