(L-R) UP's Jinggoy Valmayor, Stephen Permanes, Deo Segunial, and Raymark Fernandez. File photos by Roehl Niño Bautista

With reports from Kat Angco.

(4th UPDATE) UAAP Season 73 Rookie of the Year and Gold Boot awardee Jinggoy Valmayor was devastated when he learned from his teammates that he didn’t make the cut in the national team’s initial Under-23 (U-23) roster.

“I missed their announcement of who made the cut because I had to attend to my schoolwork,” he recalls. “When I asked Deo [Segunial] and Reymark [Fernandez] if I made it, they told me I didn’t. I wanted to start the day all over again to attend training [in the hopes that the result will change].”

(L-R) Permanes, Fernandez, and Segunial huddle in celebration over their 2-1 victory against UST.

But, as it turns out, the elder players were just pulling the rookie’s leg. “I saw them laughing and then they told me I got into the top 30!” Valmayor said.

He, along with Season 73 Best Defender awardee Segunial, Most Valuable Player Stephen Permanes, and right back Fernandez grabbed much-coveted spots in the 30-man squad that is set to compete at the Asean Football Federation U-23 Championship in Indonesia.

“Fulfilling kasi lahat ng pinaghirapan namin sa UAAP, nakatulong ng malaki para mag-improve ako as a player and as a person,” said Segunial.

For Permanes, the journey from the UAAP championship to the U-23 slot was “heartwarming” since they felt the support of “friends, family, the UP Men’s Football team and Coaches, and the whole UP community.”

“Para sa kanila tong lahat ng mga pinaghirapan namin,” he added.

Valmayor also couldn’t hide his happiness, after admitting that he didn’t perform as well as he wanted to at the training/screening’s start because he was “still kind of shy” and wasn’t used to playing in that level.

“I asked [UP] Coach Anto [Gonzales] for advice and he told me to be patient and to hang in there; that’s what I did, I worked harder during training and kept my hopes up,” he shares.

Valmayor is mobbed by teammates after scoring UP's second goal against UST in their championship match.

A former Azkal himself, Gonzales knows exactly the kind of pressure that being part of the national team brings, and the type of commitment it entails. He said that tougher challenges lie ahead of these four, and they just have to work hard in improving and be “focused on their goal.”

“I was already proud of and happy for the boys for making it to the try-out pool,” said Gonzales. “Every Filipino player now dreams of playing for the country. Making the cut is a huge step for the boys towards realizing their dream and I couldn’t be any happier for them.”

Together with other hopefuls from provinces and abroad, the U-23 aspirants had a session with the Azkals as part of their screening, to gauge the young bloods’ capacity to adapt to the senior nationals’ high-level training routine.

“Na-feel namin yung hirap na pinagdadaanan nila,” said Segunial. “Masaya kasi from the start pa lang na nag-football ako, goal ko is makasali sa national team to represent the country. Lahat naman siguro ng players ganun ang mindset.”

Permanes shared that with 58 players in competition, getting into the top 30 was hard.

“But it’s fun since we learned a lot from each other,” said Permanes. “Halos lahat magagaling so may pressure plus yung UP community pa who’s expecting so pinaghirapan talaga naming apat makapasok”

After facing Indonesia, Singapore, Timor Leste and Myanmar at the round-robin pre-tournament, the 30-man squad will be cut to 25 members who will represent the country at the 26th Southeast Asian Games which is also hosted by Indonesia.

“All the runs that we did together, all the sacrifices that we made, all the games that we won, and all the things that Coach Anto taught us really helped us a lot not just in football but in our daily life,” Valmayor said.

Their coach, on the other hand, consider the four as “crucial pieces of our UAAP championship run.

“I believe that they can really help the team during the SEA Games with their well-rounded technical abilities, tactical discipline, and winning mentality,” said Gonzales.

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