UP booters celebrate the team's 2nd UAAP championship in 3 years. Will they finish this season with another crown? File photos by Ronin Bautista
Fullcourtfresh.com briefly got in touch with former national team booter and UP men’ s football team Coach Anto Gonzales about UAAP Season 74 and their quest for a back-to-back championship run which starts this weekend.
With Under-23 national team members and United Football League-experienced players, UP Coach Anto Gonzales’ squad is looking at keeping the football crown in Diliman.
Coach Anto Gonzales hopes to keep the UAAP football crown in UP.
“That’s what we’re aiming for,” said Gonzales. “Many of the players are serving their fifth year or are graduating this year. So they’re really motivated to perform at their best.”
Season 73 Rookie of the Year and Golden Booter Jinggoy Valmayor and Best Defender Deo Segunial joins and finals game goal scorer Ayi Ni Aryee in suiting up again for the Maroon Booters.
Gonzales, however, will miss Season 73 MVP Stephen Permanes and Season 71 MVP Jed Rances who have already maxed out their playing eligibility.
“Stephen was our workhorse in attack. He complemented well with and created a lot of goals for Jinggoy. Jed was our catalyst in the midfield. He was the one disrupting the offense of the opponent,” said Gonzales.
UP’s coach sees the team’s greatest challenge coming in the form of UST’s experienced team. Azkals defender David Basa already graduated, but the strong Thomasian team is reinforced by striker OJ Clarino who “had a wonderful stint in the SEAGames.”
“I expect him to really assert himself in the UAAP,” said Gonzales about Clarino. He was joined by UP’s Valmayor and Reymark Fernandez in the U23 final roster.
Gonzales also sees strong contenders in FEU and DLSU.
“FEU’s a young team but most of their players who were part of the FEU UAAP Juniors champions have played internationally and they have had training camps in Korea. DLSU, meanwhile, won the UNIgames crown and have a lot of good young players as well,” shared Gonzales.
