Thirsty Football Cup kicks off today

All eyes will be on the Little Azkals—the Philippine Under 14 National Team—as they see action in the 9th Thirsty Cup, which kicks off simultaneously in two venues in the cities of Cebu and Mandaue today.

Little Azkals head coach Oliver Colina said only seven of his boys will comprise the team because the other members are playing for their mother teams.

Colina said he has no problem with this because their participation in the tournament was unplanned.

His players coming from the Don Bosco Technology Center (DBTC)—Moiselle Angelo Alforque and Vincent Erik Lovitos—wanted to suit up for the national team but he told them to just play for their mother teams.

The Little Azkals will have Josh Albert Miller of the National Capital Region (NCR); team captain Darius Joseph Diamante and Javier Romero-Salas of Davao; Jeremiah Borlongan of Cagayan de Oro; and Dumaguete’s Anton Yared, Henry Omar Hamdan and Ian Danielle Eumague.

NCR’s Dimitri Lionel Limbo might catch up with the team later in the day. Limbo is originally from Cagayan de Oro but he is currently staying in Manila as a scholar of La Salle.

This will be the Little Azkals’ first tournament of the year. This will also be the first time the team will play together again. The last time they gathered was here in Cebu last October when they were being assessed by German football expert Eckhard Krautzun.

Ten teams will be back to try and defend their respective titles in the country’s biggest 7-a-side football festival tournament.

To be played at the San Roque football field in Mandaue are matches in boys 12 and boys 14 while being hosted by the University of San Carlos-Technological Center (USC-TC) in Talamban are matches in players 6, 8, and girls 14 and 17. /CORRESPONDENT MARS G. ALISON